Bugs in the enclosure

Today, noticed for the first time that my female was in a water bowl. Never saw this before so I suspected something weird. I held her and some bug came on my hand, very tiny, brownish black bug. Also saw them on snake. I don’t think it is a mite because it was not stuck to scale, rather crawling. It also does not look like a mite. I use reptile prime bedding, could this be from the substrate? If yes, how should I prevent this bug from existing?


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Need pictures, and can they fly?

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Originally Posted by Lord Sorril

Need pictures, and can they fly?

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I was busy getting rid of it, so couldn’t take picture. Don’t think it can fly, just crawling.


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Most likely it was a non reptile mite or flea. Do you have mammal pets like dogs, cats rabbits, hamsters, etc? Also and this is no calling into question the cleanliness of your house, do you have mold in the house? One option is booklice which aren't actually lice but feed on mold.

I bet it is snake mites. Snakes mites are different colors depending on their life stage. They are clear as babies almost invisible, and get reddish black when engourged with blood from feeding. If you BP was in the water dish, that is a good sign of mites. If it was something like wood mites which wouldnt be in coco fiber or some other harmless bug, your snake wouldnt be soaking. And motes dont stick to the scales, they go to places where they can feed on the snake like the fold of skin under the chin, or in the eye sockets. They will get between the scales too. And if there was enough of them on the snake that you saw them running all over and crawling on you, it sounds like you got an infestation. Better get some PAM, paper towels and zip lock bags. You are in for a 'fun' ride for the next 3 months.

Try to get some on a paper towel by running the snake through a wet paper towel. Then squish one of the bugs on your fingernail and see if it pops and leaves a blood spot. Do this with one of the dark colored ones.

And it wouldnt come from the substrate. As far as i know from the videos i watched of the Reptile Prime being made and bagged, there is no snakes in the area and snake mites are not native to the US. It's the main reason i order all my substrates online plus it is cheaper. But i have never gotten snake mites from substrate. The one time i had to deal with snakes mites, i got it from a hitchhiker i brought home and luckily it only affected Luna and not any of the other snakes.

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Originally Posted by SDA

Most likely it was a non reptile mite or flea. Do you have mammal pets like dogs, cats rabbits, hamsters, etc? Also and this is no calling into question the cleanliness of your house, do you have mold in the house? One option is booklice which aren't actually lice but feed on mold.

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I do have dogs, hedgehog. The time it occur is right after I bring my hedgehog enclosure to the room where reptile is at. Before that, no sign of mites. Room in hedgehog got a bit cold, and I saw little bug in hedgehog enclosure after so I cleaned it. I will still have to be sure so I will do a treatment..


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Originally Posted by Sauzo

I bet it is snake mites. Snakes mites are different colors depending on their life stage. They are clear as babies almost invisible, and get reddish black when engourged with blood from feeding. If you BP was in the water dish, that is a good sign of mites. If it was something like wood mites which wouldnt be in coco fiber or some other harmless bug, your snake wouldnt be soaking. And motes dont stick to the scales, they go to places where they can feed on the snake like the fold of skin under the chin, or in the eye sockets. They will get between the scales too. And if there was enough of them on the snake that you saw them running all over and crawling on you, it sounds like you got an infestation. Better get some PAM, paper towels and zip lock bags. You are in for a 'fun' ride for the next 3 months.

Try to get some on a paper towel by running the snake through a wet paper towel. Then squish one of the bugs on your fingernail and see if it pops and leaves a blood spot. Do this with one of the dark colored ones.

And it wouldnt come from the substrate. As far as i know from the videos i watched of the Reptile Prime being made and bagged, there is no snakes in the area and snake mites are not native to the US. It's the main reason i order all my substrates online plus it is cheaper. But i have never gotten snake mites from substrate. The one time i had to deal with snakes mites, i got it from a hitchhiker i brought home and luckily it only affected Luna and not any of the other snakes.

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When I get home, I will take a look at it more closely. Had to go out in the morning so couldn’t observe it more. I have another ball right next to each other.. high chance mites transfer to them also if they were actual snake mite? If the other ball doesn’t possess it, could it mean something else?


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Came home, she was still soaking in the water. I soaked her in the tub while cleaning the whole enclosure with soap water scrubbing and f10 just in case. I also cleaned the other ball enclosure who was next to snake with suspected mite. I tried looking through the snake but couldn't find any marking of mites, and it is hard to see in the dark colored snake.
If the other ball was next to the mite enclosure, is there a high probability of mite spreading? I cleaned both enclosures and put paper towels down for now, just in case. Still waiting to get a provent a mite product, until she shows sign of mites again on the cleaned paper towel enclosure.

and question, if the snake doesn't soak in the water bowl anymore, does that mean there is no mites anymore? how do you know if mites are gone? any signs?

With a darker snake take a damp light colored paper towel and wipe her down. Are there any bugs on the damp paper towel?

I did that, I saw one black dot, which was so tiny to determine if it is a bug or just something from substrate. I don't see how she could have got it so sudden. Only thing that was introduced was a hedgehog that was in the other room. Didn't touch other snakes from other places or anything. Could mites be produced by itself in the enclosure? my knowledge is that it has to be transferred from other host which I doubt because I wasn't in contact with other snake. As for now, she is not soaking but just in the hide.

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Originally Posted by gusanr14

Came home, she was still soaking in the water. I soaked her in the tub while cleaning the whole enclosure with soap water scrubbing and f10 just in case. I also cleaned the other ball enclosure who was next to snake with suspected mite. I tried looking through the snake but couldn't find any marking of mites, and it is hard to see in the dark colored snake.
If the other ball was next to the mite enclosure, is there a high probability of mite spreading? I cleaned both enclosures and put paper towels down for now, just in case. Still waiting to get a provent a mite product, until she shows sign of mites again on the cleaned paper towel enclosure.

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Yes. Snake mites can travel far distances and if they smell a meal, they will head there. You might get lucky. I got lucky and like i said, the one time i had to deal with mites and they only got on Luna and no one else and all my snakes in the same room in cage stacks. I did treat all the other cages though just in case.

If she is still soaking, you probably got mites. She is trying to drown them to relieve herself. Either that or she the water bowl is the most secure feeling place in the cage. If snakes dont like their hides, some will go into the water bowl if it is small enough and sit there since there is no where else in their mind that is secure. Also they will soak if they get too hot to try and cool off. Now if your temps are good and have been and the hides are fine and she has been using them. And there has been no changes in the caging and she just started soaking out of the blue, i would bet mites. You can also check in the water bowl and you will probably see little black specks of pepper on the bottom of the water bowl.

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Originally Posted by gusanr14

I did that, I saw one black dot, which was so tiny to determine if it is a bug or just something from substrate. I don't see how she could have got it so sudden. Only thing that was introduced was a hedgehog that was in the other room. Didn't touch other snakes from other places or anything. Could mites be produced by itself in the enclosure? my knowledge is that it has to be transferred from other host which I doubt because I wasn't in contact with other snake. As for now, she is not soaking but just in the hide.

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Snake mites can ride home on you if you go to a petshop and get one on your clothes. And the snake enclosure is their favorite spot as they need humid, warm, dark conditions to thrive and lay eggs. Like i said, check her by running her through a wet paper towel and also check the water bowl for little black specks of pepper.

And she probably didnt get them all of a sudden. Also in my snake room, all i have are 9 snakes and a beardie and i still managed to get mites. Like i said, only thing i can think of is i picked up a hitchhiker on my pant leg or something. Thats why i dont go to shows. If you do though, you should strip in the garage when you get home and throw everything in the washer and then go hop in the shower to prevent bringing anything unwanted home.

You need to check the fold under the mouth of the snake, the cloaca, and around the eye. Get in there and look closely. The fold under the neck is often the most obvious area.

Simply going to a pet store that has infested reptiles or an expo is enough to contaminate your collection.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Yes. Snake mites can travel far distances and if they smell a meal, they will head there. You might get lucky. I got lucky and like i said, the one time i had to deal with mites and they only got on Luna and no one else and all my snakes in the same room in cage stacks. I did treat all the other cages though just in case.

If she is still soaking, you probably got mites. She is trying to drown them to relieve herself. Either that or she the water bowl is the most secure feeling place in the cage. If snakes dont like their hides, some will go into the water bowl if it is small enough and sit there since there is no where else in their mind that is secure. Also they will soak if they get too hot to try and cool off. Now if your temps are good and have been and the hides are fine and she has been using them. And there has been no changes in the caging and she just started soaking out of the blue, i would bet mites. You can also check in the water bowl and you will probably see little black specks of pepper on the bottom of the water bowl.

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After I cleaned her cage and put paper towel substrate, she has been in her hide all day long. Not sure if this is a sign or not of cleaned mite. When I checked the water bowl, I couldn't see anything suspicious. I inspected her whole body as much as I could but couldn't feel or find anything. I have soaked her in water while I was cleaning the cage and nothing in the water too. If she doesn't soak anymore, does this mean mite is not there? or should I observe other stuff to check if mites are gone or not.

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Originally Posted by SDA

You need to check the fold under the mouth of the snake, the cloaca, and around the eye. Get in there and look closely. The fold under the neck is often the most obvious area.

Simply going to a pet store that has infested reptiles or an expo is enough to contaminate your collection.

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Very bad photo, so hard to focus but tried my best. Might not able to see but just wanted to show those areas. And i understand that it doesn’t mean there is no mites even if it doesn’t show in her face.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1a3ef58070.jpg.jpg[/IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8c657a95a9.jpg


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Originally Posted by gusanr14

Very bad photo, so hard to focus but tried my best. Might not able to see but just wanted to show those areas. And i understand that it doesn’t mean there is no mites even if it doesn’t show in her face.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1a3ef58070.jpg.jpg[/IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8c657a95a9.jpg


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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ec4d571adc.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8f3e3aeed8.jpg



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So you bought another snake since the one you got when you joined the Forum and didn't quarantine it? [emoji85][emoji85][emoji86][emoji86]


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