Mites in my collection...

thecrawlingchaos

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I've been keeping reptiles for 22 years. For the first time ever, I am almost positive that I have an animal with mites.

The animal in question is a 2013 axanthic iguana that I've had since November. It is my opinion that the source of the infestation is a branch purchased at a local shop, not the iguana itself.

My plan is to work with my vet and use ivermectin to treat the iguana and it's enclosure. I have 2 other animals in the room, a hibernating uromastyx and my gpp.

I have not seen evidence of the bugs in my tortoise enclosure or on my gpp It sits about 12 feet away from my iguana cage. I'm extremely nervous about this. The tort cage is very dry. I add water to the subs all the time, but it dries out fast. I've read that arid conditions are not hospitable to mites. I also know that ivermectin will kill chelonians.

What should I do? I am going to get the tortoise to the vet to confirm or negate the presence of mites. Is there anything I can do for the substrate or room that will prevent spread? No pest strips maybe?

I'm losing my mind over here and any help is greatly appreciated!
 

Peytons torts

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This stuff works wonders my tortoise had mites in her butt and sprayed this stuff and they crawled off in bunches since you have a lizard type animal keep them on paper towels so it's easier to clean their cage since you will need to clean the cage every day and wipe it down with the spray here is a pic of the spray ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1421645947.966976.jpg
 

Yvonne G

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Ivermectin is poison to tortoises, so I'm not real sure about giving it to a lizard. I suggest starting all over in the habitat. Put all the 'furniture' in the oven and bake it, sanitize the container and add new substrate that has been baked. As suggested above, use the "Mite off" on the animal.
 

thecrawlingchaos

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Well, I dumped my substrate and cooked my rocks. I also ran my water bowl through 2 cycles in the dishwasher. Not much else in the tortoise cage. I vacuumed the room twice and moved all furniture to get underneath. I'm now just waiting to get some Mite Off and have the tort vet checked. I'm hoping the infestation hasn't hit him, but you never know. I still don't see anything at the moment.

On a side note, I've seen some forum members post about diatomaceous earth as a mite control method. I'm thinking about mixing it in when I am ready to add substrate again.

Does anyone have any specific recommendations as for how to apply food grade DE as a mite control method?
 

biochemnerd808

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Ick, mites are a pain. Our local reptile rescue constantly has to deal with them, because they often come in on rescues.

The only product they have found to be truly effective in eradicating the mites is a spray called "Provent-a-mite" (spelled like that). The active ingredient is a special kind of permethrin that has been shown to be safer for reptiles than others. You spray it on the enclosure and the substrate, and let it sit/dry for 30 mins. Then you can put the pet in. It is a little spendy at $25 per bottle, but you use VERY little. The folks at the rescue said that baking and cleaning just doesn't get rid of all the mites... you have to do 2 applications to kill the hatched eggs that might have hidden in a crack somewhere.
 

Tom

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Provent-A-Mite is very effective stuff. Dealing with mite infestations completely changed when this stuff hit the market.

I had a BTS have a bad reaction to it once, but no other issues. The BTS lived and was fine.
 

ZEROPILOT

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You could use might strips such as used for birds if you have a very well ventilated enclosure. If not well ventilated, the poison vapor would collect in the pen and harm the occupants. I once killed an Emerald Swift in an aquarium this way. I also have use D/E for many things and have some available if you'd like to try that route.
 

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