# Mites in new bag of substrate



## kitschyduck (May 30, 2010)

I just bought some...erm I'm can't remember what it was called... Orchid...Bark? And since the big sealed bag was damp inside I suspected there might be mites. I took a handful out and sure enough there were things crawling in it. I've put some of it in the freezer, since it won't all fit at once. Am I right in believing that should sort it out? I've never had a problem with mites in Megazorb (that I know of)!

That led me onto thinking, what do I do if my uromastyx, milksnake or pink tongue skinks (when I find some!) get mites? 

Are there any other ways of preventing mites? 

I've only ever found mites on my african land snails before, and to treat those I buy a predatory mite called hypoaspis miles. I'd like to know what other people do for their lizards and snakes, however.


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

You shouldnt be keeping you Uro on orchid bark.
Mites are easy to treat when they are on animals - its just a pain in the bum and can take a while as they can get on your clothes etc. There are various ways of doing it. You could get some fly paper and put it in front of one of your vivs, if there are any mites around they will get stuck on it and you'll be able to tell if there are mites around.
yes, freezing it will help, other people bake it, or put it in the microwave.


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## kitschyduck (May 30, 2010)

Nah, it's not for the uro, it's for the future pink tongue skinks I'm after.

Cheers


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## mrspebro (Mar 6, 2008)

i tend to use ardap in all my vivs its easy to use ,never had any problems with using it


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## Xerse (Sep 22, 2010)

kitschyduck said:


> I just bought some...erm I'm can't remember what it was called... Orchid...Bark? And since the big sealed bag was damp inside I suspected there might be mites. I took a handful out and sure enough there were things crawling in it. I've put some of it in the freezer, since it won't all fit at once. Am I right in believing that should sort it out? I've never had a problem with mites in Megazorb (that I know of)!
> 
> That led me onto thinking, what do I do if my uromastyx, milksnake or pink tongue skinks (when I find some!) get mites?
> 
> ...


You can actually use Hypoaspis mites for snakes aswel, i read a thread somewhere from WLW about it. However a lot of people speak of Ardep and Callingtons being pretty good, if/when i get mites, i'll be trying one of these.


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## kitschyduck (May 30, 2010)

Are mites actually harmful to reptiles or are they just irritating to have in your home? Someone in another thread said there weren't any harmful mites in the UK, so does that mean the mites that ARE harmful are foreign or I needn't worry about mites at all?


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## ex0tics (Jun 9, 2009)

kitschyduck said:


> Are mites actually harmful to reptiles or are they just irritating to have in your home? Someone in another thread said there weren't any harmful mites in the UK, so does that mean the mites that ARE harmful are foreign or I needn't worry about mites at all?


I saw the post, I don't know enough about mites to say whether mites you might accidentally pick up in the garden are harmful to reps as we have such a lack of them in comparison to mammals, birds etc.

I've not however really had an issue with mites, they've not made themselves noticeable if they are around though. I may have to look out of sheer paranoia now.

I can confirm that the OP of it is quite knowledgeable though, and the slug mite you had said about I can't understand why it'd affect reps.


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## ex0tics (Jun 9, 2009)

kitschyduck said:


> Are mites actually harmful to reptiles or are they just irritating to have in your home? Someone in another thread said there weren't any harmful mites in the UK, so does that mean the mites that ARE harmful are foreign or I needn't worry about mites at all?


I do think he meant native mites though as the post was about oak leaves taken from a place? 

we probably have various invasive species of mites, but if we did they wouldn't be in your garden I wouldn't have thought.


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## kitschyduck (May 30, 2010)

Ahh, I suppose that makes sense. I mentioned the slug mite as I've become very familiar with it over the years and I was worried since my snail collection is kept on top of my reptile tanks! Good to know they won't destroy everything!


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## Janine00 (Sep 20, 2008)

There are hundreds (if not thousands) of mites in the world we live... think of dust mites etc! Live on our clothes / beds / sheets etc all the time. Most of these mites do not interact or bother with snakes, some are even beneficial - like the ones that destroy the snake mites.

Most mites are harmless in normal numbers... snake mites are relatively harmless in normal numbers, but like most things are a pain in the backside to get rid of. However, if a snake is already stressed or ill, or carrying other heavy parasite load, the mites will make the situation worse - which is just one of the reasons most of us get rid of mites as soon as we notice them.

There are often mites in leaf litter and other things that we use to make up bioactive substrates - most of these will be harmless to snakes, however, if you want to do so, the surest way to get rid of any mites that may be residing in bedding (even vacuum packed shop bought stuff) is to bake it on a low heat for an hour before using it for your animals substrates. (And allow to cool obviously - otherwise potentially burned snakie... worse than mites)!


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## Xerse (Sep 22, 2010)

Janine00 said:


> There are hundreds (if not thousands) of mites in the world we live... think of dust mites etc! Live on our clothes / beds / sheets etc all the time. Most of these mites do not interact or bother with snakes, some are even beneficial - like the ones that destroy the snake mites.
> 
> Most mites are harmless in normal numbers... snake mites are relatively harmless in normal numbers, but like most things are a pain in the backside to get rid of. However, if a snake is already stressed or ill, or carrying other heavy parasite load, the mites will make the situation worse - which is just one of the reasons most of us get rid of mites as soon as we notice them.
> 
> There are often mites in leaf litter and other things that we use to make up bioactive substrates - most of these will be harmless to snakes, however, if you want to do so, the surest way to get rid of any mites that may be residing in bedding (even vacuum packed shop bought stuff) is to bake it on a low heat for an hour before using it for your animals substrates. (And allow to cool obviously - otherwise potentially burned snakie... worse than mites)!


I prefer the freezing method :lol2: we have a huge chest freezer in the shed, where all the rats/mice are, just dump the huge bag of substrates into there, get it back out a few days later, nice and mite free.


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## The Rook (Mar 17, 2010)

The best ways to treat substrate have already been stated, however the best ways of streating a reptile with mites is to bathe it & completely clean out its vivarium before returning it. It'd also be good to use newspapaer as a substrate for a while after to help ensure the mites are gone. As for snakes, an olive oil coat is very effective, in which one coats on a layer of olive oil, avoiding the nares, buccal cavity & occular organs, which allows the oil to suffocate the mites.


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## greendale9061 (Aug 26, 2009)

*Mites*

Hey guys,

I have only encouraged mites once several years ago with my rainbow boa, they were found in the wooden chips sub I was using,but since I've had my pink tongues I've always soaked the mix of exo terra soil, Exo moss and pro rep orchid bark in boiling water overnight before using.

I am assuming this is why u haven't had any mites,it also keeps the humidity up in the tank too.


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