Ball Python // Hide Box & Mite Question.

[Prince Sho]

2 Very pressing questions.. Any advice appreciated.

I purchased 2 ball pythons about 10 days ago.
One is about 3 feet long .. the other is about 2 feet.
Their past care giver was irresponsible. Their cage
was filthy and required me to throw everything out.
There was a dozen mice carcasses mixed in the mulch.
I spotted a few mites on the soggy end of their perch
branch where it was touching the damp substrate.

I quarantined the snakes. Gave them both a warm bath.
Washed out the enclosure thoroughly and replaced all
interior accessories except for the resin cast water dish,
thermometer and hygrometer (which were also scrubbed).

Anyway..

Here are my 2 questions:

1 // I've replaced their hide log with a 9"x6" cardboard
box. They seem to spend all their time (day&night) out
in the open beside their water dish. Is this normal???
I've been told that they enjoy privacy. Furthermore, prior
to the new enclosure renovations they enjoyed their time
on the opposite end of the tank on top of the heat pad
where there was good privacy behind the log & leaves.
Why are they now hanging out in the open on the other
side of the enclosure?? ALL DAY?? AND NIGHT??

2 // I've inspected them several times a day for mites.
The snakes look mite free. Could it have been another
type of moisture loving insect family I saw earlier thriving
in the log and substrate? I would be grateful for any info.

Thanks,
Sho

[disabled.101]

Hey,

First I would suggest separately housing the two snakes seeing as they are both infected with mites so its easier to get rid of the problem seperately. Also seeing as you said they were in such unsanitary conditions they may have other issues. What are you using as bedding? What are you using to measure and control the temperatures? Do the snakes appear healthy or do you think a vet check-up is needed?
Mites don't just disappear you need to treat the snakes for them with products such as Provent-a-mite.
Do they have two hide boxes? One on the cool side and one on the warm side?
Its generally ill-advised to house BP together as it is difficult to track feeding, shedding, waste etc.. plus if one gets sick the infection can spread.

Hope this helps
p.s. Pictures will help a lot

[Vacado]

If there aren't mites on the snakes, and they were just in the bedding, they might have been harmless substrate mites.

I would also recommend giving them more hide boxes all over their tanks (separate them). They like choices, just like we do

v