Ugh.. Mites!

Everywhere was out of f/t so I bought a rat weanling from a reptile store. I took the rat home and noticed mites on the top of the container. I wasn't sure if they were rat mites or snake mites. I decided to feed the rat anyway since my snake hadn't ate in over a week and he refused the rat many times so I bought a live mouse from a Petco and he took that no problem. So about 3 weeks went by and I have my snake out of his enclosure and I see a speck on my hand. I rubbed it off my finger on a piece of paper and it looked like it was squished with blood. I looked over my snake everywhere and soaked him and found no mites at all. I rinsed out the snake enclosure with HOT water (the tap water here gets almost 200 degrees) and put my snake on paper towel substrate and I still see no mites. He has none on his belly and none around heat pits or face. The tough thing is he is all black and I feel like I'm missing them! Can rat mites survive over 3 weeks? or could this be snake mites? Im freaking out because 7 years ago when I had more then one snake I took home a orange ghost male and he infected my whole collection and the prevent a mite gave the snake neuro problems. That snake I would soak and the mites would come out of his heat pits. I just hope this is not an early case and wish to treat it naturally. :tears:

Just treat the enclosure with PAM to get rid of the mites whether they are snake mites or other type of mites, if you don't it's just gonna be a never ending story.

Also treat any other snakes you may have and the surrounding area.

Rat mites do NOT infest snakes. The only sure fire way I know to get rid of mites is to use provent a mite or another permetherine spray. After spraying, make sure the tub or cage is COMPLETELY dry before putting the snake back in and do not put a water dish or any other furniture in the cage for at least several days.

He is my only herp right now thank goodness. I used PAM once on an orange ghosts tub 6-7 years ago and it made him have a wobble he never had before :confusd: I let the tub dry over night and as soon as I misted a few days later for humidity he got a wobble but the mites did go away. I am not sure if I want to do that again :(

Do you think rat mites may still be lingering without a host?

I don't know how long rat mites can live between feedings. Unfortunately a snake mite can go months between feedings so if you saw snake mites 3 weeks ago then some could easily still be alive.

If you don't want to use PAM or other permethrin-based insecticides then you could always use Reptile Spray on the snake and hot water on the enclosure. Anything over 150*F will kill mites and eggs. I knocked back an infestation pretty quickly by using a heat gun - the kind for stripping paint or wallpaper - set on the lowest setting of 150*F. A steam cleaner would also work.

Full disclosure though - I also used permethrin on the rack and tubs, and a No-Pest strip in the room for one day a week, repeated for 8 weeks. I really did NOT want the mites to come back!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MarkS

Rat mites do NOT infest snakes. The only sure fire way I know to get rid of mites is to use provent a mite or another permethrin spray. After spraying, make sure the tub or cage is COMPLETELY dry before putting the snake back in and do not put a water dish or any other furniture in the cage for at least several days.

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Better.;)

Good news.. I cleaned the enclosure again and found nothing. Soaked him and found nothing and no specks in the water. I washed the whole tank down in hot water again and he only has two reptile basic hides and a crock dish that were soaked again too. I threw the Accurite thermometer out as well since it has crevices so I am just using two digital probes for the cool and warm side and paper towel bedding. Hopefully it was a rat mite or mites from the substrate. :please: