did i mess up??

[kristy55303]

ok got my albinno ball in today and put reptibark in enclosure. I did not however bake it and got it at petco(sigh). I did bake the wood hide though and washed the water bowl really well as it was pretty dusty. How much risk am i at for mites, should i redo enclosure tomorrow, phrophylactically treat for mites to be safe?

Thanks,
kristy(new to owning a snake)

[Kaorte]

I would bake it just to be safe but the wood isn't 100% guaranteed to have mites on it or anything..

[wilomn]

In general the mites on wood are specific to wood. They don't go from wood to snake or snake to wood. Even if you see mites, unless they're reptile mites, which really shouldn't be in the bark, they're nothing to worry about.

[kristy55303]

In general the mites on wood are specific to wood. They don't go from wood to snake or snake to wood. Even if you see mites, unless they're reptile mites, which really shouldn't be in the bark, they're nothing to worry about.

ok thank you very much. I wont worry about it now. but will definately just keep my eyes open. appreciate the help. I'm a little OCD LOL.

Kristy

[wilomn]

Let me clarify a bit.

All the wood mites I've seen are white or a very dingy yellow, never black.

They WILL crawl on your snake but will do it no harm.

If you get a particularly prolific batch, you may even see the top of your snakes head looking like it was dusted, heavily, with baby powder. Just wipe them off and forget about them. Change the bedding if you feel it necessary but don't worry.

[kristy55303]

Let me clarify a bit.

All the wood mites I've seen are white or a very dingy yellow, never black.

They WILL crawl on your snake but will do it no harm.

If you get a particularly prolific batch, you may even see the top of your snakes head looking like it was dusted, heavily, with baby powder. Just wipe them off and forget about them. Change the bedding if you feel it necessary but don't worry.

i know exactly what type of mites those are. they tend to crash my fruit fly cultures for darts LOL. thanks for the info and glad i got some solid answers.