Mites, or ticks, are a very common problem in blue tongue skinks, as well as other reptile pets. My blue tongue skink has mites – how do I get rid of mites? In this post, we will cover mites and ticks in blue tongue skinks, how reptile mites look like, how to get rid of mites on your blue tongue skink and more.
Are mites (ticks) in a blue tongue skink dangerous?
Mites can cause various problems for your blue tongue skink, if they don’t get removed for a long time. First of all, mites will suck on your blue tongue’s blood and can cause anemia. Also, mites/ticks can cause infections and skin irritation, which can also cause problems with shedding.
Mites on blue tongue skinks will look like small dots on and under its scales. To get rid of mites on a blue tongue skink, everything from the tank must be removed and disinfected regularly, with mite treatment applied until everything clears.
How to tell if your blue tongue skink has mites?
Mites can be hard to notice on your blue tongue skink and can be of different sizes. These will be small dots on your blue tongue’s skin or under its scales – they can be crawling or staying still. On top of that, you might see white mite dust (which are their feces), on your blue tongue skink’s skin.
Another sign that your blue tongue skink has mites is that it’s soaking for longer than usual. This is because your blue tongue is trying to get rid of them this way, by drowning them in water.
Mites can also make your blue tongue skink agitated and unwilling to be handled. Poor appetite and decreased activity are also signs.
Your blue tongue skink’s scales will also be raised – if you touch scales with your fingers, you will feel that they lifted and there are mites underneath.
Are blue tongue skink mites dangerous to humans?
No, because reptile mites only use reptiles as hosts. While some species can bite humans, but they won’t survive long without a reptile host.
Are blue tongue skink mites contagious to other reptiles?
Mites on blue tongue skinks are very contagious to other reptiles (not only blue tongues). If you have just brought a blue tongue skink that has mites, you must quarantine it far away from other reptiles for 2-3 months. But you must quarantine not only if your skink has mites, but always.
You should also change your clothes and wash hands after cleaning your blue tongue’s tank or treating your blue tongue for mites. That’s because mites can survive for even few months without a host (your skink), by sticking to your clothes and traveling around the house.
How long can it take to get rid of mites on my blue tongue skink?
While mites can be hard to get rid of, please stay patient and vigilant. It can take from a week to few to get rid of mites. However, even if you don’t see the mites, please continue spraying and cleaning for 6 weeks because mites have a life cycle of 40 days!
Make sure to check your tank and clothes after each treatment, because they can survive without the host for months!
How to get rid of mites on my blue tongue skink?
Step 1: Remove the tank to another room if you have other reptile pets
Once you notice mites, you must take precaution and clean everything surrounding your blue tongue skink. This is because mites will travel to other parts of the room, get on your clothes etc., and can cause re-infestation.
If you have any other reptile pets, it’s highly recommended to remove your blue tongue and its tank to another room. This way you will avoid infecting other reptile pets that you have (if any).
Step 2: Remove the substrate and accessories
After that, you will need to remove any loose substrate that you have in the tank. This is because mites will hide and lay eggs in loose substrate, causing constant re-infestation in the future.
Throw away any loose substrate – take it outside straight away to prevent any mites from escaping and staying inside the house. While treating your blue tongue, please only use paper towels for its bedding.
To clean the tank, remove your blue tongue skink and place it in a small container for the time being.
Then, remove all the accessories to disinfect them. You should disinfect any porous and wooden accessories or branches. To disinfect, soak accessories in the bleach solution (1 part bleach, 9 parts water) for 2 hours and wash thoroughly. Instead of soaking, you can boil or bake the wooden accessories at 250 F for 1 hour.
After disinfecting, DON’T return these accessories in the tank. Keep them for when your blue tongue is free of mites/ticks. Instead, have a very simple setup with paper towels and some hides made of carton boxes or else that is easily replaceable. Mites are very good at hiding in small crevices and inside of porous materials.
While you are cleaning the tank, leave your blue tongue skink in a separate container. Treat it for mites before returning to a cleaned terrarium.
Step 3: Treat your blue tongue skink for mites
First of all, you can get a reptile mite spray like this. Spray your blue tongue once, and then again after 3 days. You can also use this spray to clean the tank.
To clean the tank, you can also use a Provent-a-Mite spray like this. You can mix spray both Natural Chemistry and Provent-a-Mite spray together inside the tank. Don’t use Provent-a-mite spray on your blue tongue skink, though, but only for the tank.
To clean the tank, you can also use a hot steam cleaner like this, which will kill mites with high temperature pressurized steam. Ticks are pretty good at surviving hot temperatures, so you need a hot steam cleaner that will heat water to at least 185-200 F (85-93C). Steam cleaner is also good for routine cleaning and safe disinfection.
Make sure that the room is well-ventilated. Spray the whole body excluding the eyes. Leave it on for an hour or so, then rinse it off. You can also soak the blue tongue for 10 minutes after that, to drown mites that are still remaining.
If the ticks are large and you can see them, you can apply some petroleum jelly on the skin, to suffocate them. Also, you can apply vegetable or olive oil on your blue tongue’s skin – including ears and head.
Do this on top of spray treatments. This will help drown the mites. Wait for 15 minutes and then wipe. You can then attempt removing ticks that have drowned, but are still attached.
You would need to carefully remove the tick from the skin, with its head. If its head stays attached under the skin, the area can get infected. The best way is to use a special tick removal tool such as twister like this to make sure you remove a full tick with the head. Make sure to grab it by the head.
Remove your blue tongue skink from the tank and put in a container. Then, remove all the accessories, disinfect them by washing/soaking/boiling/baking.
Clean the tank with this reptile spray. Place paper towels and some cardboard hides for the time being. Then, treat your blue tongue for mites. Put back in the tank. Repeat after 3 days.
How to prevent mites in your blue tongue skink?
- If you have just got a blue tongue skink, quarantine it alone for 2-3 months, away from other reptiles. Use paper towels for the first 2-3 weeks at least while you take your skink’s poop for the parasitic test and get results. Aim of quarantining is to detect any health issues.
- In case your blue tongue skink already has mites, wash your hands and even change your clothes after you handle/treat it or clean the tank. Mites can get on your clothes.
- If you handle any other reptiles somewhere, wash your hands and shake out all your clothes outside in case any mites got stuck on you.
Thank you for reading this post. If you would like to learn more about blue tongue skink care, see this resource page. You can also read more on removing external reptile parasites in this post.