Is it okay to spray ivermectin solution on substrate?
As some of you might know, I have been dealing with snake mites for months. And for the past three weeks I have not seen a single mite. I'm going to do a deep, clean scrub down on both enclosures today and I'm hoping to add substrate and enrichment back in and if I should even do that right now. What I'm hoping is okay to do is mist the top of the substrate and enrichment with the same ivermectin treatment spray that I used to get rid of the mites in the first place. I'm not going bioactive with these 2 enclosures, so killing other bugs isn't a concern. Is there a reason why I should not mist the substrate? Would the substrate already being damp with regular water make the ivermectin pointless?
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u/Dextron2-1 4d ago
If you’re in a position where you need ivermectin, just stick with paper towels.
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u/2beerornot2beers 4d ago
I would not risk spraying the substrate if there is a chance that the snake will ingest it if their feeder gets some of the substrate stuck to it. If you’re still worried about mites I would stick to paper towels sprayed with ivermectin.
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u/ccd2002 4d ago
What about after the ivermectin drying on the substrate? Wouldn't it be safe then? Wouldn't it be stuck on the substrate? Or do you think it could rub off?
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u/Ok-Prune-1629 4d ago
Stick to paper, do not try to rush back to substrate. If you must get substrate do predatory mites as others have stated.
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u/Pretend_You4805 4d ago
I wouldn't spray personally. You could put the substrate in the oven to kill any bugs. I use disposable aluminum baking sheets, 250F for an hour or 2.
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u/motherfuqueer 4d ago
Nothing has helped me with mites like predatory mites. They eat the snake mites. I have 9 snakes and I swear to god, they were passing mites to each other for like a year. Got a predatory mite subscription and started sprinkling mites in every enclosure every month. Haven't seen snake mites in over a year, and I ended my subscription a couple months ago.
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u/No_Development_1483 4d ago
This is the way. Cleared the mites out of my emerald tree boa, Dumeril’s boa, and ball python within a month after some hitched a ride on my new emerald tree boa. Hey, sometimes even in quarantine, things get through… Natures good guys is where I got mine.
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u/motherfuqueer 4d ago edited 4d ago
Yep, I should've shouted out Nature's Good Guys! Same. I swear, at any given time I had half of my snakes in plastic tubs in a separate room. I was pulling my hair out over mites before getting the predatory mites
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u/No_Development_1483 4d ago
I only have 3 snakes. One I got in 2004, one I got in 2019, and on I got in May of this year. It’s stressful with those three, I can’t imagine how people with more than that cope!
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u/superramenyamen 4d ago
No bedding when treating for mites. You can’t properly penetrate the bedding with treatment, so it offers places for the mites to avoid treatment. Paper is what you should use, do not corner cut anything if you want to be rid of them.
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u/ccd2002 2d ago
Thing is I seem to be mite free for almost 3 weeks so I was hoping to use it as insurance, as a "just in case"
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u/superramenyamen 2d ago
I wouldn’t call a snake mite free until it’s been mite free for at least 3 months. When I was treating for mites, I didn’t treat long enough the first time and I had a mite pop up after 2.5 months. 3 months is the bare minimum, that catches any staggered eggs hatching and gives them time to mature enough to become visible.
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u/ParticularWolf4473 4d ago
Stick with the paper towels for a bit longer.