Illness & Disease - How to erradicate snake mites

Acariasis Ophionyssus natricis, otherwise known as snake mites, can be among the most troublesome and difficult to eradicate parasites known to the animal kingdom. They can not only cause itching and dysecdysis, but progress into serious illness ranging from anemia to death. This species of mite is also a known carrier of a bacterium (Aeromonas hydrophila) which causes pneumonia and infectious stomatitis (Caimin 1948). The snake mite lays around 90 eggs which hatch within around 30 hours and become larva, protonymphs, deutonymphs, then adults. Each life stage is parasitic and the egg becomes a sexually mature adult within 13-19 days. Each mite can live as long as 40 days, and can go 21 days without a meal from their host. This is important data to consider when creating an eradication plan.

The presence of mites in a collection of reptiles is usually only diagnosed when the condition gets so bad that mites are visibly crawling about the host. By this time, you're in trouble because these guys are literally every where! For each mite you can see with your naked eye, there's at least 50 more that you can't. Eradicating these buggers can be a lot of work, and the trick is to not grow lazy once you stop seeing them around - remember, you can only see the adults! Put in the work up front as I've outlined below, and you'll be rid of the buggers within two months and focusing on more entertaining subjects.

I have created the following mite eradication method based on personal research using scanning electron microscopy, treatment plans outlined in several reptilian veterinary texts, and personal experience with mites in my collection. I think it works effectively and I know that if you follow the steps carefully, you'll win the battle. Please keep in mind however, that there is no one treatment that is 100% effective that isn't a risk for your snake and that any chemical you use can be harmful or fatal if applied inappropriately. Provent-A-Mite (a pyrethroid spray) seems to be relatively safe and is very effective (Mader 1996). Use no other compounds!

You'll need: Enough Provent-A-Mite or other pyrethroid spray for your entire collection, a container large enough to soak your snake, 5% bleach solution, a veterinarian with Ivermectin, and lots of dedication and patience. Where can I buy Provent-A-Mite?

1. Find a veterinarian who can prescribe you Ivermectin. While Ivermectin alone does not eradicate mite infestations and is harmful if dosed improperly, it really helps make the treatments below more effective. The mites need to drink your snake's blood, Ivermectin renders their blood poisonous. This should be administered subcutaneously at a dose of 0.2 milligrams Ivermectin per kilogram of snake (Funk 1988). This dose is very critical, too much will kill your snake, too little won't do you a bit of good. After the initial dose, one follow-up injection is needed after two weeks. Find a veterinarian and show them a print out of this document to get their opinion.

2. Prepare a 90 degree tub of water in a container large enough to contain your entire snake. The container should be fit with a lid that prevents escape but allows air circulation to the top. Be certain the temperature is near 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Remove your snake from the enclosure and place her in the soaking tub. Have someone look after the snake to be certain they don't drown.

4. After soaking for about 15 minutes, cover your snake's head and eyes with mineral oil. This will drown mites that are living in the scales around the eyes and head, while the rest of the body is below water line. At this time add Betadine to the water until it makes a tea colored solution (this is not much iodine), and it's important to add it after the snake has had a chance to drink. Close up the container and again, have someone look after them - they need to soak for another hour or so. While they are soaking, get after the cages.

5. Meanwhile, remove all cage furniture and substrate from all cages. Throw away (outside the house) any wooden items, all substrate and anything else you decide you can part with. Take all other items and soak them in bleach, rinsing, and then follow by cooking in your oven @ 350 degrees for 15 minutes. The baking pops the eggs, which are practically impenetrable to bleach and caustic chemicals.

6. Disinfect the cage using a 5% bleach solution - allow it to soak into the cage surfaces for at least 5 minutes before rinsing it off VERY thoroughly. At this time you should inspect the cage to be sure you can not detect odors of bleach.

7. Following the disinfection, blast away Provent-A-Mite (or other pyrethroid spray) into the enclosure, being certain that it fogs the whole cage and gets into all the cracks and crevices. This is where the eggs gather, and where you can't get to them manually. Also spray all around the room your snakes are kept in - mites can travel almost 40 feet per day! Give the Provent-A-Mite about 30 to 45 minutes to work and then ventilate the enclosure very well.

8. Add fresh newspaper as the only substrate, minimize the use of cage furniture - if needed use only smooth acrylic boxes for hiding - and disinfect these all items every time.

9. Remove your snake from the soaking, dry her off, and return her to the enclosure which should be set to maintain a thermal gradient, the warm side of which should be 90 degrees Fahrenheit, 24 hours/day.

10. Repeat this entire procedure once every 9 days. Mark your calendar and don't slack until you've done it 5 times (45 days).

How to prevent mite infestations
Click here for an Adobe Acrobat file about pyrethroid compounds.

Discussions concerning Provent-a-mite vs. Black Knight:

• forum.kingsnake.com/python/messages/85100.html
• www.redtailboa.net/news_index393.html

I'm not claiming this is the only way that works, so here's a few other approaches to mite eradication from experienced people on the web:

• PeterKahl_mites.pdf
• www.rodentpro.com/qpage_articles_02.asp
• www.anapsid.org/mites.html
• www.vpi.com/9VPITipsAndTechs/thewaragainstsnakemites/Mites-TheBattlePlan.htm

References:

• Caimin JH: Mite transmission of hemorrhagic septicemia in snakes. Journal of Parasitology 34:345, 1948.
• Mader DR: Reptile Medicine and Surgery. W.B. Saunders Company, Philidelphia, 1996. p 344
• Funk RS: Herp health hints and husbandry: parasiticide dosages for captive amphibians and reptiles. Bull Chicago Herpetol Soc 23(2):30, 1988.