Help!!!

I just pulled my boa out to hang out for a while, now he's almost done with shedding. I thought i saw a little black bug fall onto my hand. Sure enough it was a bug. As i looked over him i found more, and more. I squished the one on my hand and blood smeared across my hand. I dont know what to do, i dont get paid till thursday, and i don't know how vital it is to take care of this right now. If it's that vital i'm sure i can find some way to get mite off or something.

someone please help me.

sounds to me like a tick or mites. But a vet would be better suited to tell you that without providing us pics of them

i'm pretty sure it's mites. they are little black bugs that are free roaming. there is no vet open at the moment.

Can of PAM. I always have one in my snakey first aid kit! :gj:

i dont get paid till thursday. am i able to wait till then?

If you have to, you have to. Buy 2 cans and put one away. Always buy in doubles....

i'm just worried. the worst thing i have encountered so far has been their food fighting back. no one has been sick, or had bugs.

thanks for everyones help, i truely appreciate it.

If you don't get paid until Thursday you can do some things for free to help relieve the snake of at least SOME mites. When I noticed mites on my rescue boa (it was night and I couldn't go buy any Reptile Relief and it was going to take a while for my PAM to get to my house) I cleaned her tank with really hot water which got a lot of mites out, I also soaked her in water then ran over her body with a towel to get the mites off of her that were on the surface.

This of course, will not rid you of the mites in any way (You'll definitely need PAM for that, its worth every cent), but it will get rid of a bunch of the visible ones.

thanks so much, thats what i needed to know. The poor guy looks miserable.

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Originally Posted by RBCpythons

thanks so much, thats what i needed to know. The poor guy looks miserable.

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Yeah, my boa looked so bad when she had mites! It was really hard to see, but after I got rid of most of the visible mites by cleaning the cage and soaking the snake/wiping her down it seemed a lot better, they were not gone but at least I got rid of probably a couple hundred so they could not suck her blood.

Don't worry, if it is mites they do clear up wonderfully with PAM (PAM kills the mites and the eggs I believe, this is what keeps them from coming back), I would just suggest to use it monthly or bi-monthly after a full cage cleaning to make sure they have no chance of coming back.

After my RTB had the mites, they popped back up on my hog island boa about 4 months later, and I have seen a couple on 2 of my other snakes, so they can come back.. I spray all 12 of my cages with PAM bi-monthly now and haven't seen any new mites.

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Originally Posted by starmom

Can of PAM. I always have one in my snakey first aid kit! :gj:

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Since it sounds like you need help identifying the mites, just a word of warning, PAM as mentioned here ISN'T the cooking spray by that name.

PAM is an abbreviation of the name Provent-A-Mite. Two definitely, VERY different products in a can!!!!!

Just so any newbies reading won't get confused. :rolleyes::P

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Originally Posted by edie

Yeah, my boa looked so bad when she had mites! It was really hard to see, but after I got rid of most of the visible mites by cleaning the cage and soaking the snake/wiping her down it seemed a lot better, they were not gone but at least I got rid of probably a couple hundred so they could not suck her blood.

Don't worry, if it is mites they do clear up wonderfully with PAM (PAM kills the mites and the eggs I believe, this is what keeps them from coming back), I would just suggest to use it monthly or bi-monthly after a full cage cleaning to make sure they have no chance of coming back.

After my RTB had the mites, they popped back up on my hog island boa about 4 months later, and I have seen a couple on 2 of my other snakes, so they can come back.. I spray all 12 of my cages with PAM bi-monthly now and haven't seen any new mites.

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If you're soaking your snake in a small tub (or the kitchen sink-sized), a drop or two of liquid dishwashing soap added to the water will break the surface tension and help drown the mites better.

P.A.M is good for it, b/c it kills adults, and works on killing eggs too, whereas Reptile Relief is just for adults, and has to be used regularly, religiously for an extended length of time until all the eggs (missed in cleaning the cages/hides/bowls) have hatched.

I used the RR on the snake until I could get the PAM on-hand. Using the PAM ever other or every 3 months (see the label) is good protection.

thanks for the info. i have PAM on the way right now. As i went through and checked my reptiles, my boa was the only animal with them. I dont know how they got in his cage, but they did. So he has been quarrentined, out of the reptile room. Thanks again everyone for you help.

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Originally Posted by sweety314

Since it sounds like you need help identifying the mites, just a word of warning, PAM as mentioned here ISN'T the cooking spray by that name.

PAM is an abbreviation of the name Provent-A-Mite. Two definitely, VERY different products in a can!!!!!

Just so any newbies reading won't get confused. :rolleyes::P

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This was good additional information! I remember when I was a noob and first read references to PAM and was thinking "How the heck can cooking spray get rid of mites?!" LOL! :rofl:

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Originally Posted by sweety314

If you're soaking your snake in a small tub (or the kitchen sink-sized), a drop or two of liquid dishwashing soap added to the water will break the surface tension and help drown the mites better.

P.A.M is good for it, b/c it kills adults, and works on killing eggs too, whereas Reptile Relief is just for adults, and has to be used regularly, religiously for an extended length of time until all the eggs (missed in cleaning the cages/hides/bowls) have hatched.

I used the RR on the snake until I could get the PAM on-hand. Using the PAM ever other or every 3 months (see the label) is good protection.

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I always forget that PAM is a cooking spray! Almost everyone I've talked to about it gets confused until I remember to call it by its full name. I only used reptile relief until I could get PAM as well because they sold it at Pet Co so it was easy to get a hold of

okay, so i finally have got it handled. I got my P.A.M. today (along with a few other things from bean farm:). I officially feel much better that this is finally being handled. Thanks once again everyone for their help.

Brandon

It's great that you've remembered to quarantine your mite-y snake!! Just also keep in mind that you'll also xfer them on your clothes, not just you.

They can't run marathons, but they WILL travel to get to another snake. April (the mod w/all the giants), also sprayed on the floor around her racks. Since I've had a couple of flare-ups, I've sprayed a few lines in the carpeting, and that's helped too. (My "snake room" is a spare bedroom).

Quarantine practices are going to be even more critical.

oh definitely, i have made sure that all the other snakes are cared for before i handle mr. mitey. I also use a spare room for a snake room. i really want one more bedroom for quarentine, due to how many new snakes i keep buying.

Your last comment reminded me of something.....

April and others have stated, (and I've taken to heart...) that if you quarantine Snake A, and the intent is to quarantine for say, 3 months, but at the end of Month 2 you add Snake B, then Snake A's quarantine period should start over @ 0 (needing a full 3 months again) as now Snake A has been potentially exposed to any illness, parasites or disease that Snake B may have and therefore A will need to be "started over".

Make sense? :weirdface:weirdface:rolleyes:

Just a few friendly guidelines. :)

that makes a whole lotta sense. which kinda sucks. so how would you quarentine those 2 snakes? say one in the living room, and one in the bedroom? all of course being kept away from the snake room.

Yep...pretty much. Unless you get 2 or 3 snakes all at the same time, so their quarantine is all the same duration, and you don't have to start the clock over when you add another pet.

That's what we did in our rental. We had snakes in R's room, my room and the livingroom, but had to keep the heat up for them. Luckily the house was only about 900 ft2. Now, in our new home, the snakes are in the smallest bedroom (except Petey as the acrylic tank won't fit thru the door). So I can keep the HOUSE cooler, and the snake room is warm enough. To quarantine, with the room being so small, just being on the opposite wall isn't enough. I've got to use a space heater for my room, and put the new snake(s) there.

you should PAM both quarantine enclosure before you put the snakes inside and i would think its ok to place them in the same room.
if i were in your situation, i would also PAM every enclosure in your current snake room to be safe. you may not see them yet but it is possible that mites from your boa spread to your other animals or maybe even from another animal to your boa and others.
it would suck to PAM the infested boa, quarantine him for 30 days or more and put him back with your collection only to find out that the mite infestation is worse than you thought. youll have to go through the process all over again with your entire collection a month later.
that may not be the case but better safe than sorry. good luck!

yeah i found a mite on my pastel female a couple days ago, so i sprayed all the tubs and our one tank down. i also sprayed the carpet and shelving the tubs sit on.

thanks for the help guys.

Oh one more thing, i think i might have picked up the mites from their food. I recently switched over to a new rodent breeder. shortly after that i had this infestation. i saw his facility, and it seemed fine to me, but i also don't breed rats.

Most will tell you that rodents can't carry SNAKE MITES. I've had a couple of rats come from the feeder with lice, but not mites. Snake mites are species specific.