mites or fleas???

[maudie]

I keep both my ball pythons in 40 gallon terrariums. they're both very clean and healthy snakes. I'm not concerned about their health at all, but I am curious about something. sometimes when I go in their cage to spray some water or clean up, I'll see little tiny flys flying by the heat and sometimes they'll get in their water bowls. should I be concerned about this? is it normal? are they just like getting in through the screen because they like the humidity and heat? I highly doubt either of them has mites, because they don't show any signs, like soaking or having fleas on them when I take them out. this is probably a really dumb question, but I just want to make sure. I'm pretty sure it's just fleas or something

[bondo]

Snakes don't have fleas and mites don't fly so you should be in good shape.

[maudie]

I know snakes don't have fleas😂 I meant that the little bugs look like fleas. are they okay to be in there?

[Albert Clark]

Snakes don't have fleas and mites don't fly so you should be in good shape.

Wild snakes can most certainly harbor both fleas and ticks and mites. Healthy captive bred and born snakes usually only suffer with mites.

[JoshSloane]

The mite species we typically find on reptiles in the US do not fly. They look like ground pepper marching about. You should be fine. Sounds like these are some kind of household flea that is attracted to the heat or light. Doesn't sound like they are parasitic like mites.