Wood mites? Good, bad??

So I got a bag of Aspen and have been using it with newspaper and was showing my female cal king to a friend and lo and behold he spotted a tiny tiny white bug crawling on my female.
I assumed mites, but just read on the forum that they could be woodmites.
I have only seen one, perhaps two, and should I do the PAM treatment?

Carol

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Originally Posted by Montessa Python

So I got a bag of Aspen and have been using it with newspaper and was showing my female cal king to a friend and lo and behold he spotted a tiny tiny white bug crawling on my female.
I assumed mites, but just read on the forum that they could be woodmites.
I have only seen one, perhaps two, and should I do the PAM treatment?

Carol

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I had just started a thread about wood mites, got the response that no, they aren't harmful. But personally I don't like little bugs crawling around, so they're getting PAM'd as soon as my can arrives. :gj:

Having wood mites in your cage is like having dust bunnies under your couch. They aren't doing any harm, they just look unsightly.

Yeah; snake mites would be dark like little poppy seeds. :) I would PAMite them too.. I used to have to when I used cypress bedding. Haven't run across newspaper mites yet,,) But I might be switching to aspen soon so I will keep my eyes peeled.

I'm so scared of mite infestations. :tears: I'm all about prevention. How do I prevent this from ever happening? lol

Provent A Mite spray works great in snake cages. You could feasably treat each tub or tank when you change substrates each time. Per directions on the can. I too am paranoid of mites and wood eating things.. had termites..

How does prevent-A-mite work? I'm assuming the snake needs to be outside of the tank when I spray it. How long does it have to sit before its safe for the snake to be put back?

The good news is that wood mites don't feed off your snake -- the bad news is that they still can be a stresser crawling all over your poor guy -- and they multiply fairly quickly -- PAM them away.

I use PAM like this. I have the tub sitting there with new substrate (newspaper) fresh and clean. I spray the PAM (not PAM cooking spray!) in and wet the paper, but not saturated. I hold it about a foot away from the paper (I think this is what the can says?) Then you sit it out and wait until it completely dries, at which point you put in the snake and waterbowl. I don't use cage decorations, so I am not sure if you'd want to treat with them in or not.. with shavings, I would let it sit out awhile because you don't want any moist PAM in there with the snake, per can directions to wait until dry. So I guess I am not much help unless you use newspaper :(

Thanks for telling me your technique. The only "decoration" I have in my tank is a grapevine and I'd imagine you would spray that as well... it being wood. =D