My gecko has mites D:

[cantthinkofone]

My marbled gecko has come down with the red mites! I've moved him atop the toilet to isolate him. What now?

 

[The Snark]

As opposed to your mites have come down with a gecko? I suppose scrubbing it thoroughly with a wire brush in an insecticidal solution is out? Try isopods. Apply the usual quarantine methods. Identifying the mites may also help.
If they are red spider mites they are harmless and just using your animal for transportation.

 

[cantthinkofone]

they are red, but they arent moving. whats the difference?

 

[The Snark]

Red spider mites, Tetranychus urticae, and their friends, are all herbivorous and thus harmless. Well, if you get a heavy enough infestation you may find your gecko glued/webbed to the wall some morning.

 

[cantthinkofone]

So should I even be worried? How do I get rid of them?

 

[Planetary]

Place him in an icu with paper towels, keep it moist. If problem persists you will need to give it a bit of a bath in a soapy solution. My Brazilian rainbow boa had mites and it took about 3 months to rid her of them. I havent even put yer back on substrate. Best of luck with your gecko, if you are still having issues you may want to check out geckosunlimited.com


Chris

 

[The Snark]

With benign infestations the rule that guides you is minimizing stress to the animal. Determining the type of mite is pretty important there. If they are using the animal as just a temporary residence you need not be in a hurry or do anything that would traumatize it. I chatted with my bug expert yesterday and he mentioned one rough way of determining if the mite is actually attacking the animal. Collect some mites and crush them like doing a smear for a microscope plate. Then examine the residue with a magnifying glass. If the residue is dark red to almost black it is probably from blood and they are in fact eating the animal. He pointed out that the vast majority of mites are not directly carnivorous, blood suckers, and the real infestation is more likely to be the environment the animal is kept in. Hence Planetary's suggestion is a very good place to start.
He said mites tend to climb. They want to get to the top of things in order to disperse the young as they hatch. A host animal is one ideal way to do this. Mites do not deliberately travel from host to host but rather their movement is involuntary, using whatever opportunity becomes available.
A soap solution is an excellent way of killing them. It doesn't need to be a strong soap or a lot of it. What you are trying to accomplish is to make the water wet so it drowns the mite. Experiment with various soaps. Bar soaps aren't a good idea as they contain oils. Laundry detergent, dish washing liquids are best. To test, take a drop of water and put it on a solid non porous surface like a slick ceramic plate. See how easily it spreads out or remains a droplet. Use this to compare to a soap solution. Try using only 5% soap to start or even less.

 

[Planetary]

When I went through my mite experience I didnt even bother to find out what kind they were. Once I noticed them I looked really close and saw the number of them and had to act. They were burried under her scales and outside of her eyes. I didnt really start to research until I realized what I was doing had been getting rid of them. I will be sure to identify the mites if they ever show up again, my boa is still using paper towels as her bedding but she also has no mites.

 

[Perentie]

I've had experience with snake mites, but there are many other kinds, some harmless. I got rid of my latest mite infestation by using prevent a mite on the cage and mite off on the snake. Only took one treatment to get them all, I just followed the directions. Easiest mite killing way I've found.