Mites. Dang.

How exactly do I treat mites? I have ten cages in my room and somehow I picked up mites. I know I have to spray every cage and everything in every cage and rub down every animal. Can I use provent a mite or all this? Do I have to do everything outside the cage too? Like in my room

first, identify the "mites". Many things that look like mites can be harmless, while real mites are often underestimated. Springtails cannot bite, cannot sting, eat only microscopic biofilm, are harmless and near impossible to wipe out, but they are soft and when you manage to squeeze one against anything it just turns into a tiny smudge without resistance. And they are barely visible as black dots, but when your finger comes close they jump. Mites cannot jump, they stick to the snake and suck blood from the snake, and their bodies are hard, almost like a grain of sand. And if they break and the result is a red smudge, meaning it sucked blood, thats a problem.

Can you make pictures that show the issue? I know its hard because the mites, be they harmless or not, are small.

Best Regards

EDIT: are they active on the snakes? if yes, thats bad.

I've tried for a few minutes but they really don't show up on pics. They were indeed hard. The first one I saw was a under a scale. I picked up the scale a little bit to actually look at it with a magnifying glass. It went from under the scale and tried to run away and almost dug under another scale before I got it

sounds very bad. sounds really like some nasty mites. If they like to be under the scales of snakes, they are bloodsuckers.

You need to visit a vet ASAP. I guess it will be a medication that is (more or less) harmless for the python but deadly for the mites, or the whole surface of the snake gets treated with something. And at the same time all substrate and everything needs to be replaced or cleaned to the point of being sterile. Good luck! But this time, i think, this forum cannot replace a veterinarian. Consider anything i said merely as hints, except that you really need a professional now.

Provent a mite. Follow the directions. The ones not on the snakes will either go back to the snakes or die. And the ones that go back to the snakes will get killed off by another treatment of provent a mite.

"Provent a mite. Follow the directions. The ones not on the snakes will either go back to the snakes or die. And the ones that go back to the snakes will get killed off by another treatment of provent a mite."

That might work. But i would still maybe cautiously advise to see a vet. Preferrably one with snake and/or reptile experience. Thats the safe way.

Best Regards

Thanks guys! I think I'll do a really thorough provent a mite treatment tomorow and if I still any alive or any signs I'll call in to the vet. He has much reptile experience but he is a bit pricey cuz he worked at a zoo for thirty some years. So it's a good thing cuz he has experience but either way ill give him a call

Thousands of snakes get mites very frequently and unless the snake is already weak or has been infested with mites for a very long time and become anemic as a result, a vet visit simply for mites is an overstatement. I am NEVER one to suggest staying away from a vet - that is quite often my very first suggestion for a problem. But mites are common and fixing that problem is not hard if you do it the right way with the right product. A vet visit is quite unnecessary at this point.

You could use PAM for your enclosures - follow the directions VERY carefully. Do NOT use this directly on your animals.

I highly recommend that you use this stuff on your animals: http://www.reptilebasics.com/mite-killers. You can spray this directly on your animals and it will kill the mites on contact by destroying their exoskeleton. Personally, I would also use this in the enclosures as well and not use the PAM at all. The Reptile Spray is much much safer than PAM and it, too, kills with a residual effect and kills eggs too.

You should not need to use anything in the room, although, depending on the substrate you use, multiple treatments may be necessary.

To illustrate my point, I purchased a baby sunglow boa at the Tinley Park expo in October. Found mites on her that first night in the hotel room. Promptly went back to the expo the next morning intending to grab a can of PAM and nuke everything. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to speak with Rich from Reptile Basics before I did that and he gave me a bottle of Reptile Spray and told me how to use it. I sprayed down my baby in the hotel room sink and watched the mites die (and, yes, these were the little hard ones that squished blood and were active on the snake). My baby was instantly and completely mite-free! I sprayed and wiped down her small travel tub and put in fresh paper towels. Also sprayed the other boa I'd purchased the day before as well to be on the safe side. I didn't come home with a single one of these little buggers, the problem was solved in one morning after only 30 minutes, and no vet was involved.

Mites are a nuisance for sure, but nothing more than that if treated promptly. :gj:

i just finished treating my BP for mites that were also underneath her scales, unfortunately she brought them home from the pet store..
i used a pesticide called Sevin Dust, the 5 percent dust at the recommendation of the local reptile rescue. she has used it to get rid off mites off of her snakes when she brought a rescue home and all of hers were infected after that.
you can find Sevin Dust at lowes, walmart, orchard and you want to make sure you get the 5 percent dust. what you do is pull any toys, rocks, substrate, and hide out and place in plastic bin or plastic bag. if using bin, line the rim of the bin with some kind of vegetable oil to prevent escape. dust heavily on all of the stuff and seal it up for bout 1 and 1/2 weeks or 2 weeks because it doesnt kill the eggs but if you leave it for that long the eggs will hatch and it will kill the new mites. now, clean out the bp's home with bleach water and rinse really really well to get all the bleach out. place paper towels or clean pillow case on the bottom of the home and put a couple properly size cardboard boxes in for hides, as well as a water bowl.
next step, oil your hands with vegetable oil and allow your snake to slither thru your hands, coating it with the oil, but not soaking it so its dripping off. get some on its underthroat and a little on the very top of the head but none in the vents or nostrils. place it back into its home and let it be.
the oil will sufficate the mites and not hurt your snake at all, may cause a crappy shed, but mites wil do that anyways. you can repeat the oil treatment several times, bout 5 days in between each treatment. you can also bath your snake in between treatments just to wash away dead mites but you dont absolutely have to.
after 2 weeks of all the stuff from the tank sitting in the dust and the mites on your snake being killed from the oil treatment, rinse all the stuff and shake out the substrate and place back in home, removing paper towels or pillowcase and card board boxes and your snake will be good to go! mites all gone!!!! :)

I'd rather use PAM

a lot of people suggest PAM, ive never used it personally. the Sevin Dust was easy to find and fairly easy to use. and i wasnt worried about hurting my girl with it because i got walked thru it by my reptile rescue friend so i wouldnt over due it and hurt her. im not saying PAM doesnt work cuz ive never known anyone who used it! just suggesting something i know works well :)

I'm going to suggest PAM. Follow the directions on the can. Switch to paper towels for substrate (easier to see the mites). Do not treat directly on the snake. Repeat in 2 weeks. No more mites.

I agree with Evenstar. I just got a trio of blood babies and they came with mites for free. Not wanting to wait for an order of PAM to arrive I went to Petco and bought what Evenstar linked in. It worked great.

Since all three were carrying mites and siblings I put them in a large tub and treated them with the spray. While that did its job I treated their tubs with the spray then scrubbed each and every piece the snakes had been around. I also treated the floor around the snakes area and then vacuumed. After replacing the snakes they all wanted to soak so I put them in look warm water (80-82) and let them soak for about thirty minutes. I found some dead mites in the water and only a few more Dead ones in their tubs. They seem to be rid of them but I will treat them again in two more days just in case.

Like stated above its important to removed the substrate and keep them on newspaper or paper towels for awhile. I prefer paper towel because the mites are easy see against the white towel.

While a pain and work intensive I do not see any reason to visit a vet about it. The vet isn't going to clean your snake cages anyways and treating the snakes alone will do nothing without clean cages. Take it slow and be thorough and you can rid your collection yourself. I would buy a few bottles since you have alot to treat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kurtilein

sounds very bad. sounds really like some nasty mites. If they like to be under the scales of snakes, they are bloodsuckers.

You need to visit a vet ASAP. Good luck! But this time, i think, this forum cannot replace a veterinarian. Consider anything i said merely as hints, except that you really need a professional now.

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A vet isn't needed for something as minor as snake mites...
Its easy to treat. Seeing a vet for mites alone is a waste of time and money. Not to mention the unnecessary stress of transporting the animal.

OP: I just suggest Provent-a-Mite. When I brought home an infested snake, all mites disappeared after one day of use. Its easy to use and very effective.




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Just picked up provent a mite. Time to start the cleaning

To the OP:
Buy a bottle of PAM (Provent-A-Mite, not cooking spray :)), follow the directions exactly. Do NOT put PAM directly on an animal, and allow the surface to dry 1-2 hours after spraying before allowing an animal to come into contact with it. Most people do not take their water dishes out of the tubs when treating for mites - I do, it is a personal preference, that I use to limit the chance of passing the chemical into water and being ingested.

You can also pick up some 'Natural Chemistry - Reptile Relief' spray, and this is safe to put directly on the animal. Do not use during shed, and avoid the face/eyes/heat pits. This will kill any live mites currently on the animal.

PAM - effective both on live mites, and acts as a long term preventative for any that may hatch out later
Natural Chemistry mite spray - Is not preventative, only kills mites currently active and not in egg form, but can be used directly on the animal.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kurtilein

sounds very bad. sounds really like some nasty mites. If they like to be under the scales of snakes, they are bloodsuckers.

You need to visit a vet ASAP. I guess it will be a medication that is (more or less) harmless for the python but deadly for the mites, or the whole surface of the snake gets treated with something. And at the same time all substrate and everything needs to be replaced or cleaned to the point of being sterile. Good luck! But this time, i think, this forum cannot replace a veterinarian. Consider anything i said merely as hints, except that you really need a professional now.

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Kurtilein, while I certainly appreciate your desire to help, please take a moment to take a step back, and not provide definite advice that you have no experience with. I can tell you're not stupid by your other posts, but perhaps a little too eager. Being overly helpful and regurgitating information you've stumbled across but do not truly know, can be just as useless or harmful as incorrect advice.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kurtilein

"Provent a mite. Follow the directions. The ones not on the snakes will either go back to the snakes or die. And the ones that go back to the snakes will get killed off by another treatment of provent a mite."

That might work. But i would still maybe cautiously advise to see a vet. Preferrably one with snake and/or reptile experience. Thats the safe way.

Best Regards

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No. Evidence of your inexperience with snakes, reptiles in general, and the reptile hobby as a whole. I don't mean to be offensive, I'm just pointing out the instability of your advice.

okay, i got it, suggesting to see a vet was maybe a bit too much ^^

im not claiming to be an expert, im here to learn before i get my first BPs. And the best way to learn is to actively participate. I also think im at a point where it gets increasingly hard to learn more just by reading books and forums and watching videos. The area where i feel most secure and comfortable is morph genetics. But when it comes to the step ahead of me, which will be to pick up rescued adults from my local reptile sanctuary, thats also the least important area unfortunately.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kurtilein

okay, i got it, suggesting to see a vet was maybe a bit too much ^^

im not claiming to be an expert, im here to learn before i get my first BPs. And the best way to learn is to actively participate. I also think im at a point where it gets increasingly hard to learn more just by reading books and forums and watching videos. The area where i feel most secure and comfortable is morph genetics. But when it comes to the step ahead of me, which will be to pick up rescued adults from my local reptile sanctuary, thats also the least important area unfortunately.

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Like I said, I can tell you're not stupid :P The easiest way to learn lots of these things, is to gain hands on experience. There is always learning to do in this hobby, but there are certainly very knowlegeable people here with sound advice, because they've seen it first hand or have been around the hobby long enough to seperate fact/fiction regarding husbandry. There are absolutely times when a vet visit is needed, but there are also times to take note of comments from members who have 'been around the block' so to speak (more time on the forums will help you realize who knows what they're talkin about/who can be trusted to provide sound advice).