how to tell if there are mites?

Well today was the first time I really was able to take my BP out and hold him. As he was passing through my hands and just exploring around some I noticed a little black bug crawling on him. I thought it was an ant at first, cause we have a bad ant problem here right now. But it wasn't so I began to look him over very carefully. I didn't see anything else crawling on him. A little bit later I found another one crawling around.

How do you tell if he has a whole bunch of them? I am going to go to my local pet stores and see if they have PAM but I just want to know if I have a major problem right now.

Soak him/her in lukewarm water (check the temp! warm to you or I, at 98.6, is waaaaaay too hot for a snake) for 15 minutes or so and then check the water after you take the snake out. The water will drown any mites that are present on the snake and then you can go about treating your tubs/tanks if you do have a mite problem. They're pretty small and hard to see, but they should show up in the water if you look closely enough and they're on your snake in the first place. Fingers crossed you don't have them but hope that helps... Good luck.

yeah the two I found were really small and I looked him over really good after both finds and wasn't able to see anymore.

So we talking like around 70ish degrees on the water?

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Originally Posted by jeffreybas

So we talking like around 70ish degrees on the water?

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80-82 is a good soaking temp.

That would be fine. 70-75 degree range. You can fill a 12 quart or similar size tub with water that's deep enough to cover the snake but give it a means to get out of the water so it doesn't get worn out and drown and then pop the lid back on it and give it a few minutes...

Mites are a pain, to say the least. PAM is a tricky prospect too...make sure to follow the directions exactly, to keep from killing your snake along with the mites. Hopefully you caught it early and you can get them wiped out before they become too much of an issue. Good luck!

Water should be 80-85, I believe. Someone can correct me if I am wrong.


EDIT: Nvm :)

Got him in some water right now 82ish. He is doing pretty good with it he puts his head under from time to time then he rests it on his back.

Well just pulled him out and looked at the water with a flash light. not a single little black spec in it. The water actually looked perfectly clean still

Sorry, I was off on the temps. Couldn't remember if it was 70-75 or 80-85 so I erred on the side of caution. That's great the water is clear but it might just mean he didn't have any on his body. Totally up to you but if you think you've got mights, I'd clear out the current bedding/substrate, treat the tub(s) with PAM per the directions and start over with new substrate.

Replace and repeat the above for the next month or so, once a week, and hopefully you'll have killed what ails him. The eggs are the hardest thing to get rid of and take the longest, hence the length of time. That's what I've done and it's worked for me...someone else might have a better suggestion. Good luck!

I am still going to see if they sell it at any of the local shops out here. If for nothing else then to have it on hand.

If it is to get bad are they easy to see on the BP?