Ugggg in quarintine for mites now, any suggestions?

[aron77]

My sister's BT died the other day and we strongly suspect it was due to mites because he was pretty infested with them. We got them about two months ago and mine came from the same pet store and same cage so I've been looking for mites but I hadn't seen any signs of them and I was thinking I somehow got lucky. Then today she was in shed and I was just holding her and inspecting her and I saw a mite and now I'm super paranoid because my sister's just died. I immediately put her in the bath tub and soaked her for about a half hour and the rest of her shed came off but I didn't see any more mites. She does have some scales that I think look funny but I'm new to BT's so it is hard for me to say what looks funny, is it her normal pattern IDK. After the bath I took everything out of her cage and cleaned it with dawn dish soap and I put her back in it with only paper towels. I threw the substrate and moss away and even poured bleach on it I the trash can to kill anything in there. I cleaned her furniture and also everywhere but inside the cage with "reptile spray" from petco which is suppose to kill mites and I'm just leaving it to air out for a few days or until the quarantine is over; this is the same spray my sister used on hers a week or two ago.

I am really sad about my sister's dying and I am terrified that mine is going to die too. My sister came over and looked at her for about an hour and didn't see a single mite after the bath and shed, she could see them all over hers before she started treating it. Maybe I am just projecting but with only paper towels and a random box I could find for a hide she looks depressed in her cage, it was beautiful before and I had just gotten my humidity up too. What should I do to minimize stress? At this stage I'm going to try to do this without chemicals and just keep her in quarantine and keep giving her baths, she doesn't appear to be as badly infested as my sister's was so I'm hoping this works. I can't say that the "reptile spray" from petco contributed to my sister's bt's death but I can't rule it out either so I will only use chemicals if I have to. My next step if I see any mites, and I'm guessing they will be easier to see on the paper towels,will be to use olive oil and then the reptile spray.

I'm just so worried she is going to die.

[alichamp]

Hi. I have just been treating for mites for the last few weeks too as have quite a few members on the forum. These are the things that I have been doing, an accumulation of painstakingly reading through posts from the search function and also advice from my local reptile store.

Firstly, I am very sorry for you and your sister for the death of her bluey.

Secondly, well done you for noticing the mites and taking swift action.

Here is my list:
- yes, keep everything like substrate and accessories out for a few weeks and treat them weekly by washing and spraying with the spray. Paper towels is good for the next several weeks, you can add things like empty tissue boxes, cardboard rolls and old cardboard tea boxes in the meantime. These are easy to throw away if they get soiled.
- for the enclosure itself, not sure what type you have. I have a glass one and this is what I did. Clean the enclosure every week with a bleach and water solution, leave for 15 minutes then rinse with water and dry off thoroughly. Spray around the outside of the enclosure and the surrounding area with petherine based fly/insect spray.
- once it is completely dry, use the reptile spray inside the enclosure with the reptile inside it once a week, although I did use it every 3-5 days for the first couple of treatments because I wanted to treat aggresively.
- continue treatment for at least 30 days, as I believe (though not certain) that is the approximate life cycle of mites.

In my opinion, regular baths are not necessary if you are treating the mites as above, although can help to soothe and drown mites in the body if particularly irritated or infested.

VERY IMPORTANT:
I don't know about your particular product but I was told the spray can be toxic when in contact with water, so ensure your reptile and the enclosure is absolutely completely unquestionably dry before you spray anything, and remove all water and food from the enclosure before spraying and don't return it to the cage for 24 hours after spraying.

These are just the things that I did. I will say that I very much a newbie here, so others will hopefully add their suggestions and correct any wrong information that I may have posted.

[alichamp]

And they can be happy with cardboard accessories if they provide hide and a bit of stimulation. Mine loves climbing through the little holes of this one even though he only just fits!