So I recently moved my baby python's water dish to the heated side of the tank to raise the humidity a bit(he's getting ready to molt! So excited) and this morning I went to refill it, and saw these wee little bugs crawling away from the edge, some heading back to the mulch, others actually trapped on the surface of the water, and all a tad but fast to be mites. I've dealt with mites before, I've had reptile mites on a gecko I adopted, have had wood mites on a colony of pill bugs from my biology teacher gave me(which later spread to my tarantula tanks- boy that was a disaster) and trust me when I say these little dudes are not mites.

Being my paranoid self I had to get a closer look and make sure, so I snagged one out of the water using a q-tip. They're wingless, elongated with a slight curve, segmented, and sand colored. It looked like it had short antennae but I can't be certain, considering I got about 2.5 seconds to inspect it before the bugger jumped away on me. It literally jumped right off the q-tip, like a fricken flea, and I hate fleas. Fleas mites and ticks are the three arthropods I cannot do, but these little guys are neither of the three, though likely to be added to my list.

I will be cleaning out the tank tonight after work, possibly giving my baby a rinse in the tub since whatever they are seem to like the moister but fail at swimming. I just want to know if any of you have had the same problem, and if it's something I should be whipping out the bug repelant for, and possible a vet trip. This is my first snake and I've only had him a month now, I'd hate to already have him in bad health.