oh no!

[PyramidPythons]

Ok, first I want to specify that I am NOT an expert and I am only giving you my opinions on what worked best for me when I brought home my Albino BCI female, who was terribly infested with mites. While I understand that this method may not work for others, it is the method I chose to go with because it involves no chemicals except for bleach and seemed to be the safest way to deal with the mites. This method will take some time, so if you are looking for a quick fix....this is not the way for you. With that said, this is what I did to get rid of Aphrodite's mites.

Place the infected animal in a secure glass or plastic enclosure. This will be the snake's home for several weeks, so make sure it is roomy enough to house it at least a little comfortably. Remove ALL substrate, hides and decorations from the enclosure. Throw away the substrate and if you are using wooden decorations...toss those too. Mites lay their eggs in wooden textures, so if you don't do this, you'll just re-infect your snake. Put down plain white paper towels for substrate and provide a plastic hide if at all possible. If not possible, try limiting vision by taping aluminum foil or paper to the outside of the tank/tub, so that the snake feels more secure. Place a large water dish in with the snake. Use a heavy glass or ceramic container for the water.

Now that you have all of that set up, take your snake and do a 15 minute soak in plain, luke-warm water. I used a tub with a lid to soak Aphrodite, that way she had to stay in the water. make sure the water is deep enough to cover your snake, but not so deep that it is struggling to move/stay afloat. After the soak, you'll notice that several of the mites have drowned and will be in the water. This is the first step. After the soak, put the snake in the quarantine enclosure.

I gave Aphrodite a bath every single day like this. I vaccumed religiously around the tank every day. I kept her tank on a single table, away from anything and everything that a mite could use to lay its eggs on. Also, every single day I cleaned out her tank with a bleach/water solution. New paper towels and then bleach/water cleaned the hides and water dish. EVERY DAY. It was a pain in the butt, but in the end, Aphrodite was mite free in about 3-4 weeks....and without having to use any harsh chemicals on her (except the bleach to clean the hides/dish).

I know that not everyone has the time to go through something like this, but for the sake of my snake, I chose to do it to save her from having to put up with P-A-M or any of the other stuff. I hope you can find a solution that works for you and that your Hogg will be mite free very soon.