Just got over RI and now...

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Originally Posted by dryates

FYI the herp specialist that I take my animals to says that he got it from the rat and yes I do know because he did not have them at the last vet visit and after he fed is when they showed up, I may be fairy new to snakes but I'm not stupid this animal came to me sick and he done nothing but get better, aside from the mites, which are already clearing up, after I noticed them the other day, sorry If I sound upset but I came to this forum to get help and better knowledge of snakes, not to be lectured at by peep with "experience" just because someone has done something for years doesn't mean they know it all, the fact is
Things change research proves things that everyone knew to be true false every day, all I ask for is help not criticism

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No your right just because I've done this for years doesn't mean I know it all..Good luck to ya. :gj:

Look I was nit trying to pick a fight as I said before it seemed like you were insinuating that I could not take care of my animals because I don't know all about mites or that he couldn't possibly gotten them from a rat, if u did bot mean that then I am sorry if my previous comment offended u or anyone else but thanks for everyone for the help

So you have alot of advice and all sounds good, or great. The provent-mites stuff works so does soaking. 30 years I have used mineral oil. I soak the snake for about 30 minutes, never used the soap thing but have friends who have and swear by it, anyways, I just soak in water. Then I use the mineral oil, and coat the animal in it doesn't take alot but you will want to make sure the entire animal is coated, After cleaning and treating the enclosure, then you can add the snake, no water for about 24 hours, in case you didn't know mineral is a natural diaretic, in other words a laxative by not adding water you make sure the oil becomes diluted on the scales and skin, without the animal drinking any and then having diarrhea.

I agree, you can go wrong with PAM. I'd recommend applying it monthly to help prevent any future breakouts (and for peace of mind)

Good luck!

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Originally Posted by Jadonh

So you have alot of advice and all sounds good, or great. The provent-mites stuff works so does soaking. 30 years I have used mineral oil. I soak the snake for about 30 minutes, never used the soap thing but have friends who have and swear by it, anyways, I just soak in water. Then I use the mineral oil, and coat the animal in it doesn't take alot but you will want to make sure the entire animal is coated, After cleaning and treating the enclosure, then you can add the snake, no water for about 24 hours, in case you didn't know mineral is a natural diaretic, in other words a laxative by not adding water you make sure the oil becomes diluted on the scales and skin, without the animal drinking any and then having diarrhea.

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Coat the animal in mineral oil? :O I would not recommend this as a treatment, my experience when following this advice as a noob was that it caused my snake to shed scales ONE BY ONE, it was a nasty mess, stressful for the snake and completely unnecessary (I was helping her shed, I have never had mites).

The PAM solution works effectively and continues working for a period of time, which means that it continues killing mites without daily treatments.

Someone mentioned "pretreating any new arrival." I am sure they misspoke and meant to "pretreat any new enclosure/substrate." I suggest that no one ever spray PAM on any snake, as it is toxic.

Good luck to the OP getting rid of the suckers.

PAM works if used properly...remember you must treat ALL your reptiles! Mites will travel. For temperary relief I suggest Reptile Relief, it will kill exsisting mites on contact. PAM will kill any new mites hatched from eggs.

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Originally Posted by broadude

Coat the animal in mineral oil? :O I would not recommend this as a treatment, my experience when following this advice as a noob was that it caused my snake to shed scales ONE BY ONE, it was a nasty mess, stressful for the snake and completely unnecessary (I was helping her shed, I have never had mites).

The PAM solution works effectively and continues working for a period of time, which means that it continues killing mites without daily treatments.

Someone mentioned "pretreating any new arrival." I am sure they misspoke and meant to "pretreat any new enclosure/substrate." I suggest that no one ever spray PAM on any snake, as it is toxic.

Good luck to the OP getting rid of the suckers.

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You are right it does create a mess, however when a snake is hit with mites, especially hit hard, then the snake sheds anyways. I use this treatment and beyond the mess I have never had to retreat, it stays on for awhile and will suffocate all external parasite. to include any eggs. Now I know that mites will not usually lay eggs on the snakes but I have seen it before, I have seen eggs on the snakes, rare yes but possible. I guess the way i look at it is either clean a mess and kill anything that will hurt your animal, or hurt the animal. This is not a daily treatment. Its a one time treatment.

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Originally Posted by dryates

Look I was nit trying to pick a fight as I said before it seemed like you were insinuating that I could not take care of my animals because I don't know all about mites or that he couldn't possibly gotten them from a rat, if u did bot mean that then I am sorry if my previous comment offended u or anyone else but thanks for everyone for the help

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No one is calling you incompetent. I would, however, call your "herp specialist" an incompetent. It's very common for new people to be told something by a "specialist" that is total bull. I've been there myself, I have no qualms about admitting it! If your specialist was found at a store, that's the problem. They are salesmen, not specialists. If they were a vet, that's a bit harder to believe because they should know the difference between parasites and their hosts. All you have to do is look up the information yourself. Arguing with people that deal with live rats, reptiles, and mites regularly is not a good way to go about things. You may think some of us sound smug, but many people on here are ball python specialists. They have way more experience and exposure than any vet, pet store specialist, or whatever your specialist was, I can guarantee that.

Mites are fairly easy to bring home, especially if you go to a pet store. Pet stores are often teaming with mites and they can get on anything, lay eggs, and hatch in your home. If you use bedding from a pet store, that's an easy way to carry mites or mite eggs home since bedding is kept in the reptile area. Pet stores get their reptiles from shady places infested with mites and they use crappy pet store brand mite killer, so it's no wonder they have mites. Once the PAM shows up your problems will be solved.

So here's what I've done so far, about four days ago I soaked him in betadine/ water, and cleaned his cage with listerine as it is suppose to kill 99% of germs. Two days ago they weren't gone so I did the nix treatment on him and the cage changed substrate to paper towels took water bowl out for 24 hrs and cleaned it good to, well today I pulled off like two mites but I can only notice one or two more I couldn't get to on his neck to head transition that I couldn't get but they might be dead and be stuck but I can't tell, he's albino green so mites are relatively easy to see, and I just feed him an hr ago, so what do I do now just wait for the Pam or should I try the mineral oil, I've had him for almost a month and he hasn't had any signs of shedding, I was told the antibiotics might make him shed but he had his last shot today out of seven, so I am going to go back for a re eval in a few days, so what should I do

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Originally Posted by dryates

So here's what I've done so far, about four days ago I soaked him in betadine/ water, and cleaned his cage with listerine as it is suppose to kill 99% of germs. Two days ago they weren't gone so I did the nix treatment on him and the cage changed substrate to paper towels took water bowl out for 24 hrs and cleaned it good to, well today I pulled off like two mites but I can only notice one or two more I couldn't get to on his neck to head transition that I couldn't get but they might be dead and be stuck but I can't tell, he's albino green so mites are relatively easy to see, and I just feed him an hr ago, so what do I do now just wait for the Pam or should I try the mineral oil, I've had him for almost a month and he hasn't had any signs of shedding, I was told the antibiotics might make him shed but he had his last shot today out of seven, so I am going to go back for a re eval in a few days, so what should I do

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You have done enough wait for PAM given the snake history you want to limit his stress, also I would not recommend oil as a mite treatment either it will contribute to nothing but loosening up scales which can result to scale loss.