Does She Have Mites?

[JNieporte]

I've had my female ball python since the middle of January (this year). She has never shown signs of mites and hasn't had contact with any other animals (other than food). For about three weeks now, she's been soaking a lot in her water dish. Sometimes it's her whole body; sometimes it's just her front (or back) half.

I'm using aspen bedding as substrate, and although I haven't found any mites in it, I think she might have them. She's soaking a lot (see above) and seems to be even more lethargic than when I got her. I've moved the bedding around to look for them and can't find any, and I can't see any on her. I've picked her up, hoping they'd move or get onto me so I could be sure they were there. Nothing. However, there are black spots in the bottom of her water dish. Usually two to five of them, no visible legs or anything, no movement, just sitting on the bottom of the dish. They're black and about the size of a pinhead.

EDITED: Upon closer inspection, I think I can make out a head. I squeezed one with a pair of forceps, and it has a rust-colored liquid inside. I'm treating this as mites and will be buying Provent A Mite tomorrow. My question is, how did she get mites in the first place? She's not been in contact with any animals other than her food, and this behavior didn't exist up until three weeks ago. She's eating just fine, and is due for a shed soon.

[azpythons]

hmm...maybe one or two came along with the aspen bedding??

[Kaorte]

Not sure how she got them but there are a few things to do until you can get some pam.

Change your substrate to paper towels. This way you can see the mites on the paper towel.

Clean out the entire enclosure really well and boil/bake all of the cage items to kill anything on them.

Wipe the snake down with a paper towel to see if you can get any mites off her.

Hope this helps!

[rabernet]

It takes about 30 days for mite eggs to hatch, so it is possible that she had mite eggs on her when you got her. Or if you handled someone else's snake or one at the pet store, you could have brought them home.

Provent a Mite will wipe out the mites AND the eggs, so you should be fine once you get tht in!

[frankykeno]

Yep mid-January to mid-February, just about right for a 30 mite life cycle unfortunately. Just remember to read the directions carefully on the P.A.M. can and do NOT spray it directly on your snake. It should take care of your mite problem.

[Darkice]

I do a quick spray of the substrate with prevent a mite every time I change it.
None of my snakes have mites and im just making sure they never do.
A few years ago I bought an adult Redtailed boa off KS.com and it came covered with mites. I mean millions of mites and the snake was suffering.
And this came from what I thought was a reputable breeder. I was freaking out that my house had mites in it now. It was the first time I had used prevent a mite and I never had a reoccurrence. But for some reason I still do a tiny spritz after every cleaning.

[LadyOhh]

I do a quick spray of the substrate with prevent a mite every time I change it.
None of my snakes have mites and im just making sure they never do.
A few years ago I bought an adult Redtailed boa off KS.com and it came covered with mites. I mean millions of mites and the snake was suffering.
And this came from what I thought was a reputable breeder. I was freaking out that my house had mites in it now. It was the first time I had used prevent a mite and I never had a reoccurrence. But for some reason I still do a tiny spritz after every cleaning.

Be careful not to overdo it.

I had a friend kill a VERY expensive animal by over-treating it with Anti-mite spray.

[JNieporte]

I ordered Provent a Mite online since none of my local stores have them. Right now, I'm using Mite Off (made by Zoo Med). The bottle says it's okay for use on the snake itself; just avoid the head. Active ingredient is Sodium Laurel Sulfate 0.1%
I also changed the entire substrate and lightly misted the substrate and everything inside the cage, except the water dish.

The instructions on the bottle say...
"-Spray evenly over entire body, legs, and tail. Make sure to spray skin folds, as this is where many mites will hide.
-Thoroughly spray entire enclosure including substrate, rock heaters, cage furniture, etc.
-If mites are observed on your reptile(s) after 48 hours from the initial treatment, they are most likely dead and can be rinsed from the animal with water.
-Reapply as necessary, but allow 3 days between treatments.
- For snakes, lizards, and land tortoises only. Do not use on amphibians or arachnids."

Thoughts? Anybody use Mite Off before?

[STORMS]

I ordered Provent a Mite online since none of my local stores have them. Right now, I'm using Mite Off (made by Zoo Med). The bottle says it's okay for use on the snake itself; just avoid the head. Active ingredient is Sodium Laurel Sulfate 0.1%
I also changed the entire substrate and lightly misted the substrate and everything inside the cage, except the water dish.

The instructions on the bottle say...
"-Spray evenly over entire body, legs, and tail. Make sure to spray skin folds, as this is where many mites will hide.
-Thoroughly spray entire enclosure including substrate, rock heaters, cage furniture, etc.
-If mites are observed on your reptile(s) after 48 hours from the initial treatment, they are most likely dead and can be rinsed from the animal with water.
-Reapply as necessary, but allow 3 days between treatments.
- For snakes, lizards, and land tortoises only. Do not use on amphibians or arachnids."

Thoughts? Anybody use Mite Off before?

If it were me, I would return the Mite Off to the store and wait for the Provent-A-Mite to come

[JNieporte]

If it were me, I would return the Mite Off to the store and wait for the Provent-A-Mite to come

So, you're saying that the Mite Off isn't effective? I realize that Provent A Mite is what I need, but I figured the Mite Off was better than nothing until it gets here.