My ball python has mites but I just fed him last night....do I wait to treat?

I got Albion about a week and a half ago and he has been lying in his water dish the last couple days, so I checked for mites and didn't see any. So I fed him last night as usual and while feeding I saw them: the little black dots of terror. I only ever see one at a time on him but I have noticed it twice and am fairly certain it's mites (I saw one on his eyeball this morning :(). However, I don't see anything in his water dish after he's been soaking so maybe I caught it early?

My question is: if I fed him last night, I'm not supposed to handle him for 48 hours, yes? Then should I wait to treat him? Also, I have read many different treatment options; any suggestions on what works best? The infestation looks minor at this point.

I couldn't tell you about the handling thing but almost everyone I've seen on the forum appears to swear by Provent-A-Mite. I'd personally probably risk it depending on how much interaction treatment entails. If it doesn't involve too much on the snake I'd treat and get rid of them ASAP. Good luck!

Thank you! Unfortunately, I live in a town without a pet store, so 1 day shipping on amazon is my best bet for a product and that one does not appear to be an option :(. However, Amazon has a couple off brand products that both have 4+ stars. Best bet?

If you have a pharmacy or WalMart close by you can get a 2 oz bottle of the NIX or RID cream-rinse treatment for lice. The active ingredient should be 1% permethrin.

Directions on using it are at http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...it-with-AaronP

I wouldn't wait to treat but handle your BP as little as possible while doing so. So, while you're treating his enclosure, hides, etc. rather than bathing him, put him into a tub that's already been treated (and dried).

IMO - Provent-A-Mite is worth it. There's a reason it's recommended by everyone.

http://pro-products.com/

yeah, quarantine your albino immediately. don't worry that u just fed him. put him in another tub/tank on paper towel. i would also quarantine it's enclosure that you found it had mites in.

you could pre-soak your BP in warm water before treatment.

1. use Natural Chemistry reptile spray on your animal. use as directed. clean and change paper towels in the quarantined enclosure after each treatment. a few days of treatment should kill all mites.

2. throw out substrate and plant products and clean, scrub, sanitize, sterilize the enclosure, hides, etc. completely. u can spray down with the reptile spray or use Provent-A-Mite. leave uninhabited and monitor for mites for a few days-week. i would give it another cleaning each time u see mites reappear.

3. i would at least dust your other snake enclosures with Provent-A-Mite.

good luck. monitor everything. keep it separated, keep it clean, keep happy snakes. :)

I only have one snake, so quarantine isn't an issue. The issue is that prevent-a-mite would take a good week to get to my house. I ordered an alternate product that will get here tomorrow and will work with what I can. I also might consider the lice treatment option if I want to jump start tonight. Will he be okay for 24 hours until the product gets here or should I take some other precautions? I can still literally only find one mite on him and none anywhere else--I'm not suggesting that makes it not a big deal, but less urgent hopefully? I want to have a working product when I deep clean the terrarium and my precious python in hopes of ridding him of the pests 100%.

Having dealt with mites twice I would have already gone scorched earth on them, but then I have 80 snakes in my collection so waiting to treat is not an option.

Any new snake I get has its QT enclosure, paper substrate, and hides treated with permethrin (the insecticide in PAM/NIX/RID) the day before the snake arrives, and I wipe it down with Reptile Spray when I pull it out of the shipping box. If it has mites I know it within a day.

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Originally Posted by jena.chris

I only have one snake, so quarantine isn't an issue. The issue is that prevent-a-mite would take a good week to get to my house. I ordered an alternate product that will get here tomorrow and will work with what I can. I also might consider the lice treatment option if I want to jump start tonight. Will he be okay for 24 hours until the product gets here or should I take some other precautions? I can still literally only find one mite on him and none anywhere else--I'm not suggesting that makes it not a big deal, but less urgent hopefully? I want to have a working product when I deep clean the terrarium and my precious python in hopes of ridding him of the pests 100%.

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Order the provent-a-mite, but get some of this as well:

http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Chemis.../dp/B000NGU7NQ

I use both when I have a mite problem.

That's what I ordered! I am new to all of this. Do you think he got it from the pet store or picked it up around the house? Should I not have been putting him on the carpet? And now if I vacuum and wait a few days will they die off if they did come from the carpet? I have so many questions haha.

I had a huge war with mites. If you look at my profile, there's a thread on it. It was horrible. Lasted forever. I tried the NIX treatment but it didn't work. The only thing that did was a combination of PAM and reptile relief spray, and being really on top of the problem. It took about a week for PAM to arrive and I used the NIX in the meantime, but I really don't think it did much.

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Originally Posted by hazzaram

I had a huge war with mites. If you look at my profile, there's a thread on it. It was horrible. Lasted forever. I tried the NIX treatment but it didn't work. The only thing that did was a combination of PAM and reptile relief spray, and being really on top of the problem. It took about a week for PAM to arrive and I used the NIX in the meantime, but I really don't think it did much.

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This is why PAM is always the first suggestion. It WORKS. You can try other methods, but many people many times over have tried everything under the sun to get rid of mites and with a few rare exceptions it comes down to PAM in the end. Do what you can to make your snake comfortable, but go ahead and order the PAM. You won't regret it.

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Originally Posted by jena.chris

That's what I ordered! I am new to all of this. Do you think he got it from the pet store or picked it up around the house? Should I not have been putting him on the carpet? And now if I vacuum and wait a few days will they die off if they did come from the carpet? I have so many questions haha.

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It's a good bet when you brought your snake home the mites came with him.

Tip: Don't ever return to that store. Even if you don't bring another snake home from there, the female mites leave the snake and even the enclosures and will lay eggs in bags of bedding near where the snakes are kept. If you need equipment, order it online and have it shipped.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

It's a good bet when you brought your snake home the mites came with him.

Tip: Don't ever return to that store. Even if you don't bring another snake home from there, the female mites leave the snake and even the enclosures and will lay eggs in bags of bedding near where the snakes are kept. If you need equipment, order it online and have it shipped.

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Okay, thank you! I soaked him in some water for about 15 minutes last night because I couldn't stand doing nothing. I only saw one and it died in the water, but I saw one on him this morning again. The Reptile Spray should be here today and I'll send in an order to PAM for backup. If the Reptile Spray seems to do the trick, would it be a good idea to still use the PAM as a prevent and precaution? Make sure the buggers are all dead?

The reptile spray kills the mites on the snake and the PAM kills any that are off of the snake and hangs around on the tub and bedding long enough that when the eggs in the bedding hatch the babies die. Use both and right when you think your snake is good a clear of mites...Treat it again for another few weeks. Not retreating along with not getting the cage and surrounding animals treated is the main reason for relapses of these critters.

Reptile Spray will only kill the mites it comes into contact with. It is not an insecticide, it is a solution of salts that works by dehydrating the mite. It will do nothing for the two mite life cycles that are not on the snake, nor will it work on the mite eggs.

PAM / NIX / RID / etc. are all permethrin-based products. Permethrin is an insecticide whose half-life is 30 days if kept out of direct sunlight. It works because mites spend a several stages of their life cycle off the snake, which is when they walk through the insecticide. Note that an egg can take up to 30 days to hatch out, which is why it's recommended that you re-apply the permethrin every week or so and continue to treat for mites for two months after you stop seeing them.

I've used Reptile Spray and it works but I do not spray the snake with it. Instead I spray a white paper towel and wipe the snake. That way you use less of the product, more of it ends up on the snake than elsewhere (my snakes hate getting sprayed), you can work it well into the area under their chin, you can avoid their eyes, and you can check the paper towel afterward for mites.

It took me a good hour and a half, but I threw out all the aspen bedding, soaked all hides in hot water with a little bit of the medicine, and rubbed him down with the stuff with a paper towel.

How do I know if I got them all if they hide in the scales?

I have him on paper towel substrate with temporary cardboard hides for now. I read to keep his water bowl out of the terrarium for 24 hours after applying the medication--is this good advice?

I just inspected him and I didn't see any except for one of his heat pits looks black colored....is that a mite? How do I get it out of there?

Reptile Spray is a must.

Heres a good tidbit: be careful what you get at the petstore. We have purchased bags of bedding and other things from "big name" stores that came with bugs on board...

So look new items over well, and always qt new things until you're sure.

Do you buy bedding from somewhere online that's been free of them?

Also, he definitely has one in the heat pit. I observed his rubbing that side of his face against his water dish and hide :(. What do I do? There is no way I can get it out of there.

I would try this: hold the snake behind its head and with the tap water running very lightly, let the water drip/fall onto the front of his face for a couple of seconds. Keep repeating a few times. I know this sounds cruel, but hopefully the mite will fall out or something.

Every new item I get for my snakes enclosure, I bathe in Milton Sterilising fluid (which is used for babies water bottles etc..) and hot water for 15 minutes.

Once you've got rid of mites, make sure to always take precautions! I have had mites before.. and hopefully never will again, Good luck.

if he has on in his heat pit, maybe you could try putting him in the bath for a few minutes, use the treatment every one else has suggested. Keep on paper towels until you're 100% sure all mites have gone.

Guys....this whole time I thoought PAM meant the cooking spray and was wondering how that killed mites >.<........

It's out of the heat pit, must have crawled out on it's own? I haven't seen a mite in the last two days now so here's to hoping they're gone (but not being ignorant enough to assume it). He's on paper towels. I put his wooden stick and hide back in there because I felt like he needed them (I put them in the oven for an hour first), and I will treat him the Reptile Spray as directed for the next month.

Not only do I appreciate the advice, but also the peace of mind. Thank you!!!