[Mites] Mites on male red tail boa

[STCAnimalRescue]

Can anyone tell me good ways to get rid of them

[Zaphod42]

Re: Mites on male red tail boa

I've only had to deal with mites once with my collection but I've helped a few other people through it. This is what worked best for us.

Step 1) Put snake into a tub and spray with a mite spray like this one - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...oop_bw_c_x_1_w

Step 2) Wipe down entire cage with a disinfectant including hides and water bowls, I usually toss all the water bowls into a bucket with warm water and a little bit of dishwashing liquid.

Step 3) Spray entire cage with Provent-A-Mite, aka PAM. Put down either paper towels or something like Kraft paper for the substrate, put hides back into cage. Spray all of that with PAM as well.

Step 3) Let cage completely air out for at least 30 minutes, everything should be dry and you shouldn't be able to smell any of the fumes. I usually put a fan in front of the cages to help air it out, if one isn't available I wait a little longer. During this time I usually take the snakes that I sprayed with the mite spray and move them to a tub with room temperature water for them to soak in.

Step 4) Put the snakes back in the cage and treat them again in 3-4 days, i.e. spray with mite spray and then 30 minutes later let them soak in some water for another 30 minutes. Some people will just spray them with the mite spray (don't spray them in the eyes/spray) and I've done that if I'm in a hurry and don't have time to soak them. But the spray can dehydrate your snake, as long as they have access to clean water they'll be okay but sometimes it will cause shedding problems. Repeat this process for 3 weeks. After three weeks you should be good assuming you haven't seen any mites during that time.

Step 5) PAM is supposed to last for 30 days without needing to be reapplied. If I have to completely clean the cage during the time I'm treating for mites though, i.e. snake made a mess and everything needs to get wiped down. Then I treat the entire cage again. But if I only need to spot clean then I don't bother retreating. I also continue treating with PAM for a few weeks after I stop treating the snake even if I don't see any mites.

The key for getting mites under control is to treat aggressively. Just because you can't see them doesn't mean they're gone, and it's frustrating to treat for a week and then stop thinking you're safe only to see mites again in 2 weeks. When I was volunteering for a reptile rescue in CA we treated the cages with PAM every time we did a cleaning just in case. And every incoming reptile was placed in quarantine and treated for mites whether we could see them or not.

[acephantom903]

Re: Mites on male red tail boa

I will add that I use PAM (Provent-A-Mite) monthly to prevent mites as my animal is used for education. I have only one animal currently and one can can last a long time. If I had 10 or more animals I might not do a monthly application as that would probably use up a can every 2 months and PAM isn't cheap.