I was told and have used vegtible oil on the snakes and the enviorment and got rid of those little black bug!!

Question

this worked on my boa now i am going to do it on my corn snakes

Answer 1

oh dear...I really hope you havent put the oil on the snake yet...that can do a lot of harm to him/her.  This is the safest way to get rid of mites.

Mites are a pain in the butt.  We brought mites home by handling snakes at the reptile shop one time.  Treating for mites is time consuming.  Take the snake and soak it in a plastic tub...enough water (lukewarm about 80 Fahrenheit) to cover the back of the snake.  Let the snake soak while you do the following.  Take all cage accessories out of the cage if you have logs you don’t have to throw them away…set them aside in a plastic bag tied at the top.  I’ll explain what to do with those last.  With the other cage accessories, bowl and hides put in the bath tub and completely cover with hot water.  Spray the substrate with reptile relief, to kill the mites so that they don’t fall to the floor while you are bagging it up, bag up the substrate tie the top of the trash bag and take it to the dumpster.  Liberally spray your tank with reptile relief…I mean spray it all over.  Take the lid to the tank outside and spray it all over also.  Let it sit for about 10 minutes.  If the tank is light enough carry it to the yard and hose it out then dry it completely, also hose off the top.  Bring the tank back in.  Spray the tank again lightly with reptile relief and use a towel to dry it off.  Put new substrate in the tank and put the water bowl and hides back in.  

Back to the snake now.  Make sure the snake has immersed his face for a second otherwise mites will just run up to his face…the eyes especially.  Take your snake out of the water take a q-tip or cotton ball and spray some reptile relief on it and use that to get on top of the snakes head…don’t get the reptile relief in the snakes eyes or nose or mouth but do get it on top of the head and under the chin.  Then spray your snakes body with reptile relief and use your hands to make sure it gets over the snakes whole body.  Use a dry cloth to get the excess off…you don’t want it dripping off of the snake but you do want it all over your snake.  Then you can put your snake back in his tank.  Also before you put your heat lamp back on take a cotton ball and wipe it down with a bit of reptile relief…mites get everywhere…they are evil!!!

If you have logs for your snake bake them in the oven (250 – 275 Fahrenheit) for 2 – 3 hours.  Allow to cool completely before using them again.

The bad news is you might have to do this every three days two more times to break the mites life cycle.  They are a bit like getting rid of fleas it takes more than one treatment.  Like I said we got mites from the reptile store but I did this and I had to do two treatments and the mites were gone.  If you don’t want to use the normal substrate until the mites are gone it won't hurt to use white paper towels for lining the snakes cage, white paper towels also allow you to see mites more easily so that you will know for sure when the mites are gone.  And then after you have eradicated the mites you can put the normal substrate back in.  If you use the cypress mulch substrate you can freeze it for a week prior to use and then bring it to room temperature before using OR you can bake it at 250 – 270 Fahrenheit for 2 hours in a baking pan.  I do both when I buy new substrate…I freeze it for a week then thaw it out then I bake it and cool it before I put it in my snakes cage.  I still do that just because I never never want mites again.  I had 14 snakes when I had to deal with the mites…it took me literally all day to clean all the cages.  

It takes probably about an hour or 2 to do the whole process.

Reptile relief is the ONLY thing that is totally safe to use on the reptile other things can harm or even kill your snake.  This is time consuming but it really is the only safe way to be rid of mites.  

Like someone else said DO NOT use the pest strip that can kill your snake or r****d it.

Good luck!!!!!!

Answer 2

A simple soak in oil won't get rid of [all] the mites. Mites are extremely pesterous and will lay their eggs where you can't reach them. On week later, OH you have mites all over. Following a stric disinfecting regime will speed up the process

This link here provides gret information on mites and how to be rid of them:

http://rcreptiles.com/forum/viewtopic.ph...

Answer 3

just use reptile friendly disenfectent

Answer 4

A little chunk (maybe 1/3 of it) of "No Pest Strip" works wonders and much cleaner to do.  Lay it near the tank or on top of it........a well known animal-safe cure.  You may want to change the substrate after.......

Answer 5

ok heres a little secret "hartz 2 in 1 flea and tick remover" (powder form).  it is for dogs and cats but works well with snakes.  1 treatment on the bedding and then wait for 4 days to do it again.  then out with the old bedding. this is because that little black bug is a mite, and the incubation period for the eggs is 3 to 4 days.  the hartz is inert after 24 to 30 hours.  the oil is smothering the mites and it is hard to get rid of all of them.  this remedy is a 99.99% guarantee to do the job.

Answer 6

For those of you recommending the pest strips and powders: Reptiles are extremely sensitive to the chemicals in both of those items. They can suffer neurological damage and even death if too much is used. It's much safer to treat with a reptile approved spray such as Prevent-a-mite or a solution of Nix mite treatment for people that's diluted to the proper percentage.  While oil will get rid of many mites, I suspect that they will return in a month or so when the eggs hatch out. You should quarantine any animal with parasites to avoid infecting the rest of your collection as you seem to be doing.  Always handle and treat the infected animal after working with your clean ones and then change clothes.  While snake mites won't feed on a human, they will use them as a vector to carry them to another reptile.