Mites

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SarahKathleen
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Mites

Postby SarahKathleen » Thu May 30, 2013 9:23 am

Every time my Blue Tongue Skink sheds or right before she is getting mites? Is their a way to stop them. I am changing her bedding once a week. Cleaning it out with water and spraying it with mite spray and wash it out. I also spray her with mite spray every 3 days, but this can't be good for her. Any advice?
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Bird_Brain
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Re: Mites

Postby Bird_Brain » Thu May 30, 2013 9:59 am

Moved from advanced discussion as this does not fit there.

To answer your question, please do a search for mites on the forum. This is a heavily discussed topic with threads dedicated on how to rid the skink and enclosure of mites.
Brad
SarahKathleen
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Re: Mites

Postby SarahKathleen » Thu May 30, 2013 10:02 am

I've done all kinds of research on it and can't find much about it. I'm just not big on using sprays in my enclosures.
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Spindown
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Re: Mites

Postby Spindown » Thu May 30, 2013 10:29 am

Well, you dont really have a choice. Predatory mites dont work very well, and oils can cause major problems if done incorrectly, and most people do it wrong. Mites can and will kill reptiles if not treated.
There are a variety of safe spray options available for blueys for the enclosures. Sprays that are sprayed directly on the lizard either dont work well or are dangerous. Please read all directions if you get a spray.
~Alyy
Spindown Reptiles est. 2013 ------- Facebook.com/SpindownReptiles
Specializing in Kenyan Sand boas and Special Needs animal care.
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Richard.C
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Re: Mites

Postby Richard.C » Thu May 30, 2013 1:06 pm

i use a aerosol can of mite spray,on reptile and in its cage and it works wonders,a follow up spray each week for a few weeks helps to incase any survive first spray,egg mite eggs hatching at later date,ditch your substrate and use news paper with not much in the way of branches,hides ect until reptiles been cleared of mites

if you use the right stuff and do a follow up or 2 mites are quite easy to get rid of
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Susann
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Re: Mites

Postby Susann » Thu May 30, 2013 2:48 pm

SarahKathleen wrote:I've done all kinds of research on it and can't find much about it.

Right next to the "NEW POST" button you pushed to put this up on the forum, there is a space you can type in that says "Search this forum"--type in the word MITES or the words MITE REMOVAL or GETTING RID OF MITES or some such combination. You'll find a ton of good advice from people who have done it many times. :thumbs: Good luck.
Breeder and keeper of Meraukes from 2010 to 2022.
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Richard.C
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Re: Mites

Postby Richard.C » Thu May 30, 2013 4:43 pm

20130531_093325.jpg

I use this,added a pic of a stumpy so i dont get told off for posting non bluey pics,lol
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Spindown
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Re: Mites

Postby Spindown » Thu May 30, 2013 5:39 pm

I use PAM for all new arrivals, snakes and blueys both. Never had an issue. (Provent-a-Mite)
~Alyy
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Specializing in Kenyan Sand boas and Special Needs animal care.
hurricanejen
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Re: Mites

Postby hurricanejen » Fri May 31, 2013 12:00 pm

I use a combination of PAM for the cage and Reptile Relief for the animal. I follow the basic procedure outlined here, except I am much more cautious about getting the reptile relief in the skink's eyes than I would be about the snakes. Using a q-tip doused in reptile relief to get any mites around the eyes or mouth is effective at killing them off.

http://lllreptile.com/info/library/care ... ake-mites/

Good luck!

-Jen
I used to be cool.
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awilcocks
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Re: Mites

Postby awilcocks » Wed Jul 03, 2013 8:59 pm

my 2 cents....we've had 2 outbreaks of mites in the last year...what worked is we got rid (rid-x?) headlice spray from walmart, and a bottle of betadine..then you fill up a soaking bin with water for him to soak..add some betadine...enough that the water takes on a tea color...soak them in that in warm water for 10-15 mins...dry off...clean the soaking tub thoroughly and try to get your bluey to drink some pedialyte, the unflavored undyed then repeat the soaking process....while they're soaking..vacuum out the enclosure, spray it with straight bleach let sit for 3 mins, then spray with water and clean it out..what we did for our first break out which was in winter was all the enclosures were put out side for 8 hours...mites DO die off in freezing temps...if you dont have a good freezer/enclosure size to freeze the enclosure dont worry...then after the enclosure has been dryed give it a spray with the headlice stuff..let that dry for 30 mins...if you can find it get some diatomaceous earth put some paper towels in the enclosure and a light sprinkle of that with NO water in the enclosure for a day or 2, and you can give the bluey a gentle rub down of the earth powder..its cheap we got about 10g's of it for 4$s at a reptile show...after a day or 2 with out water but on the earth and paper towels give the bluey another betadine soak, and clean out all the earth...and maybe put the bedding about to go into the enclosure in a bn in the freezer the night before..and give it a good shape out/sifting before you put the enclosure back together...its A LOT of work to get rid of mites...and might require a bug bomb..they're relentless...and if you dont get them all its only a matter of 2 weeks before the next wave of bugs are obvious....
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