| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Twi |
Posted - 20/02/2010 : 21:14:48
Well, i went to check if mouse has shed noticed he has mites :/ Which means first thing tuesday mornign when i get paid im off to get stuff to kill those. I read reptile relife is good for mites on snakes and vivs. Anyone got any other ideas? I want to get rid of them now but i have no money till tuesday D:
Anyway after picking at the mites i could see on him I washed my hands and jumped around a bit squeeling cause my skins crawling. I decided to check mums snake hasnt got them too. She turned aroudn and wacked me right on the finger O.O no blood but it was a shock. Her and gigner seem mite free but i will probably treat them all and all vivs to make sure. |
| 9 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Kellog |
Posted - 23/02/2010 : 11:29:34
quote:
Originally posted by mikerichards
Don't use just water to bathe the snake, the mites create a trapped air bubble around themselves using surface tension to hold it...........
Also, mites will live on kitchen roll no problem........
Thanks Mike, I didnt realise either of those 2 things.
I must admit that the way we treated Kellog did work, with regular bathing in just water and running him through our hands in the water, then through damp kitchen roll, then dry kitchen roll. Changed the kitchen roll in his viv every day and regularly cleaned it as well.
I do appreciate you pointing out that my advise was not correct though, I will have to adjust it!! You think you learn from experience but sometimes you just dont learn enough  .
xxx |
| mikerichards |
Posted - 23/02/2010 : 10:54:43
Don't use just water to bathe the snake, the mites create a trapped air bubble around themselves using surface tension to hold it, mix a fair amount of fairy liquid into the water, this destroys the surface tension, meaning the mites can't trap an air bubble around themselves.
Also, mites will live on kitchen roll no problem, they will travel upto 50ft per day in search of food, so even if the others don't have them, it won't be long before they do. Don't use anything other than soapy water on the snake, you don't need to, but thoroughly dose the viv, in all the corners and any nooks and crannys they can lay in. Mites have a life cycle between 10 and 40 days, temp dependant, so keep a close eye out. Frontline is a very good way to treat vivs, its also worth spraying around the base on the outside too as it will stop others from migrating to it. 1 treatment of frontline is all that's needed as it stays active for 3 months, but is harmless to the snake at that point, as far as I know.
Treat everything as being infected, that was my recent mistake, now I have to do it all again, with the exception of those I frontlined. Have a look on www.vpi.com for a lot of good info on mites. |
| Twi |
Posted - 23/02/2010 : 10:29:59
Yup, I think normal was striking cause they were irritating her, shes a skittish snake naturally it seems but shes back to her friendly self after the oil bath, some temorary relief for her till I can get to shop today, just waiting for mum to come pick me up now. Her eyes look a mess, which is a shame cause shes recently shed just a week ago and was looking very shiney and pretty.
Edit: really need to look at what i type xD |
| Kellog |
Posted - 23/02/2010 : 10:28:28
quote:
Originally posted by Twi
........ Hopefully get it sorted for good today.
Just be aware that it can take up to 6 weeks for the full process to done and the snakes to be completely clear...so you have a long way to go.
xxx |
| Twi |
Posted - 23/02/2010 : 10:17:52
I have no idea, I've had Normal and Mouse well over amonth now, I know from eggs and laval they next to invisible to naked eye till they're older. We're assuming they were either on them when we bought them or in the aspen. But that doesnt really make sense witht he aspen cause they were in the same aspen I bought them with so it would be the same time line so all I can think is they must have had them when we bought them and because the ones on Mouse were fully grown and hes white it makes it easier to spot them. Ginger doesnt seem to have any but they all getting treated today when I get back from shopping just to make sure cause I have held mouse then Ginger before finding out so I'm guessing he must have some or hes a very lucky snake. Mouse shed and both him and Norm had a oil bath to give them some relief for now, they not enjoying their newspaper bedding though, they want their aspen back lol. Hopefully get it sorted for good today. |
| Kellog |
Posted - 23/02/2010 : 09:36:30
I am so sorry to hear about Mouse (and your being tagged, of course  )!!! Do you know where he got them from? I didnt think they could just 'appear'???
Kellog had mites, so I can only talk from my own experience. But what we did, did work and didnt cost us anything. It does take time, but it is very necessary.
We discovered he had mites a few days after we came back from holiday. He had been 'kenneled' at a reptile shop we use and must have caught them there - although none of their other snakes showed signs of them. We were lucky because he went blue while we were away and it was just before he started to shed that my son noticed and asked what all the little black spots were running all over him! He then started shedding and it was manic...he was literally trying to tear his skin off . Think up until then, because he was going into shed, he hadnt felt them properly and had shown no change in behaviour or anything.
My OH acted quickly and immediately got him out and into water to help rid him of the rest of his shed. We then bathed him again and ran him through damp kitchen roll in our hands and then dry kitchen roll. This way you can then look at the kitchen roll for black spots (mites) and red spots (blood). We totally emptied the viv, threw out the substrate, disinfected everything (as you have) and then put viv back together with only his hide and water bowl, on kitchen roll not substrate (again allowing you to check for mites and blood). I think that mites can stay alive on substrate for a period but cannot on kitchen roll, but am not sure about this so please someone correct me if I am wrong.
When you bath them you need to make sure the bath is clean, with no residue of shampoo or soap in it, and that the temp is approx 25oC, so feels just cool of lukewarm...if that makes sense.
We changed the kitchen roll in his viv daily and bathed him every couple of days. The problem is the eggs they lay, you have to wait until they hatch and then catch them before they can lay any more. The whole process took 6 weeks before we were happy that he was mite free. I think we could have probably returned his viv to normal a week or so before that but it is better to be 100% sure. When we did return his viv to normal we made sure we had baked any wood that had previously been in there and again disinfected everything else. You already know that you must wait a while before returning your snake to the viv after disinfecting it to allow the fumes to disperse.
We continued to offer Kellog food during this period and he ate as normal. We did not handle him though, except for when it was bath time.
We did try the oil in the bath, but all it did was make the bath slimy, Kellog slimy and my OH slimy! Dont think it actually helped much at all. I know you can use chemical treatments for it but we wanted to use that as a last resort.
What is vital at the moment is hygiene....especially when you are handling Ginger and your mum's snake. Make sure you wash your hands before you handle each snake or anything to do with each snake after handling each of them.
I hope this is of some help. It was hard work but it got rid of them in the end and was worth it. I still remember him trying to tear his skin off and it was horrific .
Keep us informed as to how you get on.
xxx
|
| Twi |
Posted - 21/02/2010 : 16:38:14
Hahaha it's totally not worth seeing theres no marks left now, i just had a red snake mouth print on my finger for a while, I'm just glad it was the smallest one not Ginger XD |
| Lewy |
Posted - 21/02/2010 : 15:15:22
Where's the bite pics?
We always like to see war wounds  |
| lee2308 |
Posted - 20/02/2010 : 22:00:58
http://www.thecornsnake.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7957
There are 4 stickys on mites in the health section that are worth a read,good luck |
|
|
