Hi there –

I think them coming back is a possibility, so it’s important to be as diligent as possible when going through your stuff. I’ve done a lot of research into academic articles related with the red poultry mite, and it seems as though you don’t have that (maybe the northern fowl mite), but still some of this info may help.

First of all, it’s important to know that once mites have had a blood feed, they can live for up to 9 months on that feed (again, this is for the red mite). From a study:

“As a nest parasite it only comes to the host to feed, but it must do that repeatedly; the two nymphal life-stages both feed, and the adult female has to feed for every batch of eggs.

Chicken mites are well adapted to host absence and can survive long periods of starvation (up to 9 months) if they are protected from desiccation.”

So if there were mites that fed off you or your dog and then just lay dormant, it is possible they could still be alive.

As a precaution, I would wash everything that comes out of those bags. Wash on hot water and put Borax into the washer along with your regular soap. Then do a long dry cycle in case the washing doesn’t kill anything. For things that can’t be washed, bag them and put them in the freezer for a few days just to be sure. And definitely I would keep up and do a deep clean with heavy vacuuming, washing (I use Pinesol or Lysol) of walls and floors, and keeping up with laundry.

I hope some of this helps! Good luck.

– J

• This reply was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by CNDNGirl.