What do you guys think?

[Burmbuddy]

Hi guys.
Ok, I am GATVOL about Mites...now I know that this has been dragged out and beaten to death, but once you get up to 4m+ snakes, Frontline doesn’t work and becomes DAM expensive...The cooking oil trick seems to dry them out and damage their skin.
SO long story short, I have through a famer friend contacted poison rep and explained the problem.
He suggested this:
http://www.basfpublichealth.com/products/fendona.html
What do you guys think?
Seems pretty safe and looks like it might just do the trick?
Cheers
DAN

[Sico]

Dan

i would not use it on the reptiles directly, but on the cages it should be fine. it is one of the long lasting envronmental insectides/acaricides. Permethrin is widely used in topical medications for humans, for the treatment of headlice and the treatement of scabies from the mite S. sarcoptei. it comes in a shampoo form and is used to wash the body left on for 24 hours and then rinsed off. it smells really strongly fyi.
try using Amitex, it is a specific acaricide for the treatment of ticks on dogs and livestock, as well as for the treatment of mange, also caused by mites. I have used it once on my snakes, and it did not seem to cause them any harm, and i use it often on my dogs, as it is a non-organophosphate based poison, the dogs always lick it off afterwards but it seems to do them no harm. it's also a ton cheaper than frontline, and you mix it 1ml of Amitex to 1l of water. it works pretty well in a spray bottle as well.

[Burmbuddy]

Thanks Sico!

[Bushviper]

Just remember that even lice medication you can use on a child has been implicated in killing snakes. I lost a whole colony of captive bred Red tailed green racers to this stuff. You will need to use a combination of poisons to kill these mites. They cannot become immune to frontline as long as you are using it correctly. As I have mentioned before cooking oil, mineral oil and olive oil will destroy the integrity of the skin and cause problems.

If the snakes are really big you can also use a product called Ivermec but the dosage cannot be incorrect (it is a tiny amount that you inject) or else you will kill the snakes. This will also kill all internal parasites which may be a good thing if they have been getting mites regularly.

[rooikat]

I just use a combination of VAPONA ,SAVLON and MITEOFF .The VAPONA i place in a small cricket tub and leave in the Viv for 5 days ,make sure you don't leave any water source in the Viv ...

i use MILTON baby sterilizer to clean all my equipment and Viv's out .make sure it is diluted correctly and wiped out properly ..

You can spray SAVLON on your snake ,its safe and seems to do the job well .spraying your Viv with MITEOFF will treat all area's .but the main thing i find like i said does the job is the VAPONA ...after 5 days remove the tub and leave the Viv free from that for about 10-14 days then repeat ...

like mentioned before by many people on here this is a subject that will always arise and there are so many opinions and tricks of the trade ..

[Burmbuddy]

Thank for the comments guys!
After doing some more research I have decided to give the Fendona a go.
I used a VERY mild solution and will monitor the whole crew very carefully.
The reason I chose to give it a go is that this stuff is safe to use even in broiler pens/ around food dispensaries/ kitchens and was reported to be of very low toxicity to wildlife.
I sprayed out all the decorations, sides of the cage and floor of the cage. I did not spray on top of the substrate even though I let rip with it on the dogs and their bedding…
I am not ignoring all the warnings from you guys (personal pet peeve of mine when somebody asks for advice and then tells you why you are wrong…) just want to give this s try.
Thanks for the help!
Cheers
DAN

[Bushviper]

Burmbuddy if it works and does not affect anything then we will all say "great, you are a pioneer and a hero" but if it fails we will all scream "I told you so".

If you know what the specific toxins do then you have a good idea wether to use it just on the surroundings or on the snakes or on both. Frontline has no effect if it is sprayed into the cage and Karbadust burns the snakes skin if it comes into contact with it. Check this so that you can best administer the product.

It is a pity we do not have some snakes that we could test this on although some species react differently to certain products.

We will wait with bated breath for your results.

[Burmbuddy]

Thanks BV.
So far so good, some of the guys did not eat last night but this seems to have been an ongoing issue since the move down to the coast, the males all want to breed and the females just seem confused about the season...
I admit I have become a bit nervous and I will prob pull everything out and rinse it off just in case...
Will update as time goes.
Cheers
DAN

[snake kid]

Hi. I'm doing some research and was just wondering how did the Fendona work out?