I noticed a few black spots on my snakes a couple weeks ago, noticed that some were soaking, and today I saw a couple black bugs crawling across my snake! Looks like mites to me, just like this photo below (I didn't take this photo but this is what they look like).

So I have a few questions, I have 17 snakes in an ARS rack with 20 tubs. I see it on several snakes but not all, I have ball pythons and king snakes and a Woma python in the rack, looks like it's on at least a few ball pythons, didn't notice it on one of my black and white CA king snake...

  • What kind of medication should I use? Are some better than others?



  • Is there any risk to my snakes with the medication?



  • I currently have aspen bedding, should I change it to something else during treatment?



  • How long does it take to treat? Do you need to do several treatments?



  • Do I have to soak my snakes in medication or spray it on or spray it on the bedding?



  • Should I treat every snake even though I don't see mites in that tub?



  • I also have mice and rats in that room as well, can they catch the same kind of mites?


I feel like I'm a bit over my head...