help! my baby butter has mites!

[sookieball]

that sums it up! none of my others do! what do i do to quarentine!

how do i get them off him!

how do i soak him in what to kill them!!

i saw one or 2 on his head by his eyes!

i was sraying him with shed aid when i noticed! would the shed aid help to kill them?


and just for clarification, mites are small white bugs right? tiny tiny...

[steveboos]

Quickly separate him from the rest of your collection, as far away as possible. Order a can or 2 of PAM (http://www.pro-products.com/index.ph...d=53&Itemid=59) and start treatment the minute it comes in the mail.

Your going to want to clean and sanitize every tank/tub and spray them all with provent-a-mite, it's going to take a couple weeks to get rid of all them, but you HAVE to spray every cage and don't think just because you don't see any, that they aren't there.

The instructions on the back of the can are very specific, follow them to a T and you will solve your mite problem.

I would give a rough estimate and say that 99% of breeders have a can or 2 of Provent-A-Mite sitting around.


Oh yeah, no mites are tiny little black bugs, i'm not quite sure what a small white bug would be?!?

[zina10]

hm, what kind of substrate are you (or the breeder) using ? Don't those small white bugs come from some kind of wood chips substrate ?
They aren't snake mites, though. I don't think ??

Clean the cage thoroughly, let the snake soak in some lukewarm water (not deep, only halfway up the snakes body) and let her crawl through some damp towels. If those bugs aren't snake mites, they should be easy to get rid off, possibly without chemicals.

But I'm guessing...

[steveboos]

hm, what kind of substrate are you (or the breeder) using ? Don't those small white bugs come from some kind of wood chips substrate ?
They aren't snake mites, though. I don't think ??

Clean the cage thoroughly, let the snake soak in some lukewarm water (not deep, only halfway up the snakes body) and let her crawl through some damp towels. If those bugs aren't snake mites, they should be easy to get rid off, possibly without chemicals.

But I'm guessing...

Yeah now that you say it, I do remember people getting bags of aspen or cypress and them having wood mites in them. Wood mites i do believe are white bugs that are just a nuisance, but can't hurt your snakes and do die very easily.

[West Coast Jungle]

You have wood mites not reptile mites. They dont pose an immediate threat to your snake but you may wamt to change your substrate. Years ago I used cypress mulch and that came with all kinds of buggies. They reccomend you dont spray substrate directly with Provent a Mite but only the tub or tank. That should kill whats in it but I would just switch to something else.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

that sums it up! none of my others do! what do i do to quarentine!

Sadly too late for quarantine to be effective it must be done immediately upon arrival not when you notice something is wrong

how do i get them off him!

The most effective way is to use PAM (Provent A Mite http://www.pro-products.com/index.ph...d=53&Itemid=59) other product are not effective due mainly to the lack of long term residual effect.

how do i soak him in what to kill them!!

With PAM you do not you simply spray the enclosure and put the snake back in the enclosure.

i saw one or 2 on his head by his eyes!

Usually around the eye sockets is where you first start noticing them.

i was sraying him with shed aid when i noticed! would the shed aid help to kill them?

Nope just like shed aid does not really help for shed either, proper constant humidity is what helps.

and just for clarification, mites are small white bugs right? tiny tiny...

Yes and NO, white mites are wood mites found in the bedding to avoid this problem I would recommend baking your substrate.

Snake mites are black and look like this http://www.vpi.com/publications/the_...of_snake_mites

Either way I would highly recommend you to invest in a can of PAM and quarantine and treat any future new addition regardless of their provenance, because trust me the last thing you want to do is try to eradicate mites when you have them.

Good quarantine and prevention is essential and give you piece of mind

[sookieball]

thank you everyone! yeah i flipped out to soon!

they are wood mites... and dont pose a threat to the snakes.. but their colonies can be
stressful to the snake.


so i took out the wood hide to look, and yeah,

its wood mites.. thank god!

i always take extra care to my tanks and more so to my animals! i thank all of you!
i love this community of people who actually help.

i bet even vet's are jealous that forums are alot of times more helpful than money grubbing terds..

[steveboos]

thank you everyone! yeah i flipped out to soon!

they are wood mites... and dont pose a threat to the snakes.. but their colonies can be
stressful to the snake.


so i took out the wood hide to look, and yeah,

its wood mites.. thank god!

i always take extra care to my tanks and more so to my animals! i thank all of you!
i love this community of people who actually help.

i bet even vet's are jealous that forums are alot of times more helpful than money grubbing terds..

Hence why you joined the forum in the first place!! After you've navigated the site for a year or so, you will be a Ball Python master and be able to help out all your friends and other people on this forum with their BP's.