Hi there! Since I've last asked a few questions on this forum, I've gotten a lot better caring for my ball python. Everything's been going really well, he had his first shed about a month back and has been taking his food every week without fail.

So here's the problem: Today, I opened up his tank and noticed various bugs inside. This makes some sense, because the weather's been very warm lately and we normally see an influx of bugs in the house around this time. However, this is my first summer with a BP, and therefore I've never had to deal with bugs in his tank before.

A majority of the bugs are ants, all of which I've made a point to kill/remove every time that I catch them. I've found probably about 10 just today, and this is the first time I've seen them before. One of the bugs really scared me, as it was a very small brown bug that I immediately thought might be a mite. However, I only saw one (killed it) and see them all the time in my yard (leading to me to believe that it wasn't a mite, rather just a small bug). When I ran a tissue along my snake, I found no signs of mites at all.

So clearly, the bugs are just regular outdoor bugs (with the educated guess that they're not mites). I've just seen so many that I worry whether they're a danger to my snake or not, if I should get rid of them, how I should go about that, etc. Any advice?



Husbandry:
-newspaper substrate
-heat mat at 91 degrees (measured by thermometer)
-humidity 60-80% (measured by humidity gauge)
-two hides, water bowl, etc.