Need Help with new BP. Possible Mites..

[Usserry]

First off, I would like to thank everyone here because I am a new BP owner and I have learned so much from reading the posts on this site. I have pretty much lived on here since i got my ball a week ago.

I got my BP a little over a week ago at Petco. He's been a great snake so far. I setup my tank with 2 UTH on thermostats. Hot side is consistently at 92 and cool side is consistently at 85. My first feeding went great. He ate 2 fuzzy mice with no issues. I chose fuzzies because that's what they said he was eating at Petco. However, when I bought some fuzzies I thought they were a little small so i got some rat pups. Figured i'd try feeding him 2 fuzzies at a time until those were gone and then transition him to the Rat Pups.

Starting last night he spent about an hour in his water bowl. Then went in to his hot hide. I did some searching and saw he could be getting ready to shed, possible mites and/or possible husbandry issues. I double checked my husbandry and it's exactly as I listed above. Today when I just got home from work he was in his water bowl again. So I got him out to see if I could find any signs of shedding or potentially mites. His belly looks a little pink which doesn't really show up in the pictures but his eyes aren't blued at all. However, I also noticed that there are black and reddish dots on him. They don't move. I even ran my fingers across them to see if they would come off and they never did. I googled pictures of BP bellies and noticed some snakes just have those spots, almost like freckles. So now I come to you guys looking for your thoughts and opinions. Here are my questions:

Do these look like mites?
Would the fact that they don't move or come off definitively mean they are not mites?

Sorry for the super long post, I just wanted to give all the information possible. If there's anything I left out please let me know. Thanks again!

[bcr229]

There is no way to tell from the pictures if those are mites or his natural coloring/freckles. Get a jewelers loupe or magnifying glass, and take a better look.

Another option is to wipe your snake with a damp paper towel. If there are black specs on the paper towel, those are likely mites.

[Usserry]

OK, I'll do that and update this thread. Thanks for the reply.

[Usserry]

I went and bought a magnifying glass then wiped him down. All the specs that came off were specs of coconut substrate. I'm going to try and use the magnifying glass to look at the specs on him tomorrow. I figure I've probably stressed him out enough for tonight.

[Reed12321]

I went and bought a magnifying glass then wiped him down. All the specs that came off were specs of coconut substrate. I'm going to try and use the magnifying glass to look at the specs on him tomorrow. I figure I've probably stressed him out enough for tonight.

Does he have any sort of build-up around the corners of his mouth? if he has mites that's a typical sign. It'll look like the same type of build-up as when a little kid gets Oreo crumbs in the corner of their mouth. You can take a moist paper towel and wipe the corners of his mouth and if there's residue, then I'd treat for mites. Secondly - you can check for mites in the water dish. When snakes have mites, they soak themselves which causes them to let go and *hopefully* drown in the water. You can find dead mites floating around in the water too.

[anicatgirl]

I don't know anything useful about mites, but that pink belly looks like my bps does right about now. She does it before a shed, and probably a week before her eyes turn. I had to Google this alot, because I was paranoid it was a burn or something. Hopefully a keeper more experienced than I will chime in though! Good luck!