Where are the mites coming from???

[montie420]

i have had my 10 month old bp for about 2 months now and about halfway into the third week of having him i noticed a few mites on him. Since this is my first bp i was unsure of what to do and called the store from which i bought him and inquired as to how to rid him of these annoying little parasites. they were very helpful and told me what to use where to get it and so forth. so i did what they said, and i even repeated the treatment once the fallowing week just to ensure ALL were dead. and sure enough he cleared up and has been clear for at least 2 weeks.

When i called the store they sounded surprised about him having mites, he is captive bred, and the other BPs he was caged with (2 others) were also Captive Born and neither of the other two had developed the mites. now today when i was checking on him he had another 3 mites on him that i saw. so i repeated the process of removing them as i did before.

What confuses me is where these mites are coming from. Could it be from the mice he feeds off of?

[Smulkin]

What kinid of enclosure, caging furniture, hides, substrate etc ad infinitum - give me details I will do my best to help you. Just got rid of a naaaasty case not too long ago. Will be on the road here in a few until lat tonight so dont be angry if I can't reply right away.

[montie420]

well i had some dirt like stuff i forget what its called at first, it was dehydrated and i placed it in water and it expaned and so forth, it is a glass 15 gallon enclosure, he has a home made plastic hide and a water dish. since the mites i have been been using paper towel so i could spot them easily

[Marla]

Most likely the pet store had some imported reptiles in there recently that brought them in with them. Mites can travel at an amazing rate, and can also breed like crazy. I'll be offline for the day shortly, so I'll leave it up to the others to discuss details and what you've tried so far, but basically, you generally have to do at least a few separate treatments.

[Stormyva]

Mites can be brought in on the animal itself, any cage decorations that you put in the cage, the substrate you buy, or even on your body. Those little boogers can be a task to get rid of too!!!
First thing to do is go to the pet shop and get a can of Provent-a-mite. To save some money you can go to Walmart in the camping section and get Repel Permanone or Sawyers Tick Spray. (Active ingredient: .50% permetherin).
Next take the snake and the water bowl out of the cage, leave everything else in the cage. Set the snake up for a nice soak. Put approx 1/2-3/4" of water in a plastic container with a rock or towel for him to rest on so he doesnt get too tired. The water should feel slightly warm to you, not hot.
While the snake is soaking spray the cage down with which ever spray you purchased. Stir up the substrate, then spray again. After spraying cover the top if it is a screen top and leave it sealed up for about a half hour. When the half hour has passed give the cage another couple of blasts of spray and let it sit for another 1/2 hour. Finally when that time has passed, open the cage up, let it air our for an hour or more. Once the cage has completely aired out and you dont see a fog in the cage, then you can put the snake and the sterlized water bowl back in the cage.
Keep a close eye on the cage and snake for the next two weeks to see if any live mites show up again, but they probably will not. Dont be surprised to see some dead mites in the water bowl and on the snake as the spray and residue from the spray will continue to kill mites for at least 2 to 4 weeks. If after two weeks you are still seeing live mites retreat the cage.

To prevent mites in the future pretreat or clean everything that comes in contact with your snake before it even gets close. I use similar spray to pre-treat my cypress mulch substrate before it even goes inside my house. Any cage decorations, bowls, or hides are either washed in the dish washer or sprayed prior to taking them in to the reptile room. With a little precaution on your part you will never have to deal with mites again!

[montie420]

thanks for the advice, i basically did the same treatment method that you recomended. only one question remains can mites come in from the prey

[Marla]

No. Reptile mites are specific to reptiles. You can cover yourself in them and they won't suck your blood, unlike fleas or ticks.

[Stormyva]

Yes there is a chance that the mites can come in from prey items, but if you are feeding F/T then chances are you dont have to worry about them coming in on your rodents.

[KraZeKelly]

Due to popular belief YES they can and DO!
Not a common thing by any means,but it happens more then people assume.
They will not feed on them or you but they do bite just like fleas,I was holding a baby corn sunday at a pet store and got two mites for my troubles :roll: and one did leave his calling card. Insect bites dont do me to well so abit of redness for acouple hrs and it went away.

Anyway........
That Repel is some good stuff(we use it) so give it a go and you`ll catch up to them,just dont neglect retreating the cage and surrounding area within the two week window (11 days IMO)

Good Luck !

only one question remains can mites come in from the prey

[kontron]

grrrr.. i hate mites... i purchased a ball about a month and a half ago and everything seemed fine. then today i found my snake had mites. with only 45 minutes till the store close i rushed over and bought a new cage. i soaked my ball in the tub, but after about 45 minutes i took him out because i was afraid he might get too stressed. i got a lot off for now at least. i cleaned his bowl and ceramic hiding place, cleaned the new cage, and put down torn newspaper. my live in girlfriend has her slightly larger ball python in a 55 g. aquarium at the foot of our bed on the floor. we checked her snake "roo" but found no sign of mites. i am now worried she may get them. i was told that soaking them in a bath with dilluted mouthwash would do the trick? can that hurt the snake? is it possible my snake "roswell" could have had mites this whole time, but i would not have noticed until a month and a half later. i handled my snake at least 2-3 times a week, and never noticed anything. i also used the eco-earth dirt substrate. is there something better to use? i do not like using newspaper.