| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| shotputtman |
Posted - 28/03/2013 : 22:04:04
Picked up our second Corn from a local shop last Friday, we all fell in love with him straight away.
When in the shop i noticed a flake/scale by his right eye and was assured he was about to shed.
Took him home and put him in to his Faun. Temp was all set etc and ready.
Obviously kept an eye on him but left alone to settle.
Picked him up this eve and immediately noticed my hands were Covered in black specs, must be 20-30 of them and to my horror were all moving.
Before i could put him down he also started to shed in my hand and they were all over him.
Unfortunately his eye is still inflamed/raised scale.
I have ran him through a warm towel to remove what i can and have thrown away all the internals of the faun setup apart from the resin house and water bowl.
I will be taking back to the shop tomorrow which my kids are very upset but im now concerned for our 18month old female.
They haven't been in the same viv but the newbie has been setup right next to the large viv.
What is the chance of the mites leaving the faun and entering the viv and infecting Mrs Houdini???
As much as we don't want to return the baby we certainly dont want our female to get mites as well.
Any advice will be gratfully received.
Thank you
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| 7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Foxtrotsierra |
Posted - 29/03/2013 : 13:26:02
Oh shotputtman, I am so sorry to hear about that, especially for your little ones.
I am so glad the pet shop did the (half) decent thing and gave you some Frontline for Mrs Houdini's tank.
I am thinking of getting another corn snake in the next few months but fortunately I asked how far away I should put the new viv as, as you did, thought they would be OK in the same room - it was only when I was told that quarantining in a different room was needed that I realized that is was necessary. I genuinely didn't know either, so don't blame yourself at all. It was more of an off the cuff request that gave me the information from the very knowledgeable members on here. This is the thread (please excuse the tangent it went off to after page 2, it is not pertinent to quarantining)
http://www.thecornsnake.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=28288
Hope everything goes ok, and please let us know how Mrs Houdini is  |
| herriotfan |
Posted - 29/03/2013 : 12:55:27
Oh dear, what a nightmare!!
Good luck with getting shot of the pesky little sods. |
| Donnie |
Posted - 29/03/2013 : 12:10:53
We all make mistakes and as long as nobody/nothing was harmed and as long as you learn from them that is the main thing.
Before you use the frontline do a bit of reading up on it to make sure you get the mix ratio right as I have heard a couple of bad things from people using it incorrectly. |
| shotputtman |
Posted - 29/03/2013 : 11:10:22
Thanks to all.
I took the newbie back to the shop and the snake "expert" came to see me. He agreed that the raised area by its eye was something to be concerned about, he proceeded to rub the area like a gentle massage and the area instantly started to bleed. Straight away 2 mites came out the inflamed area, he got a magnifiing glass out and said he could see more moving too...
Poor little man. I have left it with the shop and while i was there they contacted the breeder to let him know and to check his stock..
They have given me a little bottle of Frontline to treat Mrs Houdini's tank which i will strip this afternoon.
Big lesson learnt here, dissapointed with myself as i thought quarantined in a different tank would be fine. |
| Donnie |
Posted - 29/03/2013 : 00:11:02
This is one reason why quarantine procedures should be followed when getting a new snake and as you didn't quarantine your new addition and set it up right next to your existing snake the chances of your female having mites are extremely high and both must be treated for them. But don't worry, they are a pain and it's annoying to get them but you can easily treat them and there is no real reason to give him back to the shop as they are now in your collection anyway (should also keep your kids a bit happier as well if he stays).
I used Callingtons when I got them and it worked well and after a couple of treatments they had gone. What I did was to remove the water from their enclosure leaving everything else in and then spray Callingtons in there (and I sprayed all the area around the vivs as well). After 24 hours put the water back in. It doesn't kill the eggs so you have to re-treat to break the cycle. After another day I completely cleaned out the enclosures and binned everything barring the hides and waterbowl that all got thoroughly washed and then used kitchen roll as substrate (I also gave their vivs a quick spray again after cleaning but not with the snakes in this time just to make sure there was nothing living in there). 1 week after the original treatment I removed water and sprayed again and left them on kitchen roll for at least 4 more weeks to ensure I didn't see any of them again.
Hopefully I have covered it all for you (it is late and I am goosed) good luck
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| Kellog |
Posted - 28/03/2013 : 22:45:31
That's not good news Sean  . I've had to deal with mites once and NEVER want to again  !!
As Figs has said, you need to assume that the mites have travelled to Mrs Houdini's viv....it's better to be safe than sorry. The viv needs a thorough clean and everything in it. I'd then put her back in it on kitchen roll, because that way you can easily see any black 'spots' crawling around or red blood spots, which means mites are still present.
There are good threads on here about mite treatment, but I do wonder if you just need to give her viv a thorough clean and her a bath to make sure.....and hopefully you'll have caught them in time. I wouldn't want to put her through unnecessary mite treatment....although, as I've said, it is better to be safe than sorry.
Your poor kids, it's no surprise they're upset....and you. I hope you'll be having a few strong words with that pet shop owner !
Xxx
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| Figs |
Posted - 28/03/2013 : 22:09:37
Mites are right little blighters!!
If the little faun is right next to Mrs Houdini's viv, its very likely that they have jumped accross; especially if there was so many of them.
Regardless, I'd treat her and her home for them just in case. Better safe than sorry
If you haven't already, you'll need to get some mite treatment - I used Callingtons with no trouble.
Just a bath wont do much to get rid of the mites off the little snake either; a soak in water & vegetable oil every couple of days (plus spraying vivs) sorted mine out pretty quick
Good luck! |
