A way of mite prevention and treatment, informative thread. - Page 3

**Tsubaki** · 04-06-15, 01:47 AM

Prairiepanda, yes i agree. Using Nix when you keep tarantulas is a very poor idea, i like to use nix (loxazol currently, nix has been discontinued here) to treat new animals that don't have natural bedding, but when i still had my spider i wouldn't consider it!

Thx D Grade.

pet_snake_78 · 04-06-15, 06:13 PM

Seems like a good idea. Did some googling and one fellow tested predatory mites on some mite infested rat snakes. It cleared all visible mites when the snakes were kept on a substrate but did not clear mites when the snakes were housed on paper towels (too dry and not enough hiding places I assume). The companies also have to grow the predatory mites on some grain mites which are apparently harmless to reptiles.

I hope to never need such a thing, but I think I would give it a shot as a first attempt in a well established collection.

**Tsubaki** · 04-07-15, 03:23 AM

And it can never hurt as prevention either, they do indeed need hiding places and prefer a bit of moisture (and they survive hotter enclosures in the bedding, so dry bedding will take away their day activity). However i can vouch that if you keep your snakes on dry wood chunks the predatory mites can still survive and thrive if you provide them with nesting area's. You have to maintain the humidity levels in them with soft misting, so the eggs are able to hatch. It will take slightly longer to clear a true infestation this way, because the mites will take longer to thrive. But it still works.

**Tsubaki** · 11-12-16, 09:28 AM

Just a Bump!

Updated this topic!

dannybgoode · 11-12-16, 11:28 AM

If I ever suffer mites I will user predatory mites - no question. Why use chemicals when these guys are available?!

I know of bioactive keepers who have the them present all the time. They will feed off springtails but not to the extent of overwhelming the population. They are then there ready in case.

I know of other keepers who 'dose' their tanks with predatory mites every so often such as you would worm a dog-a purely precautionary measure.

Luckily in the UK we have an excellent supplier of them.

**Tsubaki** · 12-12-16, 10:43 AM

I do the same, dose the terrariums once every 6 months. I only use chemicals on new arrivals, as a precaution. Because actually finding out if they have mites is a little hard when predatory mites are already roaming, so i put them on white paper after using nix and check the paper for dead mites!

Jim Smith · 12-12-16, 10:57 AM

Outstanding description of treating and preventing mites. Thank you for taking the time to explain your methods and I will use them (especially the preventions) from now on.

Churro · 01-03-17, 05:02 PM

Thanks for this thread. Very helpful

**Tsubaki** · 01-03-17, 06:00 PM

No problem, glad if it was of any help.

GyGbeetle · 01-03-17, 06:24 PM

I may have missed it, but how often does everyone do their preventative treatments? I was thinking about this very 3 months giving all the enclosure a Nix treatment, but wasn't sure if that was too much. Also, the stuff leaves a residue on the windows. How long should I wait to clean off the residue?

**Andy_G** · 01-03-17, 06:29 PM

Residue is part of what does the killing. Wait until your mite problems are gone before cleaning it. You don't need to do preventative treatments as snake mites will only come from snakes (or people who have snake mites, or something you handle and they hitch hike home etc.) or from substrate that has been purchased where snake mites are around and they hitched a ride home. You must treat the source. If it's a new snake coming in, spray it with nix as it comes in the door and a few more times in quarantine. If it's substrate (I've NEVER gotten mites from substrate but some people certainly make the claim to have), leave it away for long enough for mites to die off or treat it if you need to via freezing or spraying. If it's you or someone else who has come into contact with mites at a show, treat your hands and change your clothes before you go near your snakes. It's much easier to use these prevention methods than it is to proactively treat the whole collection, and it would also cut down their exposure which is also a plus.

**Tsubaki** · 01-03-17, 06:32 PM

I do it once every 6 to 12 months depending on my paranoia level(usually 6 haha), I work preventive with predatory mites though.. no residue. When I'm using nix I don't wash anything off until the mites are gone, I'm not a fan of preventative treating with chemicals. I do spray any tub/enclosure/attribute that's unused though. You could leave it on for a week and clean the windows.. I would seriously reconsider every 3 months. You're exposing your animals to chemicals, shouldn't be something you do unnecessarily much.

.. Predatory mites are the way to go unless you have a terrible outbreak imo.

GyGbeetle · 01-03-17, 06:45 PM

We most likely carried hitch hikers home from a show. Our collection is in our bedroom, so where do we change and do we wash the clothes immediately? This may sound dumb, I just have to know, because we literally showered when we came home, and changed into jammies, and the mites still found a way. So we did something wrong.

pet_snake_78 · 01-04-17, 01:06 AM

When I go to reptile shows, I set out a pair of clothes next to the shower before I leave. As soon as I get home, I throw my old clothes in the washing machine, jump in the shower, and then put on new clothes.

**Tsubaki** · 01-04-17, 06:19 AM

I do the same as pet snake, luckily my snakes aren't in my bedroom.