Protecting your reptiles from mites and ticks

                                                                                         

If you have noticed mites in your vivarium, terrarium or reptile, the first thing you should do is to establish what sort of mite it is. There are innumerable species of mites making it almost impossible to find out the exact characteristic of the particular mite that you may have noticed. Dealing with reptile mites can be a daunting task. I have tried to group them into three basic categories of mites to make it easier for you to identify the type you are likely to experience in a vivarium or terrarium.

Two most common types of mites that are encountered by reptile keepers are mites that are harboured in food and substrates. These mites usually appear as dull white dots usually about the size of a full stop. If you are using any wood or earth type of substrate, the chances are that you will encounter these types of mites. The reason being these mites do not have to come from anywhere, food, moisture, warmth and wood is all that these mites need to survive. If these mites spread in large uncontrolled numbers, they would pose a serious risk to your reptile or amphibian. Such mites can be easily controlled by cleaning the substrate regularly, cleaning the leftover uneaten food and spot cleaning the faeces of your reptiles on daily basis.

Another common form of mites often encountered in reptiles is the "grain" mite. These emerge favouring conditions similar to what has been mentioned above and can be controlled in the same way as discussed before. These are usually introduced when the reptile keeper attempts to store or breed live foods at home, these mites love to feed on bran and grains etc, they are then introduced into the vivarium with live food.

One more type of mite that can cause serious problems and must be treated as soon as possible is the reptile mite, snake mite or ticks. These mites live on the reptile treating it as their host and feeding on your reptiles’ blood. These mites are usually red or brown in colour and vary in size from a small dot to something like a large fly. Ticks are usually bigger in size. If your reptile is excessively shedding skin and spends more time lying in water to relax itself from the mites, then your reptile does need a close inspection. To protect your reptiles from mites and ticks, first of all remove the reptile or reptiles (all other inmates) from the vivarium and dispose of all the substrate or wash and scrub them and place them fully submerged in hot water. Remove all the food dishes and soak them in hot water too. Empty the vivarium and give it a thorough wash with hot soapy water. If possible remove it from the house and give it a thorough spray of insecticide.

In order to treat a reptile, you will need a mite killer spray. Always wear gloves while treating a reptile for mites. Spray the product onto the reptile’s body and work it into the reptile’s skin to try and get it under all of the scales, paying more attention to nostrils and ears as this is the favourite place for mites to hide. Make sure you have gone through all the instructions thoroughly before applying any treatment on your reptile.

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