# Hypoaspis mite killers!



## murph3010 (Jan 2, 2009)

sadly i got mites and i went with the Hypocaspis solution. I dont seem to have alot of mites on my snakes about 4 or 5 on ech that i could see however that explained the ammount of time one snake was spending in the water bowel:bash: anyway ive put them in the viv but it says on the instructions that i will notice a reduction in mites in 2 weeks??? i just wanted to know what experience people had with Hypoaspis and does it really take that long for them to whipe out the mite problem?? 

cheers


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## murph3010 (Jan 2, 2009)

Nobody has any advice on this??:hmm:


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## rantasam (Nov 28, 2006)

I've never used them before, so can't hep on this one I'm afraid. I would ask again in the snake section, where hopefully more people will see it and can offer advice. : victory:


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## carpy (Nov 13, 2007)

the only thing that will keep them alive is the snake mites themselves which they feed one. once all the mites, and the eggs have been predated on by the hypoaspis mites they will also die, as there is no food source

with me they work a treat, just leave them in there to do their stuff


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## grannykins (Oct 9, 2006)

They didnt work at all for me. They need a fairly high humidity to live long enough to clear the mites. Probably works well with BRB's etc. I bought 2 lots, and then decided to go with provent-o-mite. Used it once a couple of years back and havent needed it since.


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## murph3010 (Jan 2, 2009)

I cant find provent a mite in the uk i was told this is good anyone used it

ARDAP, PEST CONTROL, INSECTICIDE, ANTI-MITE, BIRD CAGE on eBay, also Other Bird Supplies, Birds, Pet Supplies, Home Garden (end time 19-Mar-09 12:37:03 GMT)

and if so how did you apply it??


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## LEOPARD GECKO CRAZY (Aug 7, 2008)

*hi*

what does a mite look like ??

i sware i have seen a little white insect in one of my tanks before ...beetle sorta but that was 3 months ago.


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## luke123 (Apr 13, 2008)

when i had mite problems with my beardies i bought some of these, they need humidity, so in a beardies viv i couldnt raise it too much, i put some dampened soil in the cool end and sprayeed it every other day..they stayed alive for about a month, i found them crap..did not do a thing, mite off and disinfecting the viv every other day sorted it for me.


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## Lucifus (Aug 30, 2007)

The mites are only really useful for tarantulas or anything on coir that needs high humidity.


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## matt1977 (Jul 1, 2007)

I had no luck with the deffender mites, in the end and after much reading up i went with front line, which wrked really well, allthough you do need to take care with it.


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## grannykins (Oct 9, 2006)

LEOPARD GECKO CRAZY said:


> what does a mite look like ??
> 
> i sware i have seen a little white insect in one of my tanks before ...beetle sorta but that was 3 months ago.


Dont worry - mites look like little black dots, not white ones.


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## grannykins (Oct 9, 2006)

murph3010 said:


> I cant find provent a mite in the uk i was told this is good anyone used it
> 
> ARDAP, PEST CONTROL, INSECTICIDE, ANTI-MITE, BIRD CAGE on eBay, also Other Bird Supplies, Birds, Pet Supplies, Home Garden (end time 19-Mar-09 12:37:03 GMT)
> 
> and if so how did you apply it??


I have never used this so cant comment on the safety of it for reptiles. I got my provent-a-mite from the US, but apparently this place sells it
Jungle Phase:-

It seems expensive, but I only had to use it once a couple of years ago, and not seen any mites since.


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## SnakeBreeder (Mar 11, 2007)

*Using defender mites.*

Just get a tub with a small entrance hole in one side and put in a mix of moss and peat. 
Fill the box to about 3 or 4 inches with the moss and peat mix. 
Then add the Hypocaspis Miles.
Put the box in the coolest part of your cage.
When the snake uses the box the Hypocaspis mites will feed on the snake mites on the snake.
The Hypocaspis mites will also wander around the inside and outside of the cage looking for food.
You should be mite free in 2 or 3 days, unless you have a realy bad infection, not a couple of weeks.
Hope this helps
stephen.


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## daz666 (Apr 17, 2008)

where can you buy defender mites.


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## itubagus (Sep 2, 2007)

SnakeBreeder said:


> Just get a tub with a small entrance hole in one side and put in a mix of moss and peat.
> Fill the box to about 3 or 4 inches with the moss and peat mix.
> Then add the Hypocaspis Miles.
> Put the box in the coolest part of your cage.
> ...


Agreed. They worked a treat for me, no visable snake mites in 2 days.


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## itubagus (Sep 2, 2007)

daz666 said:


> where can you buy defender mites.


Defenders - Safe Effective Natural Biological Pest Control for Gardeners


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## SnakeBreeder (Mar 11, 2007)

Edited as the above beat me to posting the link LOL

Stephen


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## luke123 (Apr 13, 2008)

grannykins said:


> Dont worry - mites look like little black dots, not white ones.


 not really..thats one species, you can get white ones, red ones, black ones etc etc..do you use eco earth leopardgeckocrazy?


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## daz666 (Apr 17, 2008)

cheers:2thumb:


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## murph3010 (Jan 2, 2009)

SnakeBreeder said:


> Just get a tub with a small entrance hole in one side and put in a mix of moss and peat.
> Fill the box to about 3 or 4 inches with the moss and peat mix.
> Then add the Hypocaspis Miles.
> Put the box in the coolest part of your cage.
> ...


cheers i cant see the mites on the snakes anymore now so thats good but im still thinking about using the spray stuff iw as advised to get my only big concern with it is the snakes drinking water off the side of the viv and getting a dose of this stuff.


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## murph3010 (Jan 2, 2009)

daz666 said:


> where can you buy defender mites.


this is where u get them mate:2thumb:

Defenders - Safe Effective Natural Biologist Pest Control for Gardeners

sorry someone else already posted the link lol


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## murph3010 (Jan 2, 2009)

this was a waste of time for me and i wanted the problem sorted fast so ardap mite spray is the way to go worked well with mine.:2thumb:


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## Conners (Dec 7, 2006)

Guys, 

I've been hit with a mite attack - first time in 8 years. They must have come in on the yearling spotted python I bought in June (certainly he was the first snake I saw them on).

Have been using Mite Off without success for a couple of weeks. 

Now I have ordered 10,000 hypoaspis from Defenders (and also some Ardap in case they don't wor). My question is, will the hypoaspis be affected by the Mite Off I've been spraying?


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## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

do these work with the little White mites you sometimes get with snails? I find them a pain also the mites on millipedes are a nightmere.


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## Natrix (Dec 9, 2006)

Conners said:


> Guys,
> 
> I've been hit with a mite attack - first time in 8 years. They must have come in on the yearling spotted python I bought in June (certainly he was the first snake I saw them on).
> 
> ...


This is where a lot of people go wrong, if you have used a mite spray in or around your vivs it will kill the Hypoaspis mites as soon as you put them in. Some of these sprays can have a risidual effect that lasts three or four months.

Natrix


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## Natrix (Dec 9, 2006)

luke123 said:


> not really..thats one species, you can get white ones, red ones, black ones etc etc..do you use eco earth leopardgeckocrazy?


There is only one species of snake mite and they are black. There are indeed a lot of other mites that come in a lot of different colours but they are substrate mites and do not attack snakes. They might irratate the snake when crawling on them but they do not bite them like the snake mites do.

Natrix


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## Natrix (Dec 9, 2006)

Do not even consider using the Hypoaspis mites if you have used any kind of anti mite killing chemicals in the last 3 months. 
It is important that the mites are provided with a reasonably humid environment but not soaking. Even desert species experience wet periods so a raised humidity for a couple of days shouldn't hurt them. 
The mites don't climb very high so the snakes need to be on the ground (remove climbing branches in arboreal set ups).
The mites do their job in about 48 hours but will hang around longer clearing up any missed snake mites.
The Hypoaspis are very good at clearing up mite problems in invertebrate cages.
You may see spots of blood on your snake after adding hypoaspis (especially on white snakes). Don't panic, this is a result of the hypoaspis biting into the snake mites that were feeding on your snake and shows they are doing their job.
Natrix


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## SiUK (Feb 15, 2007)

mite off is crap, all these sprays you buy dont really do the trick I found water better, you have to repeat so many times it takes weeks of hard work with mite off, you think you have got rid but they come back, I found hypoaspis mites good if your snakes are in tubs they work excellently, vapona is apparently really effective, but you cant buy it in the UK anymore.


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## Conners (Dec 7, 2006)

So, I distributed my pot of 10,000 hypoaspis through the infected stack of boa vivs last night (Fortunately my python and colubrid stacks are clear). Hoping they will be busily working their magic already.

I really can't believe I've got mites - it's been so many years since I was hit with these buggers, and I'd forgotten what an utter pain in the a*se they are. It's hideous seeing them crawling over your snakes. 

They definitely came in on the animal I collected at Maidstone in April. Did anyone else get problems with stuff they picked up there? I'm not blaming the breeder - it might not have been his stuff that was infected, it could have come in from a neighbouring table. 

One thing I've noticed is that it was possible for me to all but eliminate the mites from all vivs apart from the bottom one in the stack, as I can't get the glass out of that one. As such, I think the runners are acting as a nursery for the little sh*ts.

I wish I hadn't persisted with Mite-Off for more than a month - what a waste of time that stuff is. 

Anyway, I'm giving these hypoaspis four days to make a visible difference, and if things haven't improved my backup strategy is coming into play -nice big can of Ardap.


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## Conners (Dec 7, 2006)

Natrix said:


> Do not even consider using the Hypoaspis mites if you have used any kind of anti mite killing chemicals in the last 3 months.
> It is important that the mites are provided with a reasonably humid environment but not soaking. Even desert species experience wet periods so a raised humidity for a couple of days shouldn't hurt them.
> The mites don't climb very high so the snakes need to be on the ground (remove climbing branches in arboreal set ups).
> The mites do their job in about 48 hours but will hang around longer clearing up any missed snake mites.
> ...


This was useful info, Natrix, cheers.


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