Ugh.. Mites in store bought bedding?

[koulgurl]

Now, I am new...sorry for the ignorance...but I do want to learn all this. I just switched the substrate from sand to Aspen bedding (zoo-med kind). I was checking on my snake and I noticed a bunch of little black spots in the water dish...I don't KNOW these are mites...but it sure does sound like them. I didn't notice any of them on him when I was holding him earlier...and I have never seen them in the water dish before (not in the last 6 days I have had him).

Here is a pic:


Best one I could get at least. Could they have come from the bedding? Do you think it is mites?

George (the snake) didn't soak in the water dish at all...and the black spots weren't in there before we put the dish in the cage...so I am so clueless as to what they are or where they came from.

[koulgurl]

He did drink out of the dish though...which I am assuming is the reason for the sand in the one corner...but he just dipped his head in...so I can't imagine all these black things came from him.

[West Coast Jungle]

They maynot be reptile mites, could just be wood mites. Check the fold in the middle on the bottom of the jaw of snake. Reptile mites love to hangout there. I stopped using cypress bedding years ago because it always had woodmites. Although they are not really dangerous to reptiles who want little crawley things in the house.

I'm not saying for sure what they are but its possible they are not reptile mites.

[justinsane82]

I sure hope those aren't mites...That's a lot. What I would do if I was you is take all the bedding out and let the snake sit on some paper towel for a day or two. You'll see if you have mites then.

[koulgurl]

Ugh. I just put the aspen in a few hours ago. I guess that will be my chore for tomorrow.

[hoax]

I would not worry about reptile mites in your bedding, it is my understanding that they can't survive with out a reptilian host (they are like fleas but just for reptiles).

If you don't have a can of PAM (provent-a-mite) get some, follow the directions on the can and you will be mite free. You can purchase PAM from Reptile Basics, the link is in my sig.

Mike

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

Ive delt with reptile mites before and that doesnt look like mites. I have to agree with the wood mite theory. Wood mites wont get on the snake but I do know from experience that some types of wood mites will bite a human. Eeek!

Plus reptile mites are generally round. If you can get a couple of those things out of there and look very closely you would see tiny legs like a round flea. That picture doesnt look like a bunch of uniformly shaped bugs and if it were bugs they would all look identical, just slightly different sizes.

I use that mulch for my little borneos right now and I have never had anything like that show up in the water. I must have just gotten lucky in that dept.

Keep an eye on it and let us know what you find out. Another place mites will be if they are on a snake is around its eyes and vent area. Its gotta be either wood mites or just specks of dirt/wood from the bedding.

[muddoc]

It doesn't sound like a Mite probelm, due to the timing. As others have stated, mites need a host to be able to survive and breed. If the bedding has only been in the tank for 6 days, there is no way that any stray mite eggs in the bedding could have hatched and grown to that size in that time period. Nor do I think it is possible that that population of mites could have gotten into a bag of Aspen at a store. If you want to check your snake for mites, take a white paper towel, wrap it around the body, and starting from the tip of the nose, let the snake crawl completely through the paper towel. Open the paper towel and inspect for black dots that walk.

p.s. Wood mites will get on your snake, I see them on mine all the time, but they do not feed on them, and thus will not injure the snake. However, wood mites in large enough numbers can be an irritant to a snake, just like a bunch of bugs walking around on you would aggravate you.

Hope that helps,

[chago11]

i would get some PAM and spray the bedding just to be safe. i use cypress mulch that i buy from Lowes but i make sure to spray the bedding before putting the snake in the tub.

[Vypyrz]

You can get Provent-A-Mite from here...


http://www.pro-products.com/