I am REALLY mad... help

[Ginevive]

I hope you guys are not disappointed in me. I noticed ticks in some of my snakes yesterday. I was noting how my baby bci had been soaking for two days. I soaked him in a small amount of soapy water, and found several medium ticks, as well as a few tinier ones, had come off and died in the water.
I really don't think they're mites. The small ones just look like tiny ticks.
I soaked my three bps also, in the soapy water, to see what came of it. Octavia had a few ticks, Ginger had one or two big ones, and goblin had none at all. I have Gobby in an area away from the oher three. I stripped each cage and trashed the aspen and relined with newspaper. I am getting the black knight stuff; my local pet store will have it for me today.
I am just so mad and discouraged. i hae no idea how they got into my house; maybe there were a few on Ginger, since he was a rescue case. But I had him in another room; I geuss that ticks can travel. I am thanking the snake gods that Gobby has none, and hoping that none will find him. Please, I need some support and a shoulder to bawl on!

Hey. When I my BP had ticks (he was WC.) All I did was get vasoline....and smother the tick....it eventually suffocated then I picked it off (CAREFULLY) with tweezers. And I DID NOT put him back into the cage before I cleaned it very good. With that many snakes its going to be a challenge....good luck

[Ginevive]

I am pretty worried about the smaller ticks that I cannot see as easily. The bigger ones have presumably been removed now, because each snake had a good soak and i saw the dead ticks in the water. It is just a horrible thing, because the 3 bps hate being soaked. The boa seems to actually like it, though. I am gettin' the black knight stuff soon though, so that should help things. It's good to hear that someone else overcame ticks, though; gives me faith.

Yeah maybe you could use a magnifier? The vasoline helped ALOT! Just make sure that you clean the cages very well after using your Black Knight stuff........otherwise it is useless.

[JLC]

Did you put Goblin on paper, too? Might I suggest white paper towels until you get the infestation cleared up? That way, you may see the little buggers on the paper, where they might disappear against newsprint. It's good to keep Goblin separate, but do keep a close eye on him.

I don't have any other specific advice because I don't have any personal experience with this...but it sounds like you're doing a good job. There's a good chance they came in with the rescue...not your fault. Your anger and deep concern is a very good sign that everything will soon be set arights!! You're an excellent snake-mom, Ginevive!!

[Marla]

Ginevive, that sucks for you. Snyder had mites when I got her, so I'm familiar with fighting bugs. Make sure you do not spray BlackKnight where the snakes will be forced to breathe it -- air out their enclosures before putting them back in. I do not want to alarm you, but others have had their snakes have central nervous system reactions to the stuff, so be careful. I think switching to newspaper until the ticks are gone is a good plan, or white paper towels for even better visibility. Good luck getting these nasties away from your babies!

[Ginevive]

Yikes. Thanks, guys. I feel a little better now. But I was just so disgusted, seeing those horrible things. I think that I might bathe everyone else again tonight to provide some more relief. Do you think that's too stressful? The bps seem to dislike bathing immensely, but it does get the ticks off. I am going to hold off on bathing the bci tonight because he is in a shed and soaking himself anyway. Thanks and I'll keep you guys posted.

[Marla]

If your bp's dislike bathing so strongly, it's a good possibility that your water may be too warm. The temp of the water should be just lukewarm, as in barely not cold. When Snyder's going to be staying in the bath for a little while, I'll turn a heating pad on low and tuck it under one side to keep the water from getting too cold, without really warming it up.

[Ginevive]

Good idea. I hope that I wasn't boiling them to death. I used a thermometer and the water was about 80. I will definately put the heatpad underneath next time though.

[Marla]

Using just a little heat to keep it from getting cold makes it so that Snyder will actually happily stay in her container for an hour or more, even though there is an open escape route that she'll occasionally poke her head out to see what's going on. With all the occupants of my house, I obviously don't leave her in it unsupervised, but I've never had a problem (knock wood).