Mites, Eyecaps, Skinny oh my! PLEASE HELP

[Kaspar825]

Ok my brothers snake is going to come to me to see if i can help him. He has mites,Eyecaps and is skinny. So whats the best way to get eye caps off because ive never done it before? Then whats the best way to get rid of mites? I heard its Provent a Mite And Reptile Relief, is it? Then for feeding can i feed him say 5 days apart or 4? I have no expirence with any of these things except under feed. What order should i do them in? I think its eyecaps, feeding,mites but im not sure.(eyecaps first because he has had these the longest, Feeding second because he hasnt eaten in a week, Mites last because hes had them for a week and i think the other two are more stressful And this is going to take the longest. Also do i need to worry about the mites geting on my shirt and then hold my other snakes like i know i need to wash my hands but do i need to worry about them on other places on my body. Any other info would be nice!

[Elise.m]

Get Provent a mite and follow the directions on the can. I know people swear by it, so it works. You'll want to keep this BP away from your collection as much as possible. Total change of clothes in between handling this BP and your collection. *edit* Also use separate tongs/water bowls/hides etc... And sanitize in between each use. Personally I'd boil the stuff just to make sure it's clean.

For the eye caps, I would soak him in either a damp pillow case or a tub with a little water in it for about an hour. Then try to get them off with a Q-tip. Be gentle though, and maybe look up some videos on how to do it.

I'd feed every 5 days... And start on smaller prey size and work your way up.

Hope this helps!

[rockhardchick666]

Is that the length of the no eating? A week?

From my knowledge those mites have no interest in you, they just come along for the ride to the next victim.

[Kaspar825]

A week this time maybe a week and a half last IDK my brother dosent tell me much im going to ask a bunch of questions when he gets home. But he is skinny. Should i wet the Q-tip? I heard puting mineral oil on it helps is this true? Thanks anything else.

EDIT: oh i see what your saying. His snake will eat but my brother cant always feed him. He comes home or he works all day.... his friend makes sure he has water.

[Kaspar825]

oh yea and it might be a year old or so. If this helps?

[angllady2]

One thing at a time hon,

First is those eyecaps, they have to be uncomfortable. ONLY use a q-tip as a last resort, their eyes are so easy to damage. If you soak him for a while, or even better tie him inside a damp pillowcase which you set where he has heat for an hour or so, he may get them off on his own. If you do decide to use a q-tip, make sure you search and read up on how it's done.

Second thing is those horrid mites. They can and will suck the life right out of your snake if you let them. Provent a Mite is best to treat his cage with, I use Mite Off to treat the snake itself. It's going to take a while to get rid of them all, so make sure you follow through with the treatments.

Last thing to worry about is food. Even though he is skinny, they can go a long time without eating, and he might be to miserable to eat now anyway. Start off slowly, offer him a good size mouse or very small rat, and see how he does. If he eats for you, you can offer again in five days. Until he puts on a little weight, that is often enough. You have to make sure he has time to digest one meal before you give him another.

Find out if he's being fed live or frozen, and at least for now stick with what he's used to. You can worry about changing if you need to later on when he's stronger. It is also critical to make sure your husbandry is spot on while he's getting better, so review the stickied threads here if you need to.

Keep us posted on his progress!

Gale

[Kaspar825]

thanks.i hope i can help him poor guy how long should i wait until i go on to the next "operation" lol

[kc261]

Leave the eyecaps alone! You can damage the snake's eyes! If you don't believe me, look at this thread:
http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...d.php?t=114776

What you can do is soak the snake or place the snake in a damp pillowcase in a warm place (like the warm side of the enclosure). They will usually move around and may be able get the eyecaps off themselves.

If that doesn't get the eyecaps off, just leave them alone, and the next time the snake comes in to shed, make sure it has plenty of humidity. Very often, stuck eyecaps will resolve themselves in the next shed as long as there is adequate humidity. But definitely don't rub or pick at the eyes, or use tape. Although these methods can work sometimes, the risk of damaging the eyes is too great for me, considering there isn't any huge benefit since they'll likely resolve themselves with the next shed.

If there are several layers of eyecaps, that is a bit of a different issue, and I'd be looking for advice from someone more experienced than I am. But I can tell you that I've heard of snakes with many layers of stuck eyecaps that recovered just fine once they were in proper conditions and so were able to shed properly.

Provent a mite is probably the best thing for getting rid of the mites. It will kill the live mites immediately, and it also leaves a residue so that as any eggs hatch, the baby mites are killed immediately, preventing a new infestation. I would treat for mites ASAP, preferably before the snake even enters your house, if you have a way to manage it.

To keep the mites (and any other possible issues) from getting transfered to your other snakes, keep the new snake in QT that is as far removed from your collection as possible, and always handle it or care for it last. Then you'll have had a change of clothes & a shower by the time you contact your established collection again the next day.

I'm a little confused on the food issue. It sounds like the snake eats ok, but your brother was just not very reliable about feeding it often enough? If so, then you will probably have no issues getting the weight back on the snake with regular feedings. I'd start off with a small meal, just to be sure he is eating and digesting properly. Then I'd continue to feed once every 5 days until it no longer looks skinny. After that, a year old BP should be good on a 7 day feeding schedule. For starters, feed the snake whatever it is used to eating.

[dc4teg]

good luck with the lil guy

[Kaspar825]

Thanks im puting his in my dads office mine are in my room (other side of house)


EYECAPS-leave them alone but put snake in wet pillow case?


MITES-Use Provent A Mite follow instuctins on bottle. Can this be used directly to the snake?

WEIGHT- Feed small then go to normal every 5 days. How small on a 20inch snake(i feed hoppers to audlts) So maybe big fuzzy to small hopper?