Mites! Oh My!!

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eudora09

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Today just keeps getting worse! I was supposed to go to take my mom to a movie but I woke up very sick, and then to top it off I go to check on my reptile room and all the animals and I find mites in my blue tongue skink cage. I'm not talking about just a few, I mean like she is totally covered in them and they are all in her bedding. *sigh* So now I have to treat the whole room to make sure that none of my snakes (7 of them) or the tortoise gets mites.. So I'm removing all the animals from the room and spraying all enclosures with Provent a Mite and I bought some natural chemistry reptile spray that's supposed to kill mites on reptiles that i can spray straight on the animals. The only thing I can figure out is that Korra Lynn (the skink) had the mite eggs when I got her and they just hatched everywhere (went to the place that I got her from and they have several enclosures that are infected right now, I guess that a shipment of ball pythons from a breeder had them and it has spread to all the enclosures before they knew they had them.) So my question is this: what areas do i spray on the tortoise (Belle)? Do I spray just her shell with the reptile spray?
I know with the snakes and lizard i just spray their bodies because you don't want it in their eyes. So I imagine with Belle that I only spray her shell that way it doesn't get in her face and maybe her back feet but not the front (don't want her to rub her face and get the spray in her eyes that way). Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!
 

Yvonne G

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Oh, Amber...I'm so sorry! Isn't that just the way? When you feel sick and just want to veg out, something always comes up with the animals and you HAVE to work on it.

Can't help you with ideas except to say I really wouldn't use any of the mite stuff on the tortoise.

I hope you feel better soon.
 

JeffG

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Provent-a-mite is an awesome product, but can be dangerous if not used properly. There are specific instructions on the can for tortoises. I would recommend following them exactly. I have used Provent-a-mite for years to treat substrate before I put it in my skink enclosures, and on two occassions when I actually had mites. I swear by the stuff.
 

eudora09

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Thanks guys! I've used the Provent a Mite before with my snakes but when I walked in there and saw my skink today I knew she need help and fast. She was so covered and I felt so bad for her that's why my friend at the pet store recommended that I use the Natural Chemistry Reptile Spray to spray directly on her along with treating the enclosure with Provent a Mite. I'm just the type of person that if I see one animal with a mite in the reptile room then the whole room is treated just to be on the safe side to make sure they all don't get them. I just finally got it all treated and the animals put back in their enclosures. I just need to add water bowls but they are still soaking in a bleach/water solution to make sure they are fine.

I tossed the skink bedding (carefresh) because my friend said that it makes a good breeding ground for mites *grrrr* so Korra is on paper towels treated with Provent a Mite until I can figure out a different bedding for her. If any of ya'll have a suggestion for a really good bedding please let me know. I keep the snakes and tortoise on coco husk bedding but someone told me not to use that for her because it might get in her ears since she likes to burrow. Also I'm severely allergic to the reptile bark stuff. So I'm kinda at a loss on what to use for her bedding in the future. All suggestions are welcome! Thanks!!
 

JeffG

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eudora09 said:
Thanks guys! I've used the Provent a Mite before with my snakes but when I walked in there and saw my skink today I knew she need help and fast. She was so covered and I felt so bad for her that's why my friend at the pet store recommended that I use the Natural Chemistry Reptile Spray to spray directly on her along with treating the enclosure with Provent a Mite. I'm just the type of person that if I see one animal with a mite in the reptile room then the whole room is treated just to be on the safe side to make sure they all don't get them. I just finally got it all treated and the animals put back in their enclosures. I just need to add water bowls but they are still soaking in a bleach/water solution to make sure they are fine.

I tossed the skink bedding (carefresh) because my friend said that it makes a good breeding ground for mites *grrrr* so Korra is on paper towels treated with Provent a Mite until I can figure out a different bedding for her. If any of ya'll have a suggestion for a really good bedding please let me know. I keep the snakes and tortoise on coco husk bedding but someone told me not to use that for her because it might get in her ears since she likes to burrow. Also I'm severely allergic to the reptile bark stuff. So I'm kinda at a loss on what to use for her bedding in the future. All suggestions are welcome! Thanks!!

What species of BTS do you have? Different types do better on different substrates in some climates. You mostly have either scincoides or gigas. In a dry climate like Tucson, both will do very well on cypress mulch that you spray occasionally to keep it from drying out. That is what I use for most of my skinks here in the Phoenix area.
 

eudora09

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What species of BTS do you have? Different types do better on different substrates in some climates. You mostly have either scincoides or gigas. In a dry climate like Tucson, both will do very well on cypress mulch that you spray occasionally to keep it from drying out. That is what I use for most of my skinks here in the Phoenix area.

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She's a Merauke (spelling?) BTS. If I can't get cypress mulch is there something like it that I could get? I know that neither home depot or lowes here carries it. I might be able to find it at the pet store I'll have to take a look tomorrow when I go up there.
 

JeffG

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It was not available here until a couple of years ago. Two of the better pet shops in town carry it now. A 2 cu. ft. Bag cost $17-$18, but that is enough to last a long time if you only have one skink. It costs me a fortune for all of mine, but I still use it because they do so much better on it than anything else I hav
 

JeffG

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It was not available here until a couple of years ago. Two of the better pet shops in town carry it now. A 2 cu. ft. Bag cost $17-$18, but that is enough to last a long time if you only have one skink. It costs me a fortune for all of mine, but I still use it because they do so much better on it than anything else I have tried.
 
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