|
1-6 of 6 messages
|
Page 1 of 1
|
|
Wash Those Roots ! Avoid Mites !
|
Reply
|
|
by Cro on March 23, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Just discovered mites in one of my tropical boa cages.
Man, how could that happen?
The substrate of the cage was steril.
Well, it seems that the boas had trampled some of the live plants in their cage. I went to Home Depot and bought a couple of great looking small tropical plants and replaced the damaged ones with them.
The problem was, that the dirt in the tropical plant container from Home Depot must have been contained mite eggs, which hatched out ! The mites attacked the snakes !
Slight breach in protocol = major headache !
So, if you are inclined to use live plants from a sleazy place like Home Depot, Lowes, or a garden center, strip the dirt from the roots, and wash them well before you put them into an reptile cage, as the dirt they carry probably has mite eggs attached to it. Actually makes sense, as you see all the birds flying around inside of most garden centers, and birds are filthy beasts, and are probably the source of the mites !
Just another thing to be carefull about regarding reptile husbandry if you choose to use live plants in your exhibits !
Best Regards JohnZ
|
| |
|
RE: Wash Those Roots ! Avoid Mites !
|
Reply
|
|
by thedude on March 23, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
That's great advice. I was thinking of putting some live plants in my JCP's new giant Cages By Design enclosure. I don't think I would have thought about mites or other parasites at all until your post!
|
| |
|
RE: Wash Those Roots ! Avoid Mites !
|
Reply
|
|
by herpboy on March 23, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
John, I hate to hear that. Make sure to keep them isolated now that they have been "infected." We wouldnt want the heard to get the little demons now would we....
take care, and take down a few for me
Bryan Hudson
|
| |
|
RE: Wash Those Roots ! Avoid Mites !
|
Reply
|
|
by Cro on March 23, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Bryan, yep, I am nuking them with permanon, and doing a major cage cleaning.
Fortunatly, they were in a diffo part of the house from the other animals, so most of the critters are ok.
It was amazing what a large number of the little beast hatched out all at once.
Best Regards JohnZ
|
| |
|
RE: Wash Those Roots ! Avoid Mites !
|
Reply
|
|
by SnakeEyes2006 on March 24, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
My Cousin and I had the same problem when we saw a cool piece of drift wood (drifting) and thought it would be cool in a enclosure.... And yep the birds in thosem warehouses are infested with killer mites..So everyone be careful!!! Live plants are cool,but some are toxic to different animals, I know if a bird were to chew on some plants it will kill the bird in seconds (bad experience growing up) and snakes smell with their tounge so if the plants spores were running don't you think this could create a problem? Just wondering? I do not have any clue on this, I use fake plants or just the cooked boughten drift wood..... later Shawn
|
| |
|
RE: Wash Those Roots ! Avoid Mites !
|
Reply
|
|
by snakeguy101 on March 25, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
there is a commercial product used for birds that is supposed to kill mites and other pests. i have been using it on my dry cages and so far so good. It's about 10 bucks at pet supermarket. hope this helps some of you guys.
~Chris~
|
| |
|
Email Subscription
You are not subscribed to this topic.
Subscribe!
My Subscriptions
Subscriptions Help
Check our help page for help using
, or send questions, comments, or suggestions to the
Manager.
|
