Are rodent mites species specific?

[sarae]

I loaned some of my mice out to a pet store for a charity event... when they were returned, my babies were absolutely infested with mites and the adults had a few on them as well. Two of the babies died last night.

I'm keeping the mice in a separate room from my snakes and my other mice and treating them with ivermectin (I don't plan on using any of these as feeders, just breeders)... but now i'm paranoid.

I'm pretty sure i heard that rodent mites can't be transferred to other animals (dogs, cats, snakes.. etc) but I'm not sure. Anyone know?

 

[Wyldrose]

They are species specific. The best way to treat mites http://www.thefunmouse.com/info/hair-loss.cfm#treatment
I used this when my mice had mites and it cured them right away. Iver-on is safe to use on beef, I would wait a month after the last treatment before feeding off any to your snakes.

 

[sarae]

Thanks! I've always used oral ivermectin with good results on rats, hopefully it will work on the mice as well. I don't think the iver-on is available anywhere around me, but I'll definitely keep an eye out for it!

 

[Susan]

You could probably try Revolution (selamectin) which is a topical heartworm prevention for dogs and cats. It is similar to ivermectin, very safe, and will kill mites and lice in dogs and cats so should work on mice. Getting the proper dose might be difficult, but doable. We recently used it on a baby squirrel with no issues (applied 1 drop).