Live Rats Carrying in Mites

I am soooo frustrated - for two years I only fed f/t and never so much as had a single mite. I now have two bp's that will only eat live - so I have been buying 1 or 2 rats each week from PetSuppliesPlus and ever since then I keep getting mites - they have got to be coming in on the rats.

What can I do about this problem. I don't need enough rats to bother locating a large breeder to buy from - it wouldn't be worth their time to deal with my needs.

Has anyone else had this problem?? I am at my witts end with this - if I have to keep feeding live and thus bringing in mites all the time - I might just have to part with my snakes. It is way too frustrating when I cant control this problem from reoccurring.

Help.

It is highly unlikely that the snake mites came from the rats. Snake mites live exclusively on snakes, so odds are you brought them in from another snake you held or they came in with one of your snakes to begin with. I'd recommend getting some Provent-a-mite, which will kill any mite it comes in contact with for months.

I have also had mites hitchhike on rodents, mice and rats. You can put the rodents in a cage with treated bedding overnight, then let them go a day on clean bedding or freeze then thaw or try finding a private breeder that doesn't mind small orders. You may be surprised.

Absolutely on the mitebyrodent thing though.

I've treated all my tubs with PAM when I first saw a mite - and then treated the tubs and rack monthly as a preventative - but right after I brought another rat it for feeding - I see mites again.

I am convinced that the rats are bringing them in. I never get infested or anything - just maybe 2 or 3 mites in one tub - other tubs are not even affected.

Very frustrating to say the least.

I may try that idea about treating the rat cage bedding with PAM before I offer the rat to my snake - thanks for that tip.

you know, I just had a thought - could i possibly getting the mites from the Aspen that I am using. I always use to use paper and the mite problem starting happening around the same time that I started using the Aspen.

Does anyone know if this is possible and if so - what to do about it.

Thanks.

You should first make sure the mites you are seeing are actually the kind that feed on snakes. They may very well be from the Aspen, or some other type of tiny bug.

I don't care how "safe" PAM is (is used correctly) I'm really not into over-treating with any type of chemical. I don't like to use it to prevent mites. I would only ever use anything like that if there were actually mites, and they were the kind that affect snakes.

If they come from the substrate, I would change it, or buy from a diff. manufacture. If you think the rodents are bringing them in, I would buy from another pet store.

Good luck :)

Could PetSuppliesPlus have tried to feed the rat you bought to one of their snakes that didn't eat it and it picked up mites that way? Could they have crawled on the rat while it was in the enclosure with the snake and then you bought the rat and brought them home? I'm not sure how all this works as I'm really new to the BP world. Just throwing out ideas.

Either way you need to treat the snake cage you are seeing mites and any other cages that are near the infected one (The little buggers travel great distances)... You probably are getting reinfested because the problem has not been taken care of in the first place.... Its atleast a month long treatmant... You need to get them back down to paper and treat the paper... Do not put them back on the regular media until you are sure the problem is gone, throw out any unused media and dont buy any more until the problem is gone... Yes they will hitch are ride on anything... Try to go to someone else for any of your reptile needs, obviously the store has a problem and they will even hitch a ride on you(Snake mites will not harm anything but your snakes)

BTW wild snakes almost always have mites, they live together in the wild. The snake gets rid of the mites once it sheds and slithers away... The snake does not have this freedom in a cage and it becomes a vicious cycle if not treated... Its not the end of the world, you just need to take of the problem

Is there a reason why your feeding live? Are you going to breed them? With live you do get the full nutritional value from the rat BUT its dangerous in many ways rats do carry certain types of diseases where just freezing them kills it off and also of your higher end morphs or even a normal that you care about you are running the risk of your snake getting bit.... If your snake were to get bit on the head or the neck area you most likley will have an infected wound on your snake which is hard to get rid of and not to mention he/she will stop eating...

I breed so I do feed live well fresh killed because the rats I'm giving to my balls are medium to large and they will do damage if the rat were to bite (Not going to take that chance when theres thousands of dollars invested)

Prevent-a-mite is the treatment you should use or if your cheap like me Lice off from Rite Aid has the same exact ingredients as Prevent-a-mite... Just make sure you treat the paper and let it dry and make sure there are no fumes in the cage before you return your snake... Sterilize everything that goes into that cage and also whatever you kept your snake in while you were treating the cage

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Originally Posted by 5GsReptiles

BTW wild snakes almost always have mites, they live together in the wild. The snake gets rid of the mites once it sheds and slithers away... The snake does not have this freedom in a cage and it becomes a vicious cycle if not treated... Its not the end of the world, you just need to take of the problem

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All the research I've ever done has told me that NO wild snakes have mites. They have ticks, but not mites. Snake mites aren't even native to the area where ball pythons come from. I BELIEVE this is in the Barker's book, but I could be wrong.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 5GsReptiles

Is there a reason why your feeding live? Are you going to breed them? With live you do get the full nutritional value from the rat BUT its dangerous in many ways rats do carry certain types of diseases where just freezing them kills it off and also of your higher end morphs or even a normal that you care about you are running the risk of your snake getting bit.... If your snake were to get bit on the head or the neck area you most likley will have an infected wound on your snake which is hard to get rid of and not to mention he/she will stop eating...

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There have been no conclusive studies on the nutritional value of live rodents versus f/t rodents. I believe they are the same as long as the rodent is consumed in a reasonable amount of time (ie: not sitting in the freezer for 2 years).

You are correct in that live does carry its own possible problems, but i believe the OP said she was feeding live because that was the only prey type those snakes took. Most bps will switch to F/T without a problem, but that is not true for every animal unfortunately. :/

OP:

As far as the mites go; if you want to continue using aspen, spray it first with PAM (prevent-a-mite) and then let it sit. This should kill the mites in the bag. Do this for every new bag you pick up and you shouldn't have a problem with the mites coming from that source.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 5GsReptiles

If your snake were to get bit on the head or the neck area you most likley will have an infected wound on your snake which is hard to get rid of and not to mention he/she will stop eating...

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If you were to stick to facts your posts would be much shorter.

There is something to be said for brevity.

Thanks everyone for the replies. I do much prefer to feed f/t but I have two bp's that will not take f/t at this time. I am hoping to switch them both back to f/t eventually.

Its been over a week now and I haven't seen any signs of mites - so hopefully I cleared them out.

Does anyone have any helpful suggestions on how to get these two to eat f/t? My female use to eat f/t but then went on a 7 month fast and it took offering live to get her to eat again - now she won't take f/t anymore.

My other live feeder came to me this way - he is 5 years old and the breeder said he never was able to get him to take f/t - this one may be a lost cause in trying to switch him over at this late age.

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Originally Posted by L.West

Does anyone have any helpful suggestions on how to get these two to eat f/t? My female use to eat f/t but then went on a 7 month fast and it took offering live to get her to eat again - now she won't take f/t anymore.

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I have found it easier to go from live to fresh kill before trying f/t. That way it's a dead meal but it smells like a live rat. Sometimes even that doesn't work though. Laying a clutch usually flips their eating switch too.

I don't do any breeding with my snakes - so the clutch option is out. But, how do you suggest I prekill the rat - I need something really humane and not messy - I have a weak stomach and a big softey to all living things.