Preventing mites?

I set up my baby ball pythons terrarium to help get rid of mites. His bedding is napkins. Both of his hides are small food containers with a napkin over them. I sprayed and whipped down his plastic bamboo sticks and kept them. But his hides are being thrown away. His substrate is currently in the freezer. He has not eaten in two weeks. Will he be okay? How long should I be bathing him to get rid of mites? When do I know the mites are gone?

If you are using provent a mite 2 treatments and you will be done for most minor infestations.

If you used something else it may take a long time, provent a mite is the only product treating all stages from eggs to adult stage anything else will be inefficient so is bathing that only drown the adults and does not do anything to the eggs.

Does anybody know why his stomach is pink as well?

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Originally Posted by Traceur

Does anybody know why his stomach is pink as well?

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That usually means he's going into shed (convenient actually - they often skip meals while shedding anyway). Otherwise a pink belly can be from a burn from an unregulated or improperly regulated uth.

He'll be ok, if he's a healthy weight he can afford to go a few weeks without eating. Once you get rid of the mites he can go back to his normal business. The mites likely came either on him or on his bedding or decor, if it came from a pet shop. Generally mites are easy to avoid if you have only one snake, don't bring other snakes into your house, and don't visit other smaller very often. Of you go to a pet store or reptile expo and handle any animals you should shower and change clothes immediately when you get home. But snake mites can only come from other snakes.

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Originally Posted by Coluber42

That usually means he's going into shed (convenient actually - they often skip meals while shedding anyway). Otherwise a pink belly can be from a burn from an unregulated or improperly regulated uth.

He'll be ok, if he's a healthy weight he can afford to go a few weeks without eating. Once you get rid of the mites he can go back to his normal business. The mites likely came either on him or on his bedding or decor, if it came from a pet shop. Generally mites are easy to avoid if you have only one snake, don't bring other snakes into your house, and don't visit other smaller very often. Of you go to a pet store or reptile expo and handle any animals you should shower and change clothes immediately when you get home. But snake mites can only come from other snakes.

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Ah, I see. I did try to disinfect his hides before he even arrived, but maybe that wasn't enough? And his substrate had been sitting for nearly a month in the bag before he even arrived. Do mites usually live that long?

The mites MOST likely came on the snake.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

The mites MOST likely came on the snake.

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Lovely. How often should I bathe him? Also, are mites supposed to float? The specks I've been seeing have always been at the bottom, and then fuzzies are floating at the top

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Originally Posted by Traceur

Lovely. How often should I bathe him?

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Do not bath your snake use Provent a mite in the cage as directed and be done, bathing a snake does not get rid of a mite infestation. You got to use proper treatment or see mites again every 30 days.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Do not bath your snake use Provent a mite in the cage as directed and be done, bathing a snake does not get rid of a mite infestation. You got to use proper treatment or see mites again every 30 days.

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I've been trying to find the cheapest price since a few websites carry Provent a mite. What's the cheapest one to get it from?

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Originally Posted by Traceur

I've been trying to find the cheapest price since a few websites carry Provent a mite. What's the cheapest one to get it from?

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I have no idea to me it's not about price it's about providing relief to an animal as fast as possible, PAM is pretty cheap anyway considering a can will last you forever with 1 snake.