BP Keeps Soaking in His Water Bowl

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Originally Posted by Reptile$ 4 Life

I did the paper towel test and did not see any black spots. Just a few pieces of aspen.

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Ok ... did you use a slightly dampened paper towel or was the snake already damp ??


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I dampened the paper towel. Yes, the snake was damp already. I dried him off but I guess that still could have altered the results. I will try again when he is completely dry.

These were the best I could do. He wasn't being very cooperative, and was more interested in smelling the camera.



https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...0/img_9221.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...0/img_9222.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...0/img_9223.jpg

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Originally Posted by Reptile$ 4 Life

I would love to, but I am new to this and have no idea how. Any chance someone could give me some instructions. I am not the most techy person.

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Me neither...;) Here's the site "sticky" on the subject:
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-Post-Pictures

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Originally Posted by Reptile$ 4 Life

I dampened the paper towel. Yes, the snake was damp already. I dried him off but I guess that still could have altered the results. I will try again when he is completely dry.

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It's fine .. It needs one either the paper to be damp or the snake doesn't matter which really ... Just so any mites will adhere to the White paper .


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So I checked my BP for mites today again, and I found one of the blood sucking critters. What's the best mite treatment to get, and do you guys have any suggestions about how to evict them as quickly as possible?

Aw, that sucks. Can´t give any advice there but best of luck.

I'm happy to say I haven't dealt with snake mites for several decades...& while some here use PAM (NOT the cooking spray, PAM stands for "Provent-A-Mite") it can also
cause harm (even death to your pet) if used incorrectly. I have never used NIX either but it's more readily available (Walmart, Amazon) & used for eradicating lice.

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So I'm going to quote from the thread "Re: To adopt or not?" > > >

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Originally Posted by WhompingWillow

To add a bit of a different perspective, personally I preemptively treat all new snakes with the Nix mite treatment method. I do not like PAM. You can search for some helpful YouTube videos and info online about the process, but basically you mix one standard size Nix cream bottle into a gallon of water, shake/mix well, and transfer into a spray bottle. You can spray this both on the animal and in the enclosure, no rinsing required.

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Originally Posted by WhompingWillow

We have successfully eradicated mites with this method and have had 0 issues with mites since beginning to treat all new snakes with this method. Something to possibly consider or keep in your back pocket either for this snake or future additions.

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bcr229 also did a lengthy post on all the various ways to get rid of mice...now if only I could find it? You could PM her & ask for it...:cool:

Bathing your snake (luke-warm water, drop or 2 of mild dish soap like Ivory, 20-30 minutes with your supervision so they don't drink soap water or drown!) will get
rid of many mites, but some still hide on the head & make a come-back, so some sort of chemical is generally needed.

I can't say how effective this is but many have used it with safety:
https://www.chewy.com/natural-chemistry-reptile-mite-spray/dp/132115

And that was a typo, btw...I wrote "to get rid of mice" but I meant get rid of MITES! :oops: My bad...lol

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...hat-else-to-do
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Originally Posted by bcr229

I wrote this after my second battle with mites for people in the US. While other treatments, such as ivermectin injections and wiping the snakes with

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Frontline, do exist, I have not tried them so I've not included them in my own writeup. You can find out about Frontline at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwCAuhSVRV4

Mite Eradication 101:

*** Permethrin ***

Permethrin comes in many forms - Provent-A-Mite (PAM), NIX/RID head lice treatment, Permethrin-10 from a livestock supply store, etc. Once mixed with water its half life is 30 days if kept out of direct sunlight.

PAM has several advantages. It has been tested for use with reptiles, and it comes ready to use. The disadvantages are that it's expensive and most reptile stores don't have it in stock, so you have to wait for it to be shipped to you if you don't have any on hand. Meanwhile the mites are busy feeding and breeding.

NIX/RID is cheaper than PAM and is readily available at WalMart, CVS, and other drug stores. It is also easy to dilute: mix one two ounce (59 ml) bottle of the cream rinse with one gallon of water.

At a dollar per ounce Permethrin-10 is the cheapest of the three options; one eight ounce bottle will make 240 gallons of solution, as only 6 milliliters of it are needed per gallon of water to make an effective mite spray. The upside is that if you have a lot of snakes to treat this will do it very economically. The downside is that it's all too easy to make too strong of a permethrin solution which can seriously injure or kill your snakes.

No matter which product you use, it must be used correctly. I've never applied any permethrin product directly onto my snakes as it's not needed for mite treatment, and permethrin poisoning in a snake can cause irreversible neurological damage or death.

Permethrin use: spray the enclosure, paper substrate, and hides with the diluted solution or PAM. DO NOT SPRAY THE WATER BOWL. Allow everything to dry completely before returning your snake to its home. Also keep a supply of treated and dried newspaper or paper towels and treated hides available so that when a snake makes a mess, you replace the soiled paper and hides with treated ones. Treat the enclosure every two to three weeks.

*** Natural Chemistry Reptile Spray ***

Reptile Spray kills mites on contact while wet, once it dries it loses its effectiveness pretty quickly. Reptile Spray is a solution of salts rather than an insecticide; it kills mites by dehydrating them. I don't spray the snakes as more ends up on the floor than on the snake. Instead, I spray a white paper towel with it and wipe it on the snake. That way you get even coverage on the snake, you can work it into the area under their chin really well as that's a favorite hiding place for mites, you don't stress out your snake, and you can look for mites on the paper towel to see how quickly they're being eradicated. Apply twice a week. Note - this stuff hurts like hell in an open wound.

*** Hot Shot No-Pest Strips ***

Some people take a Hot Shot No-Pest strip, cut it into pieces, put each piece into a small sealed container, poke some holes in the container, and put each container into the snake's enclosure. I've used the No-Pest strip but I just hang it in the snake room and close the door. Either way is effective, especially if you have a major outbreak.

If you do use it, remove the water bowls as the insecticide is strongly attracted to water and you don't want the snake drinking it. After 24 hours remove the strip (or pieces), put them into an airtight container for future use, air out the room, and put the water bowls back. Repeat treatment weekly.

Important! If you also keep tarantulas, feeder roaches/dubias, crickets, etc. do not use the No-Pest Strip as it can kill them too!!!!

*** Mild Dish Soap ***

One or two drops of mild dish detergent in your snake's bath water will break the surface tension and prevent mites from floating in the water so they drown. No more than that is needed, your snake should not look like it is taking a bubble bath.

*** Heat ***

Don't laugh, but a temperature of 135*F for five seconds will kill mites and the eggs. I purchased a heat gun used for stripping paint that can be set to blow hot air from 180*F through 1200*F. Using the heat gun and a temperature gun I heated the surfaces and crevices of my racks and enclosures to kill off any mite eggs that may have been laid outside the tubs. Don't get your enclosure surfaces and joined/glued areas too hot or you can damage them.

Mite treatment should continue for 30 days after you stop finding mites on your snake, as an egg can take that long to hatch.

*** FINAL NOTE ***

Effective quarantine means that you treat every new arrival as if it has mites, and new snakes are kept as far away from your established collection as possible for at least 90 days. I treat the quarantine enclosure, hides, and paper with permethrin a day or so before the new snake arrives, and I wipe it with a paper towel soaked in Reptile Spray as part of my inspection process when it comes out of the shipping box. If it has mites I will know it within a day or two at most. This also goes for snakes from "trusted" sources, my first mite outbreak ever came from someone I trusted.

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Thanks Bogert! I think I am going to go with the Natural Chemistry Reptile Spray as it seems less likely to injure or kill my BP and from what I've seen it still has great results. While I wait for the spray to arrive I'll disinfect everything and heat everything like you said to kills mites and eggs. I'll also try the dish soap while I wait.

Ok I did everything I could to destroy the little critter. I washed everything that has come into contact with him with hot water and dawn soap. Then I rinsed it all in boiling water. Finally I gave Flicker a bath (He HATED that part) with 2 drops of soap in it. Hopefully, that killed a lot of them. I noticed a mite around his eye. Is there anything I can safely directly treat it with?

Let me know what else I can do to help kill them.

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Originally Posted by Reptile$ 4 Life

Ok I did everything I could to destroy the little critter. I washed everything that has come into contact with him with hot water and dawn soap. Then I rinsed it all in boiling water. Finally I gave Flicker a bath (He HATED that part) with 2 drops of soap in it. Hopefully, that killed a lot of them. I noticed a mite around his eye. Is there anything I can safely directly treat it with?

Let me know what else I can do to help kill them.

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If you can carefully & manually pick it off, that's what I'd do. :gj: Many snakes get creeped out by baths, but a lot of that has to do with their loss of traction & the sudden weird feel of water all over their body, which by the way, is why you MUST be sure it's not too hot. Remember we're 98.6* so the water will feel cool to us when it's right for the snake at about 85*. Then if you add traction (maybe an underwater hand-towel) it should help. Keep the water shallow, about half of the snake's height, & keep moving the water over them by hand...they should not have to swim to stay above water. (they can swim but get tired & you never leave them alone) But to make this work, mites must be eliminated not only from the snake but from any place in the cage they can hide or leave their eggs, because they're real into big extended families. Mites are so very icky, & can carry diseases to your snake.

Thanks Bogert. I have him on newspaper now so I can change it very often, and all that's left in the enclosure is his water bowl and hide. I read on some other forums that people use dawn soap mixed with water and rub it into the snakes scales and that it is very effective. They said dawn is safer than other brands because it is used to treat and clean a variety of animals.

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Originally Posted by Reptile$ 4 Life

Thanks Bogert. I have him on newspaper now so I can change it very often, and all that's left in the enclosure is his water bowl and hide. I read on some other forums that people use dawn soap mixed with water and rub it into the snakes scales and that it is very effective. They said dawn is safer than other brands because it is used to treat and clean a variety of animals.

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Newspaper is fine (just harder to see mites compared to plain white paper), & Dawn is fine as well. It's very sudsy & used to clean wildlife when they get into oil (petroleum), but I'm not sure mites will drown if they can still hang onto the snake's scales? Personally, I'd still use a bath with water, but they might smother the other way too, I'm not sure.

I will try both. I figured I'd try dawn as it is used to smother fleas, which breath similarly to mites. Also, apparently, the mites hate it so they crawl out and fall into the water. I used a blunt probe to gently remove the mites around his eye, and I killed like 12 of the blood sucking freaks. I will continue to monitor him throughout the day and kill any mites I see. Please let me know if you guys have any other suggestions.

You're doing fine...a multi-method approach is often the best, since you want to remove as many as possible safely, while you wait for additional product that's more
lethal to mites. It's very common that mites seek relief in their water bowl & that was my first guess, but I'm sorry that turned out to be correct. Just do a good job on
getting rid of them though, so hopefully you won't have to re-treat (as some have had to).

You're on the right track!

Should I soak him daily or give him a day in between soaking?

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Originally Posted by Reptile$ 4 Life

Should I soak him daily or give him a day in between soaking?

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I'd soak him daily...he won't like it but the harder time you can give the mites, the better. Don't try to feed him while he's being treated for mites anyway.

BTW, I'm doing very badly at multi-tasking today (previous post I MEANT to say that SNAKES often seek relief from mites in their water bowl) but I guess you knew what I meant? -I'm blaming my dogs...:D

LOL... It's all good ik what you've meant. It must have been your dogs distracting you:rofl:

I got the mite spray today. Do you think I should continue to do the baths along with the mite spray or just let the spray do its thing?

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Originally Posted by Reptile$ 4 Life

I got the mite spray today. Do you think I should continue to do the baths along with the mite spray or just let the spray do its thing?

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I've never had to use that spray, but hopefully that's all you need? Especially if it's supposed to be sprayed ON the animal? (as I said, I'm not familiar with using it or the exact instructions, so follow what it says)

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

I've never had to use that spray, but hopefully that's all you need? Especially if it's supposed to be sprayed ON the animal? (as I said, I'm not familiar with using it or the exact instructions, so follow what it says)

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Sounds good. Thank you for your help. I will do an update in a couple days on whether or not the mites are disappearing.

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Originally Posted by Reptile$ 4 Life

Sounds good. Thank you for your help. I will do an update in a couple days on whether or not the mites are disappearing.

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If you're keeping on white paper towels, you should be finding dead mites...& maybe in & around water bowl too. Fingers crossed!

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

If you're keeping on white paper towels, you should be finding dead mites...& maybe in & around water bowl too. Fingers crossed!

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Yep I have been finding dead mites. I still smash them for good measure though. :D

He also seems to be doing a lot better, and hasn't soaked in his water for the past two days.

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Originally Posted by Reptile$ 4 Life

Yep I have been finding dead mites. I still smash them for good measure though. :D

He also seems to be doing a lot better, and hasn't soaked in his water for the past two days.

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Feels good to crush mites, doesn't it? :D Hoping the mite-fest is behind him now or will be soon...just remember that new ones can hatch out & start up again for about a month as I best recall. So don't rush to put decor back or stop treating too soon.

Can you imagine how it must feel to have itchy biting bugs & no way to scratch or remove them...ugh, poor snakes! (In some areas, wild snakes get lots of ticks & such too.)

Yeah... I was planning on keeping him on paper towel set up for at least another week before putting bedding in again, and then wait another couple weeks to put the decor back in.

It must be awful to have mite like that. Although in the wild the can shed to get the mites off and crawl away. In captivity they can't do that. Hopefully this problem is behind us.

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Originally Posted by Reptile$ 4 Life

Yeah... I was planning on keeping him on paper towel set up for at least another week before putting bedding in again, and then wait another couple weeks to put the decor back in.

It must be awful to have mite like that. Although in the wild the can shed to get the mites off and crawl away. In captivity they can't do that. Hopefully this problem is behind us.

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Assuming you're in the U.S.? Snake mites are not native here...they're from imported snakes but then they're shared with all other captive snakes nearby. Ticks can hang on thru a shed, & where mites are native in the wild, I'd assume they just get right back on, even if shedding knocks them off.


I'd wait on the bedding too...any surviving mites can hide lots of eggs in that. If you want more humidity, just use damp paper towels or a sponge in a bowl for a temporary humid hide.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Assuming you're in the U.S.? Snake mites are not native here...they're from imported snakes but then they're shared with all other captive snakes nearby. Ticks can hang on thru a shed, & where mites are native in the wild, I'd assume they just get right back on, even if shedding knocks them off.


I'd wait on the bedding too...any surviving mites can hide lots of eggs in that. If you want more humidity, just use damp paper towels or a sponge in a bowl for a temporary humid hide.

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I didn't know mites weren't native. I guess you really do learn something new every day.

I will wait on the bedding.

It was really funny, after I wiped Flicker down, he started slithering back and forth across the cage. It was like he was parading because the mites were dying! :D

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Originally Posted by Reptile$ 4 Life

I didn't know mites weren't native. I guess you really do learn something new every day.

I will wait on the bedding.

It was really funny, after I wiped Flicker down, he started slithering back and forth across the cage. It was like he was parading because the mites were dying! :D

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LOL, I can picture him taking a few victory laps...:snake: like "I feel good!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1wOK9yGUYM :rofl:

There are many different kinds of mites, but they tend to be species-specific. Wild birds are often loaded with mites, but not ones that go after snakes, for example.

We talk so much about mites on snakes, I can understand how you'd get the impression that they're native to U.S. but I used to deal with a number of w/c snakes to rescue & relocate...they never had mites, then I found out why...they're fortunately not native here. But plenty of other pests are, like ticks. That's why, when I take my snakes outside for sunshine, I never put them on the ground, much as they'd enjoy it. Just don't want to deal with the consequences...they can pick up some kinds of intestinal worms, for example.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

LOL, I can picture him taking a few victory laps...:snake: like "I feel good!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1wOK9yGUYM :rofl:

There are many different kinds of mites, but they tend to be species-specific. Wild birds are often loaded with mites, but not ones that go after snakes, for example.

We talk so much about mites on snakes, I can understand how you'd get the impression that they're native to U.S. but I used to deal with a number of w/c snakes to rescue & relocate...they never had mites, then I found out why...they're fortunately not native here. But plenty of other pests are, like ticks. That's why, when I take my snakes outside for sunshine, I never put them on the ground, much as they'd enjoy it. Just don't want to deal with the consequences...they can pick up some kinds of intestinal worms, for example.

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That makes sense. I knew mites were species specific, but because they are fairly common in the U.S., with snakes, I assumed they were native. I can imagine that ticks and intestinal worms would be a pain to deal with.

I figured that today would be a good day to do an update on my bp, Flicker. I haven't seen any mites even dead ones for the past several days, and Flicker hasn't soaked in his water bowl since I started treating him. In the evenings, he pokes his head out of his hide like he's saying, "It's ok dad the mites are gone. I want a rat now please." Also, after the first hated bath, he seems to be enjoying baths now and will just cruise around in circles for 5-10 minutes. I feel like this is good enrichment for him so I think I will continue with the baths periodically.

That's great news, & he sounds like he's feeling better. :gj: (stay vigilant for a while anyway about mites)

Mostly snakes are just scared when given their first "bath"...the loss of traction & the weird feeling of water all over their body at once is just very strange & scary- they
do take some soaks or swims in the wild anyway, though not always by choice or plan. By now, yours is a pro-"swimmer". :D

The post you sent me says keep treating for 30 days so I will continue to do that.

Maybe I should sign him up for the Olympics. He could swim free style. :rofl:

Flicker has been poking his head out of his hide in the evenings for the last couple days, pretty much begging me to feed him. I offered him food last night and he crushed it right away. Everything seems to be going well with him after I started treatment so I think we are almost in the clear.

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Originally Posted by Reptile$ 4 Life

Flicker has been poking his head out of his hide in the evenings for the last couple days, pretty much begging me to feed him. I offered him food last night and he crushed it right away. Everything seems to be going well with him after I started treatment so I think we are almost in the clear.

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That's great! :dance:

I forgot to say this but now I am confident that Flicker is mite free!!! He just shed out last night and is ready for another tasty rat.

Perfect! You're a good snarent! :gj:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Perfect! You're a good snarent! :gj:

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Aww thanks! I will admit that my husbandry was off when I first joined but now I have it dialed in.

Excellent


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