Red tail boa, mites. help fast! URGENT!

[Elliot]

Came home from school today to see if my boa had shed yet. To my surprise I noticed mites. all over her head. and all over her substrate. I have been noticing her substrate getting to damp lately.. Quick I need help? what do I do..

Aim: Elliotrawks

PLEASE HELP..

[ladywhipple02]

Here's what I would do in your shoes:

Purchase some Prevent-O-Mite. Remove the snake from the enclosure and give her a nice long soak---put her in a plastic tub filled with slightly warmer than room temp water and let her sit for a little while. Depending on the enclosure type, I'd either toss it out and purchase new, or give it a very good scrubbing down with Nolvason or something similar, maybe a water/bleach mixture. Spray on the Prevent-O-Mite. When it's dried, put down papertowels instead of another substrate. You can see mites more clearly on the papertowel, and can clean it immediately if needed.

Do you have other reptiles? I'd go through the whole collection, if you do, and do the above, just to be absolutely sure!

That's what I'd do. Take it for what it's worth

[cinderbird]

Order a can of provent-a-mite (also known as PAM but not the kitchen PAM).

Follow the directions on the can.

For a short term solution, give the snake a soak in a bit of tepid (room temp or luke warm) water with a drop of dish soap to break the surface tension and drown the mites.

are you sure the mites you are seeing are snake mites? snake mites are black or brown in color. wood mites are white or cream.

[Elliot]

Im so worried. my mother just went to get betadine? diluted. and mineral oil. thats what a friend said.. because someone said that the mite things from petstores never work.. do you have a messenger account of some type..? :\ please

[ladywhipple02]

ladywhipple02 on AIM

[Elliot]

I see small white dogs on him.. aswell as brown

[cinderbird]

mineral oil will cause the first layer of the scale (the shiny) part to flake off one scale at a time.

PAM cannot be found in the average petstore, you need to order it online. The soak will be just fine for now. Mites, while they are a problem if left untreated will be ok for a day or 3 while you wait for the Prevent-A-Mite to get in.