My new baby beardie has mites, I'm in a dilemna

[Electrogab91]

Hi everyone, so here's the situation : I just got Yoshi (1month old approximately) a week ago and at first it was going well. I let her be for 2 days, then I started feeding her more often and her appetite was progressing normally. She even ate her greens ! But then she seemed to lose her appetite and be a little bit more lethargic. At first I thought she was deshydrated, so I took her out of her viv to give her a bath and to look at her more closely. It was the first time I handled her. The terrible truth was revealed to me : red mites, 100% sure of it. Same as the pictures I see on the web. The bath seemed to do some good, after it she was more lively and ate 4 crix. But since then she's more insecure with me.
So my dilemna is this : Before the mites I wanted to wait an other week before handling her to reduce stress, but now with the situation I feel the need to treat her right away. This will mean a lot of handling in the coming weeks even if I don't feel she's ready. Is it the right choice or should I let her relax a few more days ? Will all this precocious handling destroy my long term chances of taming her ? What will be the most stressful thing for her ?

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, sorry that your baby has a problem right off the bat. Did you notify the store or breeder so that they know about this problem ? Also, do you see mites in the enclosure ? What treatment are you using ?

 

[Electrogab91]

I will notify the store today (I hope they are open). I bought her in a small local pet store, I thought it would be safer than in a petco or something similar. I did some researsh and I think I will use some dawn soap to begin with the enclosure, then I will buy a reptispray for Yoshi and something akin to Prevent-a-mite. Sadly I'm in Canada and those precise products are not available. Do you think it's a good idea to do the treatment right away or will she be traumatised ? I know I could probably insist to bring her back to the store but I honestly don't want to give up on her, I fear for her future if I bring her back there. She would probably end up as a prey for a bigger animal since they would not put her back for selling I suppose.
I had an idea to put her in a smaller tank during the process too, to facilitate the cleaning and all. Do you think it's a good idea ?

*edit* no I don't see any mites in the enclosure, just the red one on her that are really apparent.

 

[AHBD]

Do you see them moving around on her ? If you haven't read this info from Anapsid it should be helpful. Scroll down to the part about treating the cage and the lizard. A watered down betadine bath is recommended , gently trickled over the dragon's head. Betadine is aka povidone iodine.

http://www.anapsid.org/mites.html

 

[Electrogab91]

I posted a picture but it is really hard to see something so small. If you look on her arm we see two of them. The others are mostly behind the scales on her head. I don't see them moving before my eyes but I see some changes places when I look later. Thank for the link ! So you are of the opinion that I should do the treatment right away even if it will stress her ?

 

[AHBD]

I don't see the mites but of course they are very tiny. And yes, if you are SURE these are mites you can start . Just give her a daily short bath [ warm water + betadine ] and be very gentle + calm. The more calm you are the better it will be for your beardie. It will only take 10 minutes , then she'll be back in the enclosure so it should not be too stressful. It's up to you if you want to set up a temp. enclosure, you can use a common plastic storage tote.

 

[Electrogab91]

Well i'm going to buy betadine and an anti-parasite pray for the enclosure, in addition to cleaning it with bleach. New development though : Yoshi is shedding (I suppose to get rid of the mites). Is it best to wait after her shed for the betadine bath ?

 

[AHBD]

You can bathe her right away even if she's shedding. BTW, if you're using chemicals in the tank it's imperative that you rinse it to get rid of any fumes. Her basking decor that aren't made of plastic can be baked in a preheated 250 F oven for an hour or so.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is too bad, the mites will definitely bother her!
I agree, even if she is shedding, do go ahead & give her a bath in the diluted betadine to help
out. You can also consider getting some organic coconut oil to gently coat her scales. That
can help drown the mites or force them to the surface to be able to get rid of them.
As suggested, since you are using bleach, be sure to thoroughly rinse the tank as well as the
decor & let it air dry really well to avoid fumes.
I hope you can get this all taken care of.

Tracie

 

[Electrogab91]

So I did the bath today and sadly the infection is even bigger than I thought, especially on her belly I took some picture I think they are a little bit clearer

I saw some fall in the bath water which confirmed my original idea of mites but there are so many remaining, I tried rubbing with the betadine/water solution and with olive oil but the majority would not fall. For the next bath, should I do oil before the bath ? And how soon do you think ?

 

[Electrogab91]

Here is her belly

And here is how cute she is the poor thing I really hope I'll be able to help her ... I'll try to go to the vet to see if we have a canadian alternative to reptispray or something more strong but safe

 

[AHBD]

Aw, poor little one. How long did you soak her for and did you dribble it over her head ? Be sure to let that store know and send them these pics. Those mites may be all over the reptiles in their store so other people should be warned about this.

 

[LokiMcG]

How's your little one doing? I'm genuinely sad for the cutie. That store needs to be supplying you with goods to treat the mites. I mean, it would be terrible for them if the pics ended up on social media linked to them...right? And I totally wouldn't have taken anything back to them.

 

[ComicBookMama]

I'm so, so sorry to hear about this... I've never had reptile mites, but when I bred and showed gerbils, my entire gerbil room wound up with a bad mite infestation because of my lapse in caution when bringing in new animals (which I was watching as a favor - no good deed goes unpunished). It was an awful experience... 30 gerbils in 15 tanks.

Remember that mites in an enclosure will head for the corners, under edges, along the lips of tanks. Anything that is porous - real wood, for example - is likely to be a mite magnet. I know you COULD bake it and try to sterilize it, but I would probably just get rid of it, if it isn't too costly. Even a couple of live mites can cause a reinfestation. You might want to house your little one in a plastic bin with no cracks or crevices for the duration of the treatment.

Good luck. Mites... uggh.