Diatomaceous Earth??

[Krow]

:help:
Diatomaceous Earth, have any of you guys tried using this stuff to get rid of mites? Ive heard it is safe to eat(food grade). Someone recomended I try it to get rid of mites. They said they use it on all their new beardies they get in. They also said its totally safe to put directly on their skin & totally safe for them to lick it, as long as they dont breathe a lot of the dust.

Heres a web page about it, but I just dont know, but only because Ive never heard of it before. :huh2:
http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp

 

[Dog Shrink]

It's pretty safe stuff to use for mites fleas and other critters like that, but not as effective as I'd like. I know several rabbit breeders that have used it on their animals for fleas and lice (with some success after multipul treatments) because you can't use much else on them or it'll kill them (like spot ons and such). It's suppose to melt off the waxy exoskeleton and dehydrate the mite but I've had little luck using it for fleas. I've had better luck with regular table salt to be honest with you (not on an animal mind you but on carpets as a part of a treatment program).

 

[Krow]

Well I have been using Provent-A-Mite. Its working well, but just isn't kicking them 100%, I was looking for some of Zoo Med's Mite Off spray, but I found this stuff instead & the lady told me it worked also. She gave me some DE for free, but I asked her to still order the Mite Off for me anyways, just in case this stuff doesn't work.

Maybe it will be a little more effective since I also am currently using Provent-A-Mite.

 

[Dog Shrink]

It could be more effective in conjunction with another mite-a-cide but I wouldn't put too much faith in it honestly. I'd get the mite off.

 

[Krow]

It could be more effective in conjunction with another mite-a-cide but I wouldn't put too much faith in it honestly. I'd get the mite off.

Oh yeah, Im still getting it. She will have it next week, she gave me this stuff for free, so I guess its even better to try both.

 

[Dog Shrink]

You could try both, I wouldn't suggest both at the same time just in case your dragon does have a reaction, at least that way you'll know which he is reacting to. I'd do one 1 day, possibly 1 the next just to be safe.

 

[M_surinamensis]

The biggest problem most people have killing parasitic mites isn't the products they are using; it's the life cycle of their target.

There's some variability depending on species and some variability depending on the conditions in the area, so the times can shift by as much as a couple weeks.

The mites you see feeding on your pet are adults. Sometimes little younger adults, sometimes fat egg laden blood gorged adults, but they are all adults. The adults will spend their time in fairly close proximity to their food, but are not on and feeding all the time. Adults are fairly easy to kill because of the proximity, though for each mites you see there will be several more you never find. Adults lay eggs.

Eggs are generally also fairly close to the food source, in or around the enclosure. Since blood is such a nutrient rich food source and since two mites can produce dozens (hundreds given a little time) of eggs, the eggs outnumber the adults by a large margin. The eggs will generally be in close proximity to the enclosure the adult mites are feeding from but will not always be inside it, they may be behind it, underneath it or a few feet away. The adults are easily killed by various methods and treatments but few people treat outside their enclosures and the eggs which may be outside the enclosure, being immobile, are often left free to hatch while the adults return to your pet and get themselves poisoned during your course of treatment.

To further compound the proximity problem, once parasitic mites hatch they do not immediately begin seeking out a host and feeding. They go through a juvenile stage where they are not yet parasitic but they are highly mobile. Again due to the nutrient rich nature of blood, they do not need to feed for a time after hatching, they are born with nutritional stores sufficient to allow them to grow into adults. These juvenile mites move though, they just up and go and quickly spread. At this stage they end up all over your house,* in different rooms, outside, in the carpet, in the upholstery, in the walls, in the drapes, under the fridge, under your animal enclosures... in and on everything if there are enough of them, including on you and in your clothes.

Most of the eggs that hatched and the juveniles that wandered off will eventually die of starvation, never making it back to a species they are inclined to feed from. Some of them find their way back though. When there are tens of thousands of offspring and they have the capability to breed the way they do, it only takes a few to re-establish an infestation.

Because those juveniles are not present in the place you're treating, it's important to continue treatment for a period of time after the last visible adult mite has been eradicated. If treatment begins early it will end up being cyclical, with periods of re-emergence, if treatment is delayed even a little bit then you can end up dealing with multiple simultaneous generations and outbreaks can be almost constant as the juveniles mature and start feeding and breeding.

Any mite treatment should be continued (appropriately, as many treatments involve the use of toxins which can be harmful if misused) for a bare minimum of about four-six weeks after the last visible adult mite is eradicated. Eight to ten if the environment in the house is a little cooler or for a few of the slightly larger species. The treatment needs to continue into and through the life cycle of the next generation, creating a scenario where no adults are allowed to feed and subsequently produce more eggs.

Diatomaceous earth is an effective treatment. Provent-A-Mite is far more effective than the ZooMed product lines. Diluted Nix is an old standby. Just remember with whatever product or treatment you choose to use that some care should be taken to ensure the animal you want to keep isn't being harmed through misuse and to continue the treatment for long enough to kill off the invisible and omnipresent younger generation.

*this is why they often seem to leapfrog in rack systems. Bin one has mites spotted in it, then the next ten or twenty bins are clean and mites are found in a bin across the room.

 

[Krow]

Thanks.