Reptile mites affecting Ts?

[NoS]

I took in a red tail boa last night along with a King snake and both the tanks and accessories. My dumb ass did not even check for mites. I brought them home and took both snakes out of the tanks and put them in rubber maid containers and left the open tanks in my living room by my Ts. I took the boa to a friends because it had nose and head rub sores and mouth rot. He let me know that there were mites and I have probably infested my home.

He gave me some reptile mite spray to clean the snakes and enclosures as well as spray everything else. I put both enclosures outside in hopes the freezing temps would help kill them off.
From what I understand these mites only infect snakes. They do not infest spiders, scorpions, mammals, or even other reptiles. I have all of these and I am flipping out. I have a hognose and an Argentina boa that I adore so I'm really tripping.

My question is do any of you know if my arachnids are in trouble or anything else besides my other snakes?

 

[chris73]

To the best of my knowledge they are harmful only to reptiles. That dosen't mean their presence won't annoy/stress your T's and scorps, but it shouldn't harm them. They will also die off without a reptile host, so move your inverts to another household while you are infested if you can.

You need to IMMEDIATELY re-house all critters in your home to hospital style enclosures with paper towel bedding to observe the infestation and give the mites less places to hide and lay eggs.

That spray you were given WILL KILL YOUR INVERT PETS! DO NOT SPRAY IT NEAR THEM OR IN THE SAME ROOM WITH THEM! It will kill the mites, so use it cautiously wherever you can safely. If your inverts are in another house you can safely spray away!

Don't spray it on hatchlings or small lizards either - I have read that it can be harmful to them but I have no firsthand knowledge of this. It may be an untrue speculation.

Soaking snakes helps kill off the mites you can see. Vacuuming the carpets often and THROWING THE BAG AWAY IMMEDIATELY helps too.

It can take months for the infestation to be removed, but eventually you will win the war. Sorry this happened to you. It happend to me a few years ago and it was hell, but I came out a winner. Good luck!

 

[Michael Jacobi]

Snake mites (Ophionyssus natricis) are host-specific. As mentioned, only the methods used for their eradication will put your arachnids at risk.

Cheers, Michael

 

[Galadriel]

non-chemical mite treatment

To avoid any health risks to your T's, try olive oil to get rid of the reptile mites. Rub your snakes down with a THIN coating of oil, use a q-tip to get around pits, eyes and nostrils. Put them in pillowcases for 20 minutes or so. While they're sitting,c lean your tanks with hot, soapy water (a small amount of dish soap is fine) and 1/4 cup of regular bleach per gallon of water. Just use plain bleach, not the scented or splash-proof. Rinse, rinse, rinse with hot tap water and dry well. Make sure the frame doesn't come off! If it does, carefully take it off and make sure no mites have gotten under it.
The olive oil is completely harmless to your snakes, but will smother the mites. It will also induce shedding, which will get rid of any pesky eggs that may have survived. Keep your guys on newspaper until you're sure all the little blood suckers are gone. I've been using this method for years and it's never failed me. Best of luck!

Latha math an drasda

Galadriel

 

[Siienceofdeath]

I know this is an older post but I felt the need to respond. Baby oil as well as olive oil are great. I had (he passed from old age :8o ) an alligator lizard that i saved from some neighborhood kids. He had many mites and so I gave him a baby oil bath. After drying him off and rinsing him most of the mites came off, but I did have to gently lift his scales to remove the dead ones to make sure none were left there to rott. The whole process was painless and Fred even seemed to enjoy the grooming, I even got a lick on the nose after I was done.

 

[CaseyG]

non-chemical mite treatment

To avoid any health risks to your T's, try olive oil to get rid of the reptile mites. Rub your snakes down with a THIN coating of oil, use a q-tip to get around pits, eyes and nostrils. Put them in pillowcases for 20 minutes or so. While they're sitting,c lean your tanks with hot, soapy water (a small amount of dish soap is fine) and 1/4 cup of regular bleach per gallon of water. Just use plain bleach, not the scented or splash-proof. Rinse, rinse, rinse with hot tap water and dry well. Make sure the frame doesn't come off! If it does, carefully take it off and make sure no mites have gotten under it.
The olive oil is completely harmless to your snakes, but will smother the mites. It will also induce shedding, which will get rid of any pesky eggs that may have survived. Keep your guys on newspaper until you're sure all the little blood suckers are gone. I've been using this method for years and it's never failed me. Best of luck!

Latha math an drasda

Galadriel

Just got 2 snakes from a show who were only 15 dollars...found it odd. Also found it odd he had them on straw. They are infested and have RIs how many times should I do this treatment for mites?

 

[arthurliuyz]

Just got 2 snakes from a show who were only 15 dollars...found it odd. Also found it odd he had them on straw. They are infested and have RIs how many times should I do this treatment for mites?

That user was last seen in 2008. Don't think you are going to get a response any time soon.