ring of white puffiness around eyes, and there are tiny small white bugs! :(

[redshepherd]

This was not there even one week ago. But I took Jack my russian rat snake out and noticed his eyes had a puffy white rim. The rim of his eyes slightly distorted and swollen in shape, with the left eye being worse than the right. There were VERY tiny little white specks on and around his eye rim where the puffiness is.

When I looked very VERY closely, I realized the white specks MOVE. They almost look like tiny white spiders that only move once in awhile, many legs, which I'm assuming is a type of mite. But they are literally so small that a camera would not be able to capture it unless it's a macro, so I can't get pics of the mites themselves. But I have a pic of the white ring around his eye, once my phone charges.

It seems to specifically collect around the rim of his eyes, nowhere else.

Nothing has changed in his setup since I got him. None of my other snakes have it. Thankfully, Jack is on his quarantine downstairs. QUARANTINE YOUR SNAKES YALL.

So... any idea what this is, what has caused it, how it spread to Jack, and how to treat it? And how harmful it is? I noticed he seemed more lethargic when I took him out than usual, but not sure if it's just him being himself or if it is due to this.

the first issue I have with my snakes and it's on my poor hatchling of the most straightforward species! lol

[redshepherd]

Now I think it sounds more like an external parasite, but no clue what it is still...

[Sallos]

Might they be from his substrate? You might want to treat the enclosures with Prevent A Mite.

[redshepherd]

Might they be from his substrate? You might want to treat the enclosures with Prevent A Mite.

He uses the same substrate (aspen) as all my other snakes. Though I can always treat as well. I don't think they're mites though now, and I talked to Amy Zerkle his breeder, and she believes they're some kind of parasite, which she gave me instruction on treating with a sterile enclosure and olive oil applied to his eyes every 3 days (to suffocate the insects). But still don't know what type or how they got there.

[Sauzo]

Just the way it sounds, it seems like mites. When they are little like that, they are kind of clear in color. They dont take on the blackish blood color until they feed. And as small ones, they are pretty darn tiny and pretty hard to see until you get a TON of them. The adults who have fed are much easier to see which is why people say, 'if you see 1 mite, you can pretty much guaranteed there are lots more' as like i said, the young are clear or white and really hard to see.

If it was something like wood mites, they wouldnt be all congregating around the snakes eyes and sockets as they wouldnt be feeding on the snake.

Did you go to reptile show or reptile shop in the past month or so? Maybe picked up a hitchhiker?

I personally would treat the cage with PAM and be sure to spray PAM on a rag and wipe down the outside of your other cages as well as the cages on the rat snake. Basically create a 'death barrier' around the rat snakes cage and the other snakes cages so if it is snake mites, they would have to cross 2 barriers of death to get a meal. Also be sure to treat for 2-3 months as snake mite eggs can hang around for a month or so.

Best of luck.

And i dont think the mites came from substrate. Aspen is not the ideal breeding grounds for them. They want a warm, moist, dark place with easy access to a meal thus why a nice upper corner in a snake cage is the best spot. I've used aspen for years and never gotten mites from that. I did get them once from what i believe was a hitchhiker from a reptile shop as i dont go to shows.

[redshepherd]

Thanks Sauzo, I'll treat with PAM too just in case then. It wouldn't hurt to treat on top of the parasite treatment. I just moved him into an even simpler 6qt tub with paper towel.

I haven't gone to a reptile show or anywhere special really! And none of my other snakes have it. The thing is that this white ring of whatever was not even noticeable even 2 days ago when I took pictures of him. And today, it is extremely noticeable, really puffy eyes, and he seems lethargic. They developed and multiplied really quickly! So I'm still unsure if it is mites, since there are only these tiny white things but no black mites.

[redshepherd]

LOL I just realized that mites are also considered a parasite. So I'm definitely going to be treating with PAM then.

[Jhill001]

I couldn't find anything about white eye mites. Sounds weird, keep us updated.

[redshepherd]

OMG I found two adults!!! That’s good they are mites now I can easily treat them. But ugh! How did they get there? I didn’t even visit a reptile shop or anything. My dogs go out to play, could they have carried them back somehow?

[Ax01]

could we get pix of the lil white bugs? i'm curious as to what they look like. i'm sure w/ your skills u can make them look beautiful!

Edit: also i've dealt w/ mites twice. 1) w/ my first BP Elphie; 2) when i took Rain home. i use Natural Chemistry Reptile Relief Spray on the animal itself and PAM on enclosures, hides, decor, etc. if not already in QT, QT the animal, throw out substrate, spray/gas/fog everything, i even boiled some decor, keep on paper towel and hides only in enclosure while in treatment, continue treatment w/ Reptile Spray and PAM as directed.