A few questions and suggestions needed for BP care?

[RiaT]

A while ago I got my Baby BP, and after about a month later, I noticed it had mites, very few, but of course they will spread. I got rid of the mites(Or at least I hope) and did everything in my power to clean out everything. On the same day, after soaking and cleaning it, it escaped out of its temporary cage(while I was cleaning the other.) For a week it went missing and just the other day I found it finally(Well it found me.) and I realized it had eaten a mouse, or possibly eaten a mouse because I saw a giant lump in her belly that is currently going down in size and digesting. (I had small mice in my house that she could've definitely eaten.) Since then I'm using temporary newspaper for her cage and put all the things back in. (All the accessorizes soaked for a good week in anti-lice things.) Also, I couldn't feed it for the while I had it since it refused to eat f/p mice, but it ate right before I got it, but the pet store didn't know if it ate live or frozen(>3>; Idiots) so when it ate the live mouse in my house, I'm going to assume it likes live mice.

Now then, I was wondering if, first, should I use aspen for the new bedding, as I seemed to have got mites from using the cypress mulch and now I'm wary of it. I've heard many pros and cons of using it, but my main problem is humidity...Which brings up the problem of, is aspen good to hold humidity if i spray it every day? o3o
Also, I was wondering, since it was missing for a week and it was running around, could it still have mites? I've checked it pretty thoroughly and I didn't find any mites on or under its scales, and I did disinfect it before it ran away... With the cage and all. Should I still be weary or should I just wait for another sign of mites to show?
Also, since it ate a live mouse from my house, and it refuses to eat frozen, should I just feed it live mice now that I know its capable, and likes, to eat live mice, and would I need to change its enclosure when feeding? o-o;
Lastly, since it was roaming my house for a while, is there any problems I should check for, like if the mouse it ate would've been bad for it? (The mice in my house seem to be born in my house and may not hold diseases and such ...But then again, they are just pests in my house.)


Finished ranting, can anyone give me any tips? D;

[jben]

I scanned thru what you posted but what kind of "cage" do you have? how are you measuring the humidity? I would highly recommend you get some PAM and treat enclosure per instructions. You can use aspen after treating and it is good for humidity but it goes back to my first question.

[JLC]

Just to clarify "PAM" means "Provent-A-Mite" and does not mean the cooking spray.

Snake mites are not a native pest, so it would not have picked up any being loose in the house, unless you already had a mite infestation. If the mites you saw came from the cypress mulch (always a possibility) then you're probably done messing with them. If they were actually snake-mites that came with the snake, then you may have new ones hatch in a few weeks and the P-A-M will help ensure they do not come back.

Aspen is ok...but so is newspaper. If one is relying on the bedding to maintain humidity, then the enclosure isn't properly set up anyhow. You want the air to be somewhat humid...you don't want the bedding to be wet.

If you can give us some more details on your set-up, we can help with more specific suggestions. And you can also get some really great guidelines from the Caresheet.

[JLC]

Oh...and to answer a couple more questions (had Mites on the brain! LOL)...

Live mice are fine. And feeding in his own enclosure is fine, too. Just be careful and don't ever leave a live rodent unattended with your snake. If the snake doesn't strike and eat within the first 15-20 minutes...then remove the mouse and try again a week later.

The main concern I would have with him having been on the loose for a week is the possibility of developing a respiratory infection due to long-term exposure to cold temps. It's not a certainty that he would develop one...but it's a possibility. Over the next couple of weeks, keep an eye out for the following symptoms:
-- Whistling, wheezing, or popping noises when he breathes
-- Mucous or other liquid building up in the mouth (sometimes they will dribble water right after a drink...don't let that scare you! LOL)
-- Laying with the head propped up at a sharp angle all the time
-- Constantly rubbing its face along the sides of the enclosure or "furniture" within it (while not in shed)
-- Trails of slime on the sides of the enclosure

Such signs would mean he needs a trip to the vet for a round of antibiotics.

[jben]

Just to clarify "PAM" means "Provent-A-Mite" and does not mean the cooking spray.

Thanks, I forgot to explain that part.LOL

[RiaT]

To answer the set up, its a 15 gallon tank with plants and a single hideout on the cool side with a water dish near but not completely on top of the heating pad, there's a heating pad on bottom of the tank with a heating lamp on the warm side as well. The temperature in the daytime is usually 85-90, the temperature now(its night) is like 75-80. I was going to get a climbing branch and another hideout possibly for the other side of the tank, but the pet store was far and I was at school o3o;

As for humidity, the humidity gauge is quite low as I don't have a humidifier, so I need to spray it. Its at like 50-60 usually, but sometimes drop to 45-50, which is quite low I presume? It used to be higher with the old bedding...

Also, concerning respiratory infection possibility, I haven't seen any of those signs from what I've been observing, and there's high chances that during the week, it stayed in my room because I found it back in my room, and the door was closed. I say that because I like to be as warm as the snake, and the thermometer in my room(Which for some reason I have) says its usually like 26- 30 degrees Celsius(79-86 Fahrenheit?) and I can't say that's very cold, but maybe for the snake.

Also, I sprayed my tank quite well and wiped it down, then for a week left the water and spray on it since Noodles(my snake) went missing and I didn't bother to clean the water out until it came back, but I live in Canada and PAM is illegal here. ;-;'
There's no signs of live mites currently, but I'm never sure if there's a single egg left in there.

Oh, the only thing that the snake does possibly do is climb the sides of the walls, but its not scratching or rubbing the sides with its face, its more like its trying to escape as usual.
Also I assumed I got mites from the bedding, since I started with something different, then put in the bedding and noticed the mites suddenly, but I wouldn't know if the eggs were on the snake and suddenly hatched when i got the bedding. o_o;