are mites easy to recognise?

My substrate isnt great for seeing, its reptibark, but my BP has been acting stressed and Im trying to locate the cause. Wondering whether it might be mites? Would it be easy to tell? He has some black edges around the scale but it looks like part of the scale

A picture would help.


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Mites arnt that easy to find but there not that hard to find either just check for little black bugs in the water bowl and run your hand down him and check your hands for little black bug/mites and also check under his head as mites like to hide there and you should use Unpainted paper or newspaper as substrate so you can easily see mites on that and also because particle substrate such as reptibark, aspen, soil etc can carry mites.

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Originally Posted by Dumdum333

My substrate isnt great for seeing, its reptibark, but my BP has been acting stressed and Im trying to locate the cause. Wondering whether it might be mites? Would it be easy to tell? He has some black edges around the scale but it looks like part of the scale

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Mite infections are very often accompanied by your snake soaking in his water bowel, assuming it is large enough. If your snake has mites on it they will either be: (a) underneath the scales and too small to see, or (b) they will be visible, black and moving around on the surface of the scales. If it is black and not moving, it is unlikely it is mite. They come off pretty easily once they are out from under scales.

Also if you see little black specks and suspect they're mites, just poke them hard with your fingernail and they'll move. Anything else that isn't mites won't move.

A few months ago, I saw a black speck on my GTP's face and someone told me to just pick it off and see if it moves. That's the sure way! LOL
(it wasn't mites, it was a speck of dirt)