Clueless first time owner. Help Please?

Hi everyone my name is Romain and I'm a first time snake owner. I have a Ball Python I got from Petsmart. My snake seems healthy except I just discovered the tank has mites now. I don't know how they came to be if its from bad care please don't bash me I'm truly trying to make everything like a professional owner would. Im going to buy some mite spray and use it on the snake and bleach down the tank and wash everything down thoroughly etc. But I also noticed a few days after the first shedding of the skin that it was missing some scales. I've read that it could be caused from the top of the tank scraping them off idk just wanted everyones opinion on that. Thanks for the help in advance!
http://s1019.photobucket.com/user/rd...a9eb5.jpg.html <-- Hope you can see the image of the missing scales I used my iPhone :P

Could be caused by tank scraping, could be the result of bad husbandry at Petsmart, could be the result of live food fighting back. Keep an eye on it and make sure the effect doesn't spread. Lost scales will grow back in time.

Order some Provent A Mite (PAM) now: http://www.pro-products.com/index.ph...d=53&Itemid=59
Do not use PAM directly on your snake or its water dishes, only in its enclosure and hides. Use paper towel as the substrate, and treat everything with the PAM and allow it to dry before placing it into the enclosure. Re-treat the tank and paper towel every time you have to clean out the tank because your snake went #1 or #2 for at least a month.

Setup should be minimal: hot and cold side hide, water dish, and paper towel substrate. If you're using a tank, cover the top with a damp towel to help keep the humidity up, paper towels and lights will dry it out.

Did you get an under-tank heater (UTH)? If you did, did you get a thermostat - not a thermometer, a thermostat to regulate the UTH?

Pet stores and mites are almost synonymous, so it's likely your snake had them before you brought her home.

I used Reptile Spray that is available at the big box stores. Is cheap and worked great. One treatment got rid of them for good.

Welcome to the site!

Lets get the basics down first, the basics are key to being a "pro" reptile keeper!

Read through these threads, unfortunately many pet store employees aren't very knowledgable and give out bad advice. These threads will ensure that you know what you are doing.

Basic Care: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

Cage Setup: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...With-Pictures!

Cage Heating/Temperatures: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t-Thermometers

Ok, now that you have the basics down lets get to your questions.

There are a lot of possible causes of missing scales. For now I wouldn't be too worried about them, many times our snake will be good as new after a shed. If your BP is still missing scales after the shed then you might want to look into the cause, but for now there isn't much you can do, and it shouldn't be an issue to your BP.

Mites on the other hand are a big issue. To get rid of the mites here is what I would recommend:

1. remove everything from the snakes cage and clean it throughly. Spray the cage down with a mite killer ( I suggest prevent a mite http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/...rovent-a-mite/) Follow the mite killers instruction to the letter, some of these chemicals are dangerous, and if used improperly bad things can happen.

2. Place a single of paper towels in the cage for substrate. No wood chips/reptile carpet, just paper towels. This will prevent mites from hiding in the substrate, and will make seeing the black bug easier.

3. Keep the cage as minimalistic as possible. You don't want to give the mites anywhere to hide or lay eggs.

Something lik this:

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...d.jpg~original

4. soak your snake 1-2 times a day in warm (not hot, water temp in the 80's F) with a drop of Dawn dish soap in it. This will help to remove the mites from the snake.

5. IN a week or so (whatever the mite spray directions say) repeat this process to ensure that the mites are gone.


If you have any questions feel free to ask.

A description of your setup would allow us to find any issues you may have.

1. What type/size cage
2. What you are using to heat the cage
3. What you are using to measure temperatures/humidity in the cage
4. Any thermostats/temperature controllers?
5. Current cage temperatures.humidity