I noticed tiny bugs not mites in my Bp's tank

I was handling my Bp today when I noticed two tiny bugs not snake mites crawling on my hand . I no for afact they werent mites since they were elongated in shape more like an ant rather than being round like a typical nasty mite. I keep the bp on nature bark which is supposedly heat treated and also have a halflog in there too.The tank has been set up for 6 months now and the snake never had any mites so I've never treated the tank with provent a mite . Again those bugs did not look nothing like snake mites and I wonder what were they? elongated body and clear to beige color about a milimeter and a half long or about the size of a sucked up mite. Please advice if those are harmful to the snake . I'm going to redu the cage and switch it to aspen but I do not have an time this week. Again I want to mension that these are not snake mites I know very well what mites are .

it sounds a lot like wood lice, which are harmless.

I'd get a few more opinions and not just take my word for it though

Did these bugs have wings? Have you inspected the enclosure to see if you could find more? The bugs could be knats which are tiny bugs that come in the substrate. And just curious, why do you have the halflog? Is it a hide?

i just got rid of those from my tank too! they were living inside my accurite! i cleaned it all out and sprayed and vaccumed and cleaned some more. now they're gone. i dunno where they came from or how they got there!

yes , the halflog is a hyde same as the ones sold in the pet stores . I did not see any wings but they did look like lice, and did not move at a constant pace but advanced about quarter inch pretty quickly and then they stop for a second and moved again until I killed them both. I'm sure there is more of them in the tank.

I would do a thorough cage cleaning along with a dose of PAM before placing her back in the enclosure.

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Originally Posted by drugaria

yes , the halflog is a hyde same as the ones sold in the pet stores . I did not see any wings but they did look like lice, and did not move at a constant pace but advanced about quarter inch pretty quickly and then they stop for a second and moved again until I killed them both. I'm sure there is more of them in the tank.

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Well, no matter what kind of bug it is PAM will kill it, but clean out the enclosure as you mentioned and that should help, but won't guarantee that the bugs will be gone.

Here is one company you can buy PAM from.
http://www.pro-products.com/

Jut a tip to you about those half logs though - they are not very good hides for bps because they are very open. You may want to simply try some plastic bowls flipped over with holes cut out, or even margarine containers. I know the log hides LOOK nice and are very natural, but they aren't the best for your bps security. And you do have 2 right?

I know the logs are not the best hydes but this particular bp seems to like it, I tried changing the log before with a plastic cave because I needed the log for a bigger snake but he did not like the cave. He is the most docile snake I have and has no sence of fear. Once he grows some more I 'll move him to his permanent life time cage and eill make him some type of new hyde.

Half logs are actually great hides if you get the right size and pack a little moss or something in there to close it up from your snakes line of sight. They also help a ton during shed.

Furio stays in his pretty much all the time (Everyone complains they never get to see him)

I had animals like that,in my case it were termites from a jungle gym.

I have used half-logs that have worked out well, I just put the log against the side of the cage, then tape newspaper to the outside of the cage over where the log is so it makes the half log seem completely closed off with one side open. You have to watch out for mold and weird stuff on them though, that was always a big problem when I would use them for my tarantulas with high humidity requirements.

And like other people already have said, just clean the cage out well and PAM it, it should kill whatever the little bugs are. I've had random bugs show up in my tarantula cages before as well, after I would clean the cages I never saw them again. If they show up again then I would consider switching substrates to see if that changes anything, even if the bark is heat treated that won't stop bugs from making it their home after you place it in the BPs cage.

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Originally Posted by edie

I have used half-logs that have worked out well, I just put the log against the side of the cage, then tape newspaper to the outside of the cage over where the log is so it makes the half log seem completely closed off with one side open. You have to watch out for mold and weird stuff on them though, that was always a big problem when I would use them for my tarantulas with high humidity requirements.

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Agreed! Another good trick is to turn one side of the log against the side of your enclosure (as metioned) then put a plastic plant to cover most of the other side, but still allow entrance. I have plants covering my hides to add security and I firmly believe he feels "safer" so he does poke his head out under the plants much more than before. I can see him, but I don't think he knows ;)

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Originally Posted by missi182

Well, no matter what kind of bug it is PAM will kill it, but clean out the enclosure as you mentioned and that should help, but won't guarantee that the bugs will be gone.

Here is one company you can buy PAM from.
http://www.pro-products.com/

Jut a tip to you about those half logs though - they are not very good hides for bps because they are very open. You may want to simply try some plastic bowls flipped over with holes cut out, or even margarine containers. I know the log hides LOOK nice and are very natural, but they aren't the best for your bps security. And you do have 2 right?

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I'm sorry, but those can make pretty decent hides, depending on the size of your snake. You just have to set them up right. I usually agree with you, but here I believe you are stating just what others have said. When used like they are in the pet stores, they are not good hides.

If you have the back and sides of your tank covered, stand the half log up on it's side, and put a branch near it. He'll go down inside and curl up. Mine would make tunnels so he could get in and curl up. Makes a real nice tight space for them. If you have something covering the top of your tank, it's dark and secure enough for them as well.

Edit: I didn't see your post above this one. A big fake plant to kinda cover the top would work extra good for this as well.

A Shot of my old tank setup. (Guess where Vincent is in this picture)
http://www.schoolofdan.com/images/sn...ank_small1.jpg

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Originally Posted by missi182

Agreed! Another good trick is to turn one side of the log against the side of your enclosure (as metioned) then put a plastic plant to cover most of the other side, but still allow entrance. I have plants covering my hides to add security and I firmly believe he feels "safer" so he does poke his head out under the plants much more than before. I can see him, but I don't think he knows ;)

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That's exactly how my set up is ! :D I just did not go into too many details since that was not the subject of this thread
I'm also thinking of sealing the halflogs with polyurethabe sealer so that they'll be easy to clean. I've noticed seen the plastic ones in pet stores, which in my book a a lot better than natural from a cleaning perspective.

*erased post*