[Mites] Senior keepers plz help

[joshua.britto]

Mite questions please. I have had this fight before and it cost me a lovely bci neonate(mites that is). I discovered mites in a cage of my lil male hypo and treated him with equate brand shampoo (nix treament) for lice. (at 1:64 dillution(2 oz bottle to 1 gallon distilled water)),mixed water and filled new spray bottle with solution and sprayed the animal thourghly and new enclosure that they were sequested to. I also removed water dish for24hrs and then returned it clean. Treated the animal in the same fashion 3 more times every 7-10 days. Now he's eating but regurging 24-72 hours after eating...i am concerned he has done this 3x..any advice?

[Ace of Snakes]

Re: Senior keepers plz help

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Do not worry too much. This is easy to take care of in my opinion. I had mites and no longer have any period.

Ok, so to start with, You need to treat every cage since they will just move from one snake to the next. Go to Welcome to Pro-Products! and buy a few cans of Provent a mite. This stuff works great and I always have a few cans sitting around.

The first thing I did was to take all snakes and put them in plastic tubs filled with water and baby shampoo. I let my snakes soak for about 4 hours. The baby shampoo will help get out the air bubbles under the scales. This will drown most of them but not all and not their eggs.

While they are soaking, clean the cage with a bleach soloution and wash with water. Put your substrate back in and spray with provent a mite. I even spary logs, trees etc. Just make sure the water dish is not in the cage. Let the vapors leave and the P.A.M. dry and put in your fresh water and snakes back in.

BAM......that all. Repeat process in 2 weeks another 2 times and you should be good. Remember to treat all cages.

As part of my routine, I spray with Provent a mite about every 2-3 months now and have not seen a mite since.

Good luck and welcome to the forum again.

[joshua.britto]

Re: Senior keepers plz help

the question is aimed more toward the regurgitation any thoughts?

[MLynch]

Re: Senior keepers plz help

Back off on feeding. If your boa has regurg'd then the last thing you want to do is try to feed him again. A regurg is very stressful on a snake's system... especially on young snakes.

My suggestion: stop the shampoo spray treatment for now, get some Provent-A-Mite (if you have to order it let him soak in 80-82 degree untreated water 2-3 hours twice a day until the PAM arrives), once you get the PAM remove the boa and water from the cage, spray down the substrate giving it a good even coating. Let it stand for about an hour with the cage open to let the aerosol vapor evaporate and settle (make sure your boa, or other boas are not in the same room that you are spraying). Once the vapor has dried/evaporated it's safe to return the snake and water.

After that don't fuss with your boa for a while... I'd say 5 to 7 days... maybe 10. He's been through a lot with vomiting. He needs to de-stress. The PAM will help kill the mites in the cage and on the boa while you let him settle down.

I'm not sure, but if I had to guess I'd say the regurgitation is related to the shampoo spray. When using it are you spraying his head? If you continue to use it after the de-stress period try avoiding his head. He may have accidentally swallowed some. It landed on his tongue as he was flicking, or it was on his moth as his tongue came out.

As for feeding - I'd wait at lest two weeks before trying again.

[joshua.britto]

Re: Senior keepers plz help

thank u... as for treating im done ..havent seen one in three weeks, but i have also removed the snake into a brand new untreated cage and will not offer foo for ten days maybe a soak or two during this period,, sound like a good course of action?

[jgonzalez305]

Re: Senior keepers plz help

hi Joshua, I hope you are using white paper substrate to make sure you dont find any mites (they stand out clearly)....there could have been some left over eggs...Paper towel is perfect....(again this is just to be sure) if something does hatch use Provent-A-Mite...I don't know where in Florida you live but if you live in Miami call snakes at sunset I believe I saw a bottle or two...


About the regurgitation...weigh your snake...make sure he dose not lose more than 10% of his weight...

but just let him recover...you must make sure he has the raise the temps 82 to 84 for ambient and 92 for basking ..and fresh water...raise the humidity about 5% since he has lost some fluid regurgitating

Let him sit in his hide and wait 10 - 15 days do not handle him at all....(unless you find more mites)
I don't know how big he is but start feeding him Rat pinkies or fuzzy Rat
or something about half the size of what you were feeding him..

take a stool sample to the vet...

Joshua here is a link to the "Ultimate Care Manual" For Boa Constrictors it has tons of helpful info and was created by the Masterminds of this forum...

RedTailBoas Presents the Ultimate Boa Care Guide!

[Boa Amarali]

Re: Senior keepers plz help

the question is aimed more toward the regurgitation any thoughts?

The regurge problem at this point is very serious. In fact many Boas / most
baby babies don't live past or after third regurge

Ypu are gonna need to replenish this Boa Stomach faunna

Bene-Bac or even plain yogurt will aid you in this effort.

Back off feeding for two weeks keep humidity high provide fresh water daily.

At two weeks mark feed a meal at least half the size the Boa was eating.

Furless mice are also very helpful for the first few meals
when recovery from regurge

For the Bennabac sprinkle it on the Boas food before feeding

For yogurt depending on the Boa size squirt about a 1/4 to 1/2 cc ( 25 -50 units)
down two days before feeding

[jgonzalez305]

Re: Senior keepers plz help

The regurge problem at this point is very serious. In fact many Boas / most
baby babies don't live past or after third regurge

Ypu are gonna need to replenish this Boa Stomach faunna

Bene-Bac or even plain yogurt will aid you in this effort.

Back off feeding for two weeks keep humidity high provide fresh water daily.

At two weeks mark feed a meal at least half the size the Boa was eating.

Furless mice are also very helpful for the first few meals
when recovery from regurge

For the Bennabac sprinkle it on the Boas food before feeding

For yogurt depending on the Boa size squirt about a 1/4 to 1/2 cc ( 25 -50 units)
down two days before feeding

nice....makes sense to replenish the stomach enzyme's and good to know......i love this place you learn something every day

[Boa Amarali]

Re: Senior keepers plz help

nice....makes sense to replenish the stomach enzyme's and good to know......i love this place you learn something every day

Thanks Jason glad this was a helpful item for you and hopefully others

I had heard about using yogurt quite sometime ago, but I was apprehnsive
Then I got my tiny Hypo Leopard and he needed help


He was teeny tiny and needed help with nourishment etc..

Ed Lilley from Constrictors Northwest suggested I
give it a shot cause he used several times in similar situations.
That's all I needed to hear was somebody having had good results using it

It helped my little guy right along, his wasn't a regurge problem but he had
an umbilical twist so he didn't get the nourishment
he needed during gestation.

[joshua.britto]

Re: Senior keepers plz help

the boa is small i havent weighed him this month, but he is about 18 inches long and a nice build, as for the yougurt treatment, 1/4 cc using a syringe 2 days before feeing correct? will this not stress him out further?

[Boa Amarali]

Re: Senior keepers plz help

the boa is small i havent weighed him this month, but he is about 18 inches long and a nice build, as for the yougurt treatment, 1/4 cc using a syringe 2 days before feeing correct? will this not stress him out further?

Nope that should help him out. The problem is after three regurges
he could be in pretty bad shape. I'd use a pinky or very small
hairless mouse to feed him his next first meal after the 14 day break.

[joshua.britto]

Re: Senior keepers plz help

cool thanks, the three regurges were all within twelve days so hopefully he is not too malnurished. (he was a rescue)boas arent really my forte' but have been growing on me greatly as of late, always have kept pythons, so regurging is much less predominate. I am enjoying keeping hopefully this works thank you very much for the info..... any advice on the administration as far insertion techniques/depth 1 1/2 or closer to 2 1/2?

[Boa Amarali]

Re: Senior keepers plz help

cool thanks, the three regurges were all within twelve days so hopefully he is not too malnurished. (he was a rescue)boas arent really my forte' but have been growing on me greatly as of late, always have kept pythons, so regurging is much less predominate. I am enjoying keeping hopefully this works thank you very much for the info..... any advice on the administration as far insertion techniques/depth 1 1/2 or closer to 2 1/2?

There are a few ways to administer you can just use a syringe (no needle of course)

The better way is a syringe with a tube that you can slip into the boas
mouth and slide it down closer into the stomach area.


They also make special feeder syringes especially for this process
that are metal and some plastic I think that have a sort round ball
at the end of the tube , so when you insert it down the esophagus
it doesn't scrape and cause injury

I have been using just a plain syringe when I've done it but for bigger
larger boas I need to get a very large syringe and plastic tube
Other wise it becomes a loosing battle

but for babies, a syringe or syringe and sml gauge plastic tube

http://www.reptilebasics.com/feeding-dosing-needles/

[joshua.britto]

Re: Senior keepers plz help

how far in?

[Boa Amarali]

Re: Senior keepers plz help

Anywhere from the back of the throat to 1-2 inches down.
With that feeding tube like reptilebasics sells I think you
can go pretty far down with no problems