Some questions (Mites/Feeding response)

About mites, does anyone know which species of mites will infest ball pythons? I happen to culture fruit flies, grindal worms, earthworms, white worms, and part of the culture always contains soil mites and the little white fruit fly related mites. In my experience these guys are harmless and will only infest anything with "food" on it, but will they eventually cause a problem with the ball pythons?

I have my mice/rat breeding groups in the same room as the ball pythons right now. How do you tell when a BP is in "feeding mode"? I was my hands before I handle my pythons but I'm always nervous because the whole room smells like mice to me, and the snakes will most likely smell it too. I've never gotten bit yet, but everytime I open their containers they flicker their tongue as if they're looking for prey. I know that at first they are just curious who opened the container, but when they keep "sensing" their surroundings it makes me feel like they're actually looking for the mouse. Are they looking for prey? Is it possible that they will mistake my hand for a mouse even though the hand itself does not smell like mouse? Also, do you keep your rats/mice in a different room?