The downside of my beautiful foam construction and hideboxes is now painfully evident... we have a reptile mite infestation!!!!

I've already quarantined both snakes and have been treating them with baths, daily container changes, and I just got my Reptile Relief yesterday.

I've taken both terrariums apart and "nuked" the heck out of them with Permethrin spray.(not anywhere near my snakes of course!)
I'm just so worried that every pore of that foam stuff is filled with zillions of mite eggs!
I'm probably going to cut up and trash the back-wall construction/painting. But I'd like to save my fake stump hideboxes if I can. I've sprayed them extensively with insecticide and left them out on the balcony for the last week or two. I'm going to keep spraying them and then rinse them really well. Then, once the other stuff is out of the freezer, I'll put those in for a week or two. Then rinse them again with water.
Talyn really loves those hides, so I hope I can save them.
Since the terrarium is completely taken apart and Talyn is in a plastic box for a few weeks, I'm just going to paint a rainforest scene directly onto the back wall. When it dries, I'll spray it with clear matt acrylic sealant.
I'll post pics when it's done.

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Andrea

I noticed that you used the single component foam in a can, I also read further along the forum that you had experienced problems with mites. The problem with the single component foams are two-fold: The first issue is that they moisture cure and problems have been experienced in that if they have not fully expanded, they might continue to expand several weeks or months after you have sprayed them if they come into contact with water. The second problem, as you now know, is that they have an open cell structure, which means that they act as a sponge for moisture and also as lovely housing for mites.

There is a 2 component spray foam, which basically gets round all of these problems. Handi-Foam manufacture the stuff. The foam has a closed cell structure and cures exo-thermically. It also cures within a maximum of 5 minutes. You can actually cut it with a bread knife after 5 minutes... lovely stuff. It is more expensive, but you get what you pay for. www.spray-insulation.co.uk has a whole lot of information on the stuff. Have a look at their stage props page - off the articles page, very interesting.

Welcome to Herp Center Chantel!

You seem to offer a good solution to the issues surrounding spray-foam installation. Thanks for the info.

We look forward to more informative posts!

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Regards,
Dominick
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