I just seen some small critters on my red tail boa. are these mites. And How do I get rid of them. Do they bite humans, I know theirs different things you can do, whats the best ya'll found.
Not sure waht you mean by small critters. COuld you describe them better? There are several products out there that are good for getting rid of mites. Some are more natural in their ingredients than others and safer for reptiles. We use one called "Reptile Relief". As for mites ON the snake, I would have a vet look at them to make sure what they are first before trying to treat it myself, especially if you are not certain they are mites.
One treatment that has minimal impact on the snake and is to remove the snake and it's waterbowl from the cage, then treat the cage with Repel Permanone or Provent-a-mite. Spray everything that is left in the cage, substrate and all. Let the cage air out for about an hour, then put the snake and the cleaned waterbowl back in the cage. Keep a close eye on the cage.... you may have to re-treat 10 to 14 days after the initial treatment. Whatever you do, DO NOT apply the spray directly to the snake. Good luck with it!
I just got done treating my boa with Black Knight from ProExotics. Worked like a charm! Follow their directions...
glad to hear it. But make sure you do a cleanup on the tank, some mites still may be there and you may not even know it. For the first time i spotted NO mites on BP, and im going to check today again to see if there are officially no mites in the enclosure. Just because u dont see any on the snake doesnt mean that they are all dead. If you are using mulch as a substrate i wouldnt be suprised if the mites reappear.
DavidAg02.... I dont recall the directions that proexotics gives out, but do not apply BK directly to the snake. A while back there were some directions floating around to spray the entire cage, snake and all with BK and seal it up to kill off the mites. There are a number of reports of some pretty severe reactions snakes have had to that product from using it in that manner. I myself keep a can of BK around only for pretreatment for mulch and other stuff that goes in to snake cages because BK does not leave a residue on like some of the other treatements on the market. Repel Permanone, Sawyers Tick Spray, and Provent-a-mite are the best for treating an outbreak in cages.
i use reptile relief. I never had to use this on my Red Tail boa, but i use it on my BP. I once soaked him in a solution of warm water and SOME RF. That way when he was in there soaking for an hour, the mites that were on him were killed simultaneously as i disinfected his cage. follow these directions i followed: 1. Get a spare tank or small enclosure that will hold water for the snake. 2. Pour warm water in the spare tank and spray a little bit of mite repellent in the water. ( A LITTLE) 3. Put the red tail in the spare tank, and seal, so it is secure while you do the cleaning. 4. Take out the water bowl, and all other furnishings. 5. Spray all furnishings BESIDES the water bowl with the mite reppellent/killer. 6. Place the water bowl in a sink and run hot tap water into it for 5 mins. 7. Once all tank furnishings dry, go to the bath tub, and soak them all in HOT water. 8. while the Furnishings dry, take out the tank substrate, and spray the mite solution in the cage, and wipe clean. 9. Take a bowl of hot water, with a cap of bleach in it, and use it to wipe and wash down the tank. 10. Let the tank dry, and wash it with only water this time. 11. Let the tank air out and dry. 12. While letting the tank dry, do a quick hot rinse to ALL the tank furnishings, and let dry. 13. Once aired out, and when the smell of solution/bleach is faint, place new substrate in the tank ( i use newspaper) and everything else, and vwala.
While the above method is fine for glass cages and small reptile collections... the Provent-a-mite or Repel Peramnone method is much easier especially in wood cage and larger sized cages and does not require an elaborate cleaning and substrate change. Another advantage is that it will leave some residue that will continue to kill mites for as long as a month after treatment. This makes it effective for killing newly hatched mites that were in the egg stage during the initial treatment.
what i did for my cali. king was take him out of his cage and put him in a plastic shoebox, make a mixture of 1:2 betaden(sp?) and warm water and let him soak in that for a while, i took the cage furniture out and took the tank outside...i dumped all the subtrate and and cleaned the tank with a 1:2 bleach to water solution as for the furniture i put the wooden things in the oven on about 200*F and the plastic in another solution of 1:2 bleach and water...after i took the snake out of the betaden bath i took mineral oil and rubbed it around his eyes specticals and his belly scales then put im in a warm water bath to get all the betaden washed off...i let the tank air dry for 2 hours after getting all the bleach residue out and put clean stubstrate in it, i took the plastic out of the bleach and also let this dry for 2 hours after washing it thourghly...i took the wood out of the oven after about an hour and let it cool...after i put everything back in the tank and made sure everything was dry i put the snake back in his tank and he's been mite free ever since...the trick to this is to make completely sure all the bleach is washed out!!!! it's a long process but it worked like a charm with no side effects! sorry for the run-on sentences and stuff...im just in a hurry to get to bed, it's been a long day hope this proved helpful, ~*PAULA BRANAE`*~
i found just bathing my brazillian rainbow boa for around an hour in normal tap water and submerging his head every 5 mins seemed to do the trick drowning the mites and as u said throw away everything out of the viv or boil bits of wood etc inwater and then bleach the viv. but ever since i have been worried about why they were there? usally i change all the substate every week and cleanup any messes as soon as i spot them but i blame myself as i left it 2 weeks just before i noticed the mites but it was pretty clean? since i have changed the substrates from the apparently reptile safe wood chips they sell in most pet shops to Aspen and since havent had any problems. _____________ J0nn7_5 6.5FT RTB adult beardy 3.5ft BRB
