Albert, sorry but your last 4 sentences and assumptions are just incorrect. I never used it without it drying overnight, I also used it very sparingly, I also did not put water in for the first 24 hours of the animal being in tub. I am certain that Steve knows how to read directions too. The problem is garters especially babies crawl around and dig around in substrate to bottom of enclosures and sides and get the stuff on their skin and also unlike a lot of other reptiles they are in and out of their water, this equals nerve damage and death period. You can't leave a snake that was in shipping for a day more than an additional day or two without water or you will dehydrate them. Prevent a mite is water soluble and stable for 30 days!!!