Do mites have wings??

[DerekD]

So I've been in Australia for the last six months, while I've been away my brother has been watching my snake, he's a male (I was told I haven't sexed him, he weights 1070gs and he's about five years old) I just got home last night, so naturally I came to my brothers house as soon as I could to see him. He seems to be doing good, all temps and humidity are good. He just feed yesterday so I did not want to handle him much, but when I glaced at his water dish I saw a bug on top of the water! I've never had mites (I have always inspected him and never seen any in the water dish before) this bug had wings on it... Very small but one was sticking out as he crawled on the top of the water. Basically my question is do mites have wings?

Also I use aspen bedding and I've heard of there being bugs in the bags from time to time I've never experienced it tho... Do you think that could be it?

Also after seeing the bug I immediately did a check of him, I was gentle and as I didn't want to handle him much due to him eating yesterday, I didn't see any mites, I checked his body and around his eyes, vents and mouth, nothing... I will do a more thorough check tomorrow or the next day as to give him more digestion time... I'm stressin as I've never had mites and don't want to start now, any thoughts or advice would be great, thanks!

[M.P.C]

Mites are like the size of black pepper, tiny little buggers... if you have them you'll most often see them in the water bowl as snakes like to soak to try and get them off

[DerekD]

Yeah I've done a lot of research (previously) on mites on here, and looked at user posted pictures, I know they are small, but I've never read if they had wings... This bug was about 4 or 5 times the size of a ball point pen head... I thought it was to big to be a mite, I also squished it to see if blood came out because I have read they can get bigger (the mites) when they are full of blood, but no blood came out when I squished it, so that's good. I was just hoping to conclusively disprove it being a mite because of the wings...

[DerekD]

Maybe not 4 or 5 times the size of a pen head... Maybe 2 or 3 actually...

[JoshSloane]

Usually if you see one mite, there are hordes of them to follow. Ive never seen just one, they usually travel in giant numbers. Mites do look like a grain of pepper, almost like a tiny speck of dirt that moves. If you don't see any others on your snake, or in the enclosure thats likely a good sign. However, mites reproduce through a larval stage, which usually isn't visible to the naked eye.

I would soak your snake in some warm water, with just a tiny touch of very mild dish soap that doesn't contain any scents or additives. This will break the water tension and drown any mites that might be on your snake, allowing you to see them in the water.

If you want to be proactive, you can grab some Natural Chemistry Reptile Spray from Petco or Petsmart. Its formulated to be safe for application directly to the snake and to the enclosure. Ive used this stuff and it just murders mites. Be super careful with anything like Provent a Mite. It works, but can be toxic to snakes. Good luck! Hope it was just a random bug.

[BWyant]

Sounds more like an aphid to me. A picture, if there are any more of the little critters, would be helpful.

I'd suggest getting a little plastic cup, fill it with a mix of water, some type of sugary syrup (jelly, maple syrup, etc) (just regular sugar may actually work), and soap. The bugs come for the sugar and water content, but die due to the soap. Probably goes without saying, but you're not going to want to put the liquid mix in the housing with the BP. Good luck.

[DerekD]

Awesome thank you guys very much. I'm gonna completly clean and disinfect his cage tomo, put new bedding and I will get some of the natural chem reptile spray and use that as well on him and the inclosure. Tomo I will be able to give him a really good inspection as well and fingers crossed hope I don't find anything. I had a scare when I first got him because he has some black specks in his in his pattern, but they definitely don't move and have grown with him. Thanks again!

[bcr229]

No mites do not have wings.

Over the winter I found that a host of creepy-crawly critters, from beetles to stinkbugs to spiders to ladybugs to <fill in the blank> normally never seen during the winter, hatched out in my reptile room because it was warm and humid while the rest of the house was around 65*F with 10% or less humidity.

[paulh]

Snake mites do not have wings. I don't know what you found, but it doesn't sound like a mite. I did a web search using the key words snake mite pictures. One link is http://www.boa-constrictors.com/en/I...nt_snake_mites

[M.P.C]

Did it kinda look like a lady bug but black with grey markings?