here we go again..

first off.. THANK GOD that i took this snake away from its previous home.

i've had this snake (some type of redtail, the owners said it was a central someone else said it was nicaraguan) for 2 weeks now. i traded it for a tarantula that i was trying to get rid of. when i showed up at their house i knew things were REALLY sketch so i just gave them the spider, took the snake and left.
after getting the snake set up in its new home i left it alone to get use to being in a new place and because it looked like it was going to shed soon, so i was trying not to bother it.
i decided to take a real close look at it today (i know i should have done this a while ago, but i was told it was aggressive when it was in shed so i was trying not to bother it)
anyways, i picked it up out of its cage and noticed all these little white spots on its skin.. then she started getting a little annoyed so i put her back. once she was in her cage i noticed TONS of little black mites crawling all over me, i just got out of the shower because i felt like i was covered in them.
i've had 7 snakes before this one, and none have ever had any health problems (they all came from legit breeders and friends).. so this snake, with all of its problems is kind of overwhelming me, but i'm glad its with me and not its previous owners who failed to mention ANY of these problems to me, and i know they are the kind of people who would never take action to help this snake become healthy.
is there something i can do about these mites now? i think on top of everything this snake has an RI so it needs to see a vet soon (i'm assuming if i can't handle the mite problem the vet should be able to help.. i'm making an appointment next week)

i can take pictures too if someone thinks that will help..

well for the mites put the bp in water every day for like 5-7 min and for RI deff take her to a vet
good luck

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Originally Posted by bonheki

well for the mites put the bp in water every day for like 5-7 min and for RI deff take her to a vet
good luck

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thanks, i'll do that
i have 5 other snakes in my room, do you think i should move the boa out of my room so the other snakes do not get mites?
i'm vaccumming my room and changing my sheets right now since i had her out on the bed

yea i would move the snake from the others cuz then you will have a mite farm lol i kinda had that problem when i got my gtp he had a cupple of mites and then i found one on my bed and soo i soaked him every day for about 2 weeks and the mites went away every scince i havent seen a mite also i would but pam (provent-a-mite) and spary his cage

Reptile Relief can be used on the snake and PAM (Provent a Mite) used on cage accessories, bedding, etc. I'd be safe and clean/disenfect/spray with reptile relief and PAM all of your other cages just to be safe. PAM can not be used on any of the reptiles, read the directions very carefully.

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Originally Posted by Reptilian

Reptile Relief can be used on the snake and PAM (Provent a Mite) used on cage accessories, bedding, etc. I'd be safe and clean/disenfect/spray with reptile relief and PAM all of your other cages just to be safe. PAM can not be used on any of the reptiles, read the directions very carefully.

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thanks a lot, i remember reading something about PAM, i'll be sure to get some

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bonheki

yea i would move the snake from the others cuz then you will have a mite farm lol i kinda had that problem when i got my gtp he had a cupple of mites and then i found one on my bed and soo i soaked him every day for about 2 weeks and the mites went away every scince i havent seen a mite also i would but pam (provent-a-mite) and spary his cage

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okay, i'll be moving her to the spare bedroom tonight, it would probably like to get away from the cats watching her like a tv anyways.
thanks for the help, the only mites i'm use to are the mites on my millipedes, but they're good for them. this is the first time i've ever had a pet with bad mites

i just bleach cleaned the cage, soaked the snake and put newspaper for bedding so i can clean it easier to get rid of the mites.
there are 2 differnt types of mites, some little white ones that were all over the water dish and black ones that had blood in them.
it doesn't look like any of my other snakes are having a problem with mites at this point so hopefully i caught it before any one else gets them.
i'll pick up PAM tomorrow if they have it at the reptile center by my house, i'm sure if they don't they'll have something else i can use.
i'll make up update once i get the snake back from the vet, i'm calling in tomorrow so she should be in by next week.

thanks for the help everyone, and let me know if there is anything else i should be doing

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bonheki

well for the mites put the bp in water every day for like 5-7 min and for RI deff take her to a vet
good luck

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i put my bp when he had some mites from adiffrent owner i put him in vegitable oil, it kills them really fast

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Originally Posted by cutler07

i put my bp when he had some mites from adiffrent owner i put him in vegitable oil, it kills them really fast

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i did some soaking last night that got rid of some of them, i'm picking up spray today after i get out of class.
i was looking up some stuff about mites on this site (it has pictures of the same mites that my snake has).. http://www.boa-constrictors.com/com/Haltung/Milben.htm
and it said using oil isn't a good idea, that it kills the mites but it causes skin and molting problems.

i'm sure it would work though, god knows the bleach i cleaned the cage with didn't kill them.. i had to smoosh most of them by hand!

oh i hwent to a reptile shop and asked if oil was good and they said yes. but if you read it was bad then i wont use it any more.


thx for tellin me

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Originally Posted by cutler07

oh i hwent to a reptile shop and asked if oil was good and they said yes. but if you read it was bad then i wont use it any more.


thx for tellin me

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i'm sure they just didn't know, i didn't even know until last night.. i only came across the website because i was image searching mite pictures so i could id mine

You're probably not going to find Provent-A-Mite at most pet stores but it's worth a look anyways. If you can't find it locally you can order it from here. Follow the directions EXACTLY, it does NOT get sprayed directly on the snake.

http://www.pro-products.com/miteandtemp.html

Now as far as rescues and quaranting especially when you have a mixed collection, here goes.

You must think and plan for quarantine. That means a seperate room, seperate husbandry supplies, etc. There are issues of some health concerns that a boa may carry that can kill pythons so quarantine when you have a mixed collection is even more important and long term. Even within the same species you must consider quarantine when you bring in snakes, especially poorly cared for rescues. To not do so risks the welfare of every snake in your home and it's just not worth that risk in my opinion.

You need to physically go over a rescue immediately, inch by inch even if the snake is freaking. Better to know immediately what you are dealing with, then you can make a plan and let the snake settle in. Part that may be vet costs. If you rescue you need to have a decent herp vet on speed dial.

My husband and I have a mixed collection of boas, pythons and one colubrid. We have taken in snakes to rescue, rehab or snake sit and likely will again. The boas live permanently away from the ball pythons in a seperate room....they will never live in the same space (the milksnake lives with them in the same room). New snakes are quarantined on another floor of our home away from both the established boas, milksnake and ball pythons. Everybody gets dealt with in a certain order....ball pythons first, boas and milksnake second, QT snakes last.

This may seem like a huge hassle and way too anal but so far we've never seen a mite, never had a disease spread from snake to snake, etc. It's very, very worth the extra work. :)

thanks for the reply, this is my first "rescue" so i'm still learning.. the snake is in a completely differnt room now and i've checked all my other snakes/cages and they all look mite free.. this snake hasn't touched anything that my other snakes touch.. its so big that it has all of its own tubs and pillow cases and i've never touched the boa and then touched another snake (since i've only really bothred it twice since i got it, and not on a feeding day) so hopefully nothing has spread, but i guess there is always something i could have overlooked that i don't remember now.

i think the reptile center by my house might sell PAM, or at least someone told me they did, but they're closed today so i'm going to petco to pick up this natural chemistry mite spray, the reviews on the website say that it works really well so i'll try it out and if it doesn't work i'll buy some PAM off the internet if they don't sell it at the reptile center by my house.. i just really want to buy a spray now to get rid of as many mites as possible, they're full of blood so i'm sure the sooner i get rid of them the better she'll be feeling.

i'll post updates after i take her to the vet, reptile center was closed so i couldn't get their vet number like i wanted to so i'm trying to find one on the internet today

just found an exotics vet about 8 miles away from my house.. called the office and everyone was very nice and got me an appointment as soon as possible
i'll be taking the snake in tomorrow at 1:30, i'll post an update once i figure out whats wrong with her and her treatment plan!

as for now i'm going to try to find some mite spray, she should be doing well in no time, hopefully.

The mite spray might well kill the existing mites, the problem is you might well see a hatch of new mites in about 30 days. That's why P.A.M. is what we most often suggest because it gets the eggs too and avoids another issue next month.

Hope the vet visit goes well.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

The mite spray might well kill the existing mites, the problem is you might well see a hatch of new mites in about 30 days. That's why P.A.M. is what we most often suggest because it gets the eggs too and avoids another issue next month.

Hope the vet visit goes well.

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thanks, i'll be at reptile center on tuesday to pick up some snake food so if they have it there i'll buy it.. if not i'll order a can.. as for now i just bought 2 differnt kinds of mite spray.. natural chemistry reptile relief and zoo med mite off.. i got both just in case but the natural chemistry kind seems more legit so i'll try that out today and see how it goes..

nice helping us

i came home today and she had shed.. she already looks a lot better and most of the visible mites are now gone.

i took some pictures though, to try to help find an id on her..

with flash:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...e/DSC08028.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...e/DSC08021.jpg

without flash:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...e/DSC08029.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...e/DSC08033.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...e/DSC08031.jpg

let me know if you have any ideas!

a beauty!!!

just got back from the vet!
turns out it was an RI.. she got a shot of antibiotics today and i have to give her a shot every other day for the next 2 weeks and then we go back for a second check up.
the vet said other than the RI the snake is doing well, she has good weight and is strong, so i'm sure she'll get better in no time.
thanks everyone for helping me!

She looks so beautiful, very exotic looking, Egyptian comes to mind. Glad to hear she's a good weight and that the RI is being tackled. Be careful to keep an eye on your current collection that they aren't showing signs of RI, since it is transmittable from snake to snake.

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Originally Posted by Reptilian

She looks so beautiful, very exotic looking, Egyptian comes to mind. Glad to hear she's a good weight and that the RI is being tackled. Be careful to keep an eye on your current collection that they aren't showing signs of RI, since it is transmittable from snake to snake.

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will do! i have the boa in a seperate room and i wash my hands after handling her, everyone else seems to be doing fine so far.. but i'll keep my eyes open for the next couple of months until i'm sure things have cleared up

i just gave the snake its first shot at home, it wasn't as scary as i thought it would be. it was actually very easy and the snake didn't seem too upset while it was happening.

I would treat every snake enclosure in your house with P.A.M. just in case. It won't hurt at all and would only save a headache down the road since a single mite left behind can bite you a month down the road.

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Originally Posted by edie

will do! i have the boa in a seperate room and i wash my hands after handling her, everyone else seems to be doing fine so far.. but i'll keep my eyes open for the next couple of months until i'm sure things have cleared up

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Remember to do all the established collection first, the QT boa always last.

thanks guys.. i already thought about spraying my other snake cages with PAM, i asked some people about it on one of my BP posts. i have been soaking the snake, treating it with reptile relief every 3 days and cleaning the cage/changing the news paper daily and the mites still keep multiplying, so i'm going to order some PAM tomorrow when i get money in my bank account

the only thing is that i have a tarantula/scorp/spider collection, and some of my friends.. who also have arachnids & snakes told me that i have to be extra careful because the PAM spray could kill my arachnids.

if i moved all my snakes to a differnt room, sprayed the cages, and waited a day do you think that it would be alright to move the cages back into my room?
or if i sprayed the cages and let them sit before doing a bleach clean would that help?

i have to keep all of my pets in my room so i'm trying to think of a safe way to keep my sankes healthy but also keep my tarantulas safe

When I sprayed my snake with reptile reliefe it killed all tha mytes. Just make sure you get it in betwen the scales especially on the abdoment that's where they hide . You'll be fine if you move all the cages out for a day it is not that toxic for bigger insects I think you 'll be fine .

Reptile Relief kills mites, but not their eggs. I also used Reptile Relief on a rescue, before I even brought her in the house. A month later, the eggs that were not killed by the Reptile Relief hatched and I had mites. Ordered Provent A Mite, and I've never had another mite. All new additions' enclosures are pre-treated with Provent A Mite as standard routine.

Well, since PAM will hurt the snakes if they inhale the fumes, I would suggest moving the snakes into temp holding tubs or pillowcases in warm places, then moving the cages out of the animal room to another part of the house to spray them. That way, you can get the spraying done away from the arachnids (that would be harmed by the PAM) and move them back once dry to re-setup everything.

Just my opinion. :)

First of all just for the record there is no insecticide on the market that kills the eggs. Provent a mite is an insecticide with a very long residual effect that will kill the mite larvaes as they hatch within a 30 day period before another application is required .However unlike reptile relief it is not safe for direct application on the snake. That is why people recomend both for a quick and successful erradication. So don't be misled there is an insecticide that kills eggs. That is not how it works.

hey thanks guys for the PAM information.
i was a little concerned about the health risks, as far as my other pets go.. so i tried the reptile relief and i never find mites on my snake anymore but i'll find them in the cage every once in a while.. so i just ordered some PAM today, i'll read the instructions very carefully and make sure all the pets are safe.
it should be here in a week or so, hopefully i can get that to clear the mites up and move my snake back in my room in another couple months once i'm sure shes healthy