My first mite problem

[JAGpenguin]

Hello there. I am a new owner of 2 female BPs. I posted a thread a few days ago about one of my snakes reaching for the ceiling. But she seems to have adjusted to her new enclosure and destressed.

But, unfortunately I have a mite issue with the other snake. I noticed that on her active hours around 7pm-10pm, I would find her completely soaking her body in the water dish. For the first two days I let her soak for a while just in case of mites and indeed I found just a single mite on her water dish after the soak on night 1, and also a single mite on night 2. So I threw away all substrate and disinfected the enclosure and all of the hides, then replaced the substrate with paper towel.

Yesterday was night 3 and I still found her soaking in the water dish and found even more mites. So i decided to put a few drops of dish soap on the water dish after letting her soak in plain water for a while so she wouldnt get deydrated and drink the diluted soap water. But when she was soaking in the soap water, I saw her put her whole head inside the water a few times. Just in case she drank some unintentionally or the soap water came in contact with her eyes. Would this cause any issue? Anyway I rinsed her with plain water after. But i am just worried about the few times she soaked her whole head in diluted the soap water.

As for a permanent fix, I am waiting for a shipment of Taurrus predatory mites from the UK, should be her in a couple of days.

[Bogertophis]

Best to prevent a snake from drinking water with soap in it- it's likely to cause stomach distress, & since she already has mites, you don't need any more things causing dehydration -assuming the soap would likely cause some diarrhea, so between that & blood loss, dehydration is serious & can kill snakes.

You're better off doing the water soak with a bit of soap only with your close supervision, for about 20 minutes or so. It won't get all the mites, but will help to drown most of them. You also have to worry about mite eggs quickly hatching out subsequent generations to plague your poor snakes. Mites can also carry diseases, so I hope you're quarantining your snakes apart also.

[JAGpenguin]

Thanks for the reply. Right now she is in a make-shift tupperware with paper towel for substrate. I can only fit one hide and the water dish in it, but I guess thats the best for now until I receive the taurrus mites. I put her in a separate room also. Thanks again for the help.

I am still a bit anxious about the whole soap water thing though. I mean mites aside, it wouldnt cause her any long-term damage or anything right? to her eyes or internal organs, because of the few times she put her head completely in the diluted dish soap water?

[KMG]

Not sure if this is available over there but it worked great for me. Years ago I ordered some Blood Pythons online and they arrived with mites. Used this as directed and it worked great. Here the big box pet stores usually carry it.

You want to get on them as soon as possible.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S8KDKNI...ing=UTF8&psc=1

[JAGpenguin]

Hello from Indonesia. Unfortunately all but one american mite products on Amazon ship here. The only one that does is Jurrasimite by Jurrasipet, but it has a lot of 1 star reviews there saying it killed the snake. Both my BPs are less then a year old so I opted for the non-chemical option, especially ones that are designed to kill organisms. I honestly dont have the balls to use something like PAM yet, and it doesnt ship here anyway. But I have been hearing good reviews about reptile relief though. I will try to get some on ebay, hopefully there are sellers that can ship it here. Thanks for the suggestion, much appreciated.

[Bogertophis]

Thanks for the reply. Right now she is in a make-shift tupperware with paper towel for substrate. I can only fit one hide and the water dish in it, but I guess thats the best for now until I receive the taurrus mites. I put her in a separate room also. Thanks again for the help.

I am still a bit anxious about the whole soap water thing though. I mean mites aside, it wouldnt cause her any long-term damage or anything right? to her eyes or internal organs, because of the few times she put her head completely in the diluted dish soap water?

I can't truly say for sure, as soaps & detergents are not all the same, nor have I ever allowed my snakes to drink soapy water. As I said, I believe the most it would do is cause diarrhea, but for a snake already dehydrated from a mite infestation (that's why snakes die from mites...loss of blood > shock & organ failure, circulatory collapse) it compounds the dehydration, so I'd avoid letting a snake ingest any soapy water. Never put soap in their water bowl & leave them alone to drink it- soaks with soap are only with supervision.

It won't hurt her eyes...they're covered by a clear scale, remember? Their "eye caps" come off with each shed. But the reason you stay right with a snake soaking is to make sure they don't drink it, & because the water is never deeper than the snake's body height (so they aren't having to swim) & you want to make sure the snake stays in contact with the water as much as possible.

FYI, it only takes a drop or 2 at most of soap to drown mites- more than that is wasted. It only takes a tiny amount of soap to cut the surface tension of water, so the mites cannot stay afloat. That's why they drown- you don't need or want a bunch of bubbles in the water. And mild soap like Ivory or Dawn dish soap is preferred.

I've never used taurrus mites nor know of anyone who has, but I hope they work well for you.

[Bogertophis]

Hello from Indonesia. Unfortunately all but one american mite products on Amazon ship here. The only one that does is Jurrasimite by Jurrasipet, but it has a lot of 1 star reviews there saying it killed the snake. Both my BPs are less then a year old so I opted for the non-chemical option, especially ones that are designed to kill organisms. I honestly dont have the balls to use something like PAM yet, and it doesnt ship here anyway. But I have been hearing good reviews about reptile relief though. I will try to get some on ebay, hopefully there are sellers that can ship it here. Thanks for the suggestion, much appreciated.

If I had a snake with mites right now (I've only ever had 2, both many years ago) I'd first use the water w/ drop of soap to remove as many mites as possible, then I'd try the stuff that KMG referred to, as I've used other products they make & they're excellent. I believe that's quite safe too (I've read the ingredients), it's not a typical pesticide like PAM (Provent-A-Mite) or other toxic stuff. The water w/ soap is effective at drowning mites, but because you're NOT dunking the snakes head (!), some mites will likely remain around their eyes or chin. And it doesn't take many survivors to reproduce exponentially & return- such nasty things.

[JAGpenguin]

I opted for the Taurrus because American mite products dont ship here from Amazon but Jurrasimite and it has a lot of 1 star reviews saying it killed the snake. I am looking for Reptile Relief on ebay as we speak, hoping that some sellers ship it internationally. I heard about Taurrus mites from European forums mostly, apparently it is a big deal over there and it comes from the UK.

[JAGpenguin]

Only 2 sellers on ebay have Reptile Relief. They are both Americans and dont specify if they ship internationally or not. I will try contacting them.

[Bogertophis]

I opted for the Taurrus because American mite products dont ship here from Amazon but Jurrasimite and it has a lot of 1 star reviews saying it killed the snake. I am looking for Reptile Relief on ebay as we speak, hoping that some sellers ship it internationally. I heard about Taurrus mites from European forums mostly, apparently it is a big deal over there and it comes from the UK.

Hey I'm with you, I'd never use Jurrasimite either- it sounds horrible, & personally I'd avoid "PAM" too- there have been some issues with that too, though it's hard to say if instructions were correctly followed or not. I avoid using pesticides anyway- I grow organic tomatoes & such, & I'm really not into toxic stuff.