Update on rescue skink (mites)

[Dx3]

Should’ve known he would have mites. The people who had him before never did anything and the tank was loaded with moldy poo. Anyway, I’ve been giving him warm soapy baths every day and cleaned the tank again. Anything else I can do? My roommate is afraid the mites are gonna infest our whole universe. Anyone swear by store bought mite spray?

[Andrea]

Are they reptile mites or just mites from the bedding?
If its reptile mites, I had to deal with them a few months ago, and let me tell you, it’s not fun! But if you are diligent you will be able to get rid of them!
First of all, if you have other reptiles, move the skink with mites as far away as possible from your other reptiles (in a different room even better). Hopefully they haven’t spread to the others already, but if the tanks were very close to each other I would treat the others as well just in case.
As for the treatment, what worked for me the best was Frontline spray (yes, the one for dogs!).
I followed the method Mr Kent suggested here: viewtopic.php?t=29388
It took a looot of work, effort and patience but it worked!
Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!

[Dx3]

Are they reptile mites or just mites from the bedding?
If its reptile mites, I had to deal with them a few months ago, and let me tell you, it’s not fun! But if you are diligent you will be able to get rid of them!
First of all, if you have other reptiles, move the skink with mites as far away as possible from your other reptiles (in a different room even better). Hopefully they haven’t spread to the others already, but if the tanks were very close to each other I would treat the others as well just in case.
As for the treatment, what worked for me the best was Frontline spray (yes, the one for dogs!).
I followed the method Mr Kent suggested here: viewtopic.php?t=29388
It took a looot of work, effort and patience but it worked!
Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!

I’ll try that. But yeah they’re in separate rooms. Quite certain it’s reptile mites cause I cleaned the tank and threw out everything old and brought in new and clean stuff. Were soapy baths helpful though?

[Fatal_S]

I'm sorry you're having to deal with mites. I've dealt with them a few times and it's just a big pain.

My preferred method to deal with mites is using a Nix solution. Nix is an over-the-counter medication for head lice. You mix a bottle of it into a 4L jug of water (mix really well). Then spray that on the skink, decor, enclosure, paper-towel substrate, around the enclosure, etc. Remove food/water during and for a while after spraying. Wait 2 weeks. Spray everything again. Wait 2 weeks, should be done.

There are many chemicals sold specifically for reptile mites, and they usually work if used as directed, but I just find Nix is the fastest, most reliable method in my experience.

[Andrea]

Bathing him might drown some of the mites, but that will surely not erradicate them.
They are no joke… If you want to get rid of them you have to be very methodic. What I did was:

1) Put him in a bin with about 1 inch of lukewarm water (make sure he can keep his head out of the water) and leave him there while you clean the enclosure.
2) Take everything out of the enclosure. Put everything you are throwing away in a bag and take it outside immediately (don’t let it sit inside your house). I threw away all porous hides and decor, including fabric fake plants. You can try desinfecting them, but I didn’t want to take any risks.
3) Thoroughly clean the enclosure with water and dawn (inside, outside and under). Pay special attention to the screen, corners and crevices. Make sure you rinse well after and that there’s no Dawn residue left as it could be fatal for your skink. If the tank was sitting in a piece of furniture, clean that as well.
4) Clean the non-porous hides, decorations as well as the food and water bowl thoroughly using water and Dawn and rinse well.
5) Use paper towels cut in strips as bedding and a hide that you can throw away, like a cardboard box. Keep it as sterile as possible.
6) Dry your skink with paper towels and put gloves on. Spray Frontline on your gloves (not directly on him) and spread the liquid throughout his body while you hold him. Make sure you get everywhere, including his legs and toes. Be careful not to get it in his eyes or mouth (you can use a Qtip around that area). Any mite that gets in contact with the product will die immediately. Hold him until completely dry (about 5 minutes) and then put him back in his enclosure.
IMPORTANT! No water bowl in his enclosure for the next 24 hours! It is safer in case he gets inside the bowl and contaminates it with the product and then he drinks it.
Make sure you wash your clothes as well right after!

Repeat process every 7 days for 3 to 4 weeks (or until you don’t see mites anymore). Throw away paper towels and carboard hide and place a fresh one every week.

Also, if he has wounds from the mites, you can apply betadine with a q-tip.

There’s other products out there like Provent a Mite (for the enclosure and accessories, not for the animal) and many people swear by it, but I couldn’t get it right away so I didn’t use it.

And I think that’s it! I’m no expert and there’s several methods out there, but that is what I did and it worked for me.
Good luck and if you have any questions let me know!

Andrea

[Dx3]

I'm sorry you're having to deal with mites. I've dealt with them a few times and it's just a big pain.

My preferred method to deal with mites is using a Nix solution. Nix is an over-the-counter medication for head lice. You mix a bottle of it into a 4L jug of water (mix really well). Then spray that on the skink, decor, enclosure, paper-towel substrate, around the enclosure, etc. Remove food/water during and for a while after spraying. Wait 2 weeks. Spray everything again. Wait 2 weeks, should be done.

There are many chemicals sold specifically for reptile mites, and they usually work if used as directed, but I just find Nix is the fastest, most reliable method in my experience.

Sounds good too. I’ll definitely try both sprays if I can.

[Dx3]

Hey all. It’s been a bit over 2 weeks and I’ve been doing a couple different treatments. The mite presence hasn’t gone down at all even after recleaning the tank for like a 3rd time. Im 90% sure the mites are in his nose and ears which give him nose bleeds. How can I take care of that? I know their ears and noses are their most delicate spots.

[Fatal_S]

Which treatment did you use? These chemicals should be killing the mites almost instantly.

[Dx3]

Which treatment did you use? These chemicals should be killing the mites almost instantly.

Kept up on baths. Used the Nix stuff on him and the tank cause it came with a furniture spray thing. Someone I knew had some frontline flea and tick products that they had and didn’t use up. I watered most of the products down and washed it off about 5 to 10 minutes later. Think I should stop watering it down or something?
Edit: I should mention it wasn’t daily cause I didn’t wanna make him hate life.

[Andrea]

You don't have to water down the Frontline or I’m guessing it won’t work as it’s supposed to. Spray it directly from the bottle on your gloves and rub it all over his skin. Then hold your skink until the Frontline dries. If you don’t follow all the steps you will not be able to get rid of the mites as they multiply rapidly.

[Dx3]

You don't have to water down the Frontline or I’m guessing it won’t work as it’s supposed to. Spray it directly from the bottle on your gloves and rub it all over his skin. Then hold your skink until the Frontline dries. If you don’t follow all the steps you will not be able to get rid of the mites as they multiply rapidly.

Ok. Do I still wash it off though? Or just leave it on.

[Andrea]

Don’t wash it off. Hold him until dry (it dries quickly, like in 5 or 10 min). Once dry it can’t harm him but will kill any mites that get in contact with him. Follow the steps from my previous post, including his treatment and the enclosure cleaning. I followed that step by step once a week for 3 weeks and I was able to get rid of them. Let me know if you have any questions.
It’s not fun but you can do it!!

[Dx3]

Final update hopefully. He’s cleared and doing a lot better socially and physically! Took him outside in some warm weather. I wonder if it was the first time he’d ever been able to walk around in grass and rocks. Not sure what the previous owner did with them. He also finally started eating live bugs. At first he didn’t know that it was food. I doubt the owners got live bugs for him. He’s exploring his tank a lot more and eating well. Stool is good. So yeah hopefully I can continue to keep him healthy and happy.

[Andrea]

Awe! I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for the update. I’ve been wondering how he was doing…
I’m sure he’ll have a long happy life now that he’s with someone who actually cares and will take proper care of him.