BT that had mites is dead....

[aron77]

My sister went to feed her BT and found it dead. We each bought one from a pet store that misidentified them both, hers turned out to be an IJ and mine a merauke and we were upset since we planned to breed, and within a few weeks she discovered hers had mites. I helped her do some research on the many ways people treat them and we decided to start with some mite spray from petco. She followed the instructions and treated him a week or two ago and then has since been giving him baths every day or two and then today he is dead. All along he has been eating like a horse and has grown twice as much as mine since we got them so he appeared to be healthy other than the mites. It's been about two months since we got them and she is going to call the pet store tomorrow to see if they will do anything but I have my doubts that after two months they are going to do anything. She is a school teacher and this was supposed to be a classroom pet so she is pretty upset about this because her students knew he was coming once he first settled in and then after the mite discovery got over the mites. I told her she needs to do a necropsy but what would you think is the most likely cause of death, the mites or the mite spray?

If anyone has a merauke available PM me and I'll buy her one.

[Scotts1au]

Sorry for your sister's loss.

Did the spray contain Permethrin? I have found that Permethrin knocks mites out pretty much straight away. Really the only way to deal with mites is to use this sort of product because the longer an infestation goes on, the lower the hopes of recovery.

You mention that it was within a few weeks of getting the bluey that it got mites, but you had the bluey for 2 months? After the first application of a Permethrin based spray you shouldn't see another mite - or only the odd one.

Long term infestations lead to weakening due to blood loss and blood infections.

[aron77]

Sorry for your sister's loss.

Did the spray contain Permethrin? I have found that Permethrin knocks mites out pretty much straight away. Really the only way to deal with mites is to use this sort of product because the longer an infestation goes on, the lower the hopes of recovery.

I"m not certain if that was the active ingredient. We got the spray at petco and I think it was called mite off or something like that.


You mention that it was within a few weeks of getting the bluey that it got mites, but you had the bluey for 2 months? After the first application of a Permethrin based spray you shouldn't see another mite - or only the odd one.

I'm assuming it came with mites because it is an IJ which are known for being wild caught even though they assured it was captive bred. For the first few weeks he was very skittish so he wasn't handled or seen much and it was only after he started being handled more that they were noticed. I'm not certain but I don't think she saw mites after application a week or two ago, at one point after application his skin had a white flakey substance on it so she started giving him baths and the substance disappeared but she just kept treating him with baths every couple of days until he died.

Long term infestations lead to weakening due to blood loss and blood infections.

I'm guessing it was the mites, and who knows what other parasites he could have had if he was wild caught, because he got treated over a week ago and if it was the spray I would assume he would have died sooner. I'm just very saddened by the whole ordeal and I definitely will never set foot in Miles of Exotics in north Kansas City ever again.

[Scotts1au]

The white flakey substance is mite poo from digesting and expelling blood. Generally if you can see this, the infestation is bad and prognosis is poor unless the mites are removed quickly.

Does sound likely that the cause of death had something to do with a combination of factors. For instance many wild caught blueys - as I understand it, don't live long enough to get sold, let alone what happens if something else goes wrong.

I get little worried sometimes that these stories end up being interpreted as "don't use permethrin based mite sprays" or similar without people understanding the whole story.

It would be good if you could find the product that was used. Thanks for sharing your story.

[Richard.C]

Mites isnt just a wild caughts thing,captive breds often harbour them as well,places like reptile dealers are a common way for them tp spread about with the high turnover of reptiles coming into dealers hands from lots of different sources

Where the blueys young/small,juveniles in particular often go down hill fast when theu have a decenct bout of mites

[Richard.C]

If it was eating well and behaving like normal for a couple of weeks after treatment one would think it wasnt the actual treatment that caused the death,eg from poisoning

[timisimaginary]

my BTS had a mite infection that took several months to clear up. he was only a little over 100g when i took him from my niece (definitely smaller than that when she first got him). a year later he's doing fine, topping out over 700g, no signs of mites. i have a hard time thinking mites alone could cause this death, especially if he seemed healthy and active right up until dying. i would expect a more noticeable decline before death if mites were the issue.

without a necropsy, the only thing anyone can do is guess. considering the sudden and unexpected death, there are just too many possibilities ranging from an internal parasite infection (these can flare up suddenly especially in a young or vulnerable animal), ingestion of a poisonous substance completely unrelated to the mites or mite spray, or any number of other factors.

for reference, my BTS was treated with at least 3 different anti-mite sprays in the course of his treatment, including Reptile Relief (sold at Petco, i believe using all natural ingredients not known to be toxic) before i had him, and then a combination of vet-prescribed Ivermectin spray on the BTS and Provent-A-Mite (permethrin-based i believe) for cage sanitizing. after a month of weekly Ivermectin treatments and thorough cage cleaning and sanitizing, my BTS was mite-free with no lasting ill effects, except perhaps a grudge towards me for all the treatment he suffered through at my hands. it's always possible to overexpose an animal to a toxic substance, and any chemical designed to kill is likely to be toxic in high enough concentrations. but it doesn't sound like he was treated recently before the death, so that seems unlikely in this case.