Early signs of mites?

[gwentennyson]

Leonidas isn't soaking in his water bowl but just today, I've picked him up and found 4 black dots on my hand. I then squished them between my desk and my nail and they popped, so that made me thing those were mites. Since he's not soaking in his water yet, does that mean I caught it early on?

I plan on changing his substrate and cleaning his whole tank tomorrow once I buy the supplies. Any other tips on how to take care of this problem?

Thanks in advance!!

[dr del]

Provent-a-mite

Follow the instructions exactly and repeat in 20-25 days.

[BCS]

You have to suffocate the mites. It does nothing to just clean his tank. The mites will be on your snake. To do this, you need mineral oil. Slather your snake in it but avoid heat pits, nostrils and eyes. Leave him be in the mineral oil for 30 minutes and then soak him in some warm water for about 15 minutes making sure all of the mineral oil is off. Do this daily until all signs of mites are gone. Aslo, cleaning his tank would be the first step. You need to bleach his cage and let it air out for 2 days before lining it again with substrate and basically letting your snake live in it again. Do not put your snake in his usual enclosure until all signs of mites are gone. You need a temporary housing for him, plastic tub is the better option here. A hide, heat source, paper towel and a water dish. That is it. Bleach his cage with hot hot water, also his accessories like hides, water dishes, any decorations and throw out the old substrate. Letting these soak in hot water for a few hours never hurts. Then you need to vacuum the room, (couches if in the living room) wash bed sheets if in a bedroom. Anything fabric these little things can hide in. Usually they do not hide far from the reptile though. Catching mites early on does not mean an easy battle. Good luck.

[KMG]

This stuff works great and is safe to use on the snake. I had them once and cleaned everything with this including the cages, surrounding area, even the carpet. Killed them all in one treatment. You can find this at most pet store too.

http://www.amazon.com/DeFlea-Reptile...=Reptile+spray

[bcr229]

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...it-with-AaronP

If you're seeing adults then you've had mites for a while. You will need to treat for two months to break the life cycle or you will have a re-infestation.

[dr del]

You have to suffocate the mites. It does nothing to just clean his tank. The mites will be on your snake. To do this, you need mineral oil. Slather your snake in it but avoid heat pits, nostrils and eyes. Leave him be in the mineral oil for 30 minutes and then soak him in some warm water for about 15 minutes making sure all of the mineral oil is off. Do this daily until all signs of mites are gone. Aslo, cleaning his tank would be the first step. You need to bleach his cage and let it air out for 2 days before lining it again with substrate and basically letting your snake live in it again. Do not put your snake in his usual enclosure until all signs of mites are gone. You need a temporary housing for him, plastic tub is the better option here. A hide, heat source, paper towel and a water dish. That is it. Bleach his cage with hot hot water, also his accessories like hides, water dishes, any decorations and throw out the old substrate. Letting these soak in hot water for a few hours never hurts. Then you need to vacuum the room, (couches if in the living room) wash bed sheets if in a bedroom. Anything fabric these little things can hide in. Usually they do not hide far from the reptile though. Catching mites early on does not mean an easy battle. Good luck.

I'm sorry but this is wrong on a few levels.

Slathering your snake in mineral oil will make the top layer of his scales slough off individually while doing nothing for the mite eggs layed far from the snake and it's enclosure.

Female mites can travel farther than you think to lay their eggs so just treating in the cage and expecting that to be the end of it will lead to disappointment and mites.

Keeping a simplified cage during the treatment however is a good idea. You don't need to use a different enclosure though - just treat the one you have. Otherwise you are putting him back in an untreated enclosure that contained mites - which just seems silly.

Soaking can help ( a little bit of dish soap breaks the surface tension and helps drown any mites on the snake ) but it also carries risks of its own and I probably wouldn't bother if I'm honest. I also don't recommend just trying an off the shelf treatment and following the ( often wrong and dangerous ) advice on the internet.

Spend the $20 and buy provent-a-mite instead of cheaping out on Nix.

Breaking the cycle by letting the long lasting properties of the PAM kill the next gen before it can feed, breed and spread is a far better solution to the problem in the long term. Plus the can lasts for ages so will also be in your store cupboard if the situation ever happens again in the future.

[gwentennyson]

I'm sorry but this is wrong on a few levels.

Slathering your snake in mineral oil will make the top layer of his scales slough off individually while doing nothing for the mite eggs layed far from the snake and it's enclosure.

Female mites can travel farther than you think to lay their eggs so just treating in the cage and expecting that to be the end of it will lead to disappointment and mites.

Keeping a simplified cage during the treatment however is a good idea. You don't need to use a different enclosure though - just treat the one you have. Otherwise you are putting him back in an untreated enclosure that contained mites - which just seems silly.

Soaking can help ( a little bit of dish soap breaks the surface tension and helps drown any mites on the snake ) but it also carries risks of its own and I probably wouldn't bother if I'm honest. I also don't recommend just trying an off the shelf treatment and following the ( often wrong and dangerous ) advice on the internet.

Spend the $20 and buy provent-a-mite instead of cheaping out on Nix.

Breaking the cycle by letting the long lasting properties of the PAM kill the next gen before it can feed, breed and spread is a far better solution to the problem in the long term. Plus the can lasts for ages so will also be in your store cupboard if the situation ever happens again in the future.

wow! Thanks a million! So if I only have one snake and his tank is on top of a table, what places could the mites travel to/survive? I don't have any furniture near his tank, it's all wooden surfaces. Do you recommend completely cleaning out the old substrate and using new substrate?

I have a plastic tub to use as his temporary enclosure while I clean his current one. I do plan on purchasing PAM today, so hopefully I can take care of this problem ASAP.

- - - Updated - - -

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...it-with-AaronP

If you're seeing adults then you've had mites for a while. You will need to treat for two months to break the life cycle or you will have a re-infestation.

I actually just got Leonidas 5 days ago. Would it be possible that the mites came from his breeder?

[bcr229]

I actually just got Leonidas 5 days ago. Would it be possible that the mites came from his breeder?

I'd say it's very likely, especially if you're finding adults now. Definitely let the breeder know since it's your only snake.

BTW this study is old but the info is still good, and while it will give you more info about snake mites than you really want, it will help you understand why they can be tough to eradicate.

http://denardo.lab.asu.edu/publicati...snakemites.pdf

ETA: Also read up on quarantine practices, especially if you get another snake in the future. I put new arrivals into a treated, minimalist enclosure and they get wiped with Reptile Spray when they come out of the shipping box. If critters arrive with mites I'll know within a day.