The Might of Mites

[kgrah1]

Marble's blue, so she'll shed soonish. Problem, I just found mites in the tank, and I have a suspicion they hitched a ride on the frozen feeders, as I do not keep any other reptiles.

Normally, I order online and get my big box-o-mice and leave them in the freezer and forget about it until feed day. However, I did break from this last month and bought from the pet store, as the size she likes was out of stock. I have since returned to ordering online, the quality of mice seems higher.

I have a number of questions, for which I do plead your assistance:

The mites are grey-white, is there a chance they aren't snakemites?

If they aren't snakemites, do they pose a danger to the snake?

If they are snakemites, should I be worried about her? I just got her back to a healthy weight.

How do I get rid of them and keep the gone?

[Greensleeves001]

Have not yet had this problem, but I think mites cycle through different life stages, and if they have fed, their coloring becomes darker, or their age reflects their coloring.

I just googled 'snake mites' a few minutes ago and found a lot of information and also, how to treat them.

Apparently, from what I read, mites happen. The best thing to do is educate yourself on what to do if they do show up and have those materials on hand. Good luck

[chrid16371]

Snake Mites are generally black but as stated go through different life stages. If you don't see any black ones at all I wouldn't say there snake mites. Could be rat mites or wood mites depending on your substrate.

Treatment for snake mites would kill other types of mites also. Provent a mite for use in enclosure and natural chemistry reptile spray for on your snake. Provent a mite is to be used in enclosure with the snake and water source removed, do not place snake or any water source back in until the cage has ventilated for at least 30 minutes. For natural chemistry reptile spray I just spray onto a paper towel and let the snake slither through a few times, it does dehydrate the mites so after you let you snake sit for 15 minutes soak your snake in tub of water for 10 minutes and make sure the water isn't to hot or to cold. Follow the instructions exactly and repeat once a week for a couple months.

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