Bugs in the enclosure

[gusanr14]

Today, noticed for the first time that my female was in a water bowl. Never saw this before so I suspected something weird. I held her and some bug came on my hand, very tiny, brownish black bug. Also saw them on snake. I don’t think it is a mite because it was not stuck to scale, rather crawling. It also does not look like a mite. I use reptile prime bedding, could this be from the substrate? If yes, how should I prevent this bug from existing?


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[Lord Sorril]

Need pictures, and can they fly?

[gusanr14]

Need pictures, and can they fly?

I was busy getting rid of it, so couldn’t take picture. Don’t think it can fly, just crawling.


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[SDA]

Most likely it was a non reptile mite or flea. Do you have mammal pets like dogs, cats rabbits, hamsters, etc? Also and this is no calling into question the cleanliness of your house, do you have mold in the house? One option is booklice which aren't actually lice but feed on mold.

[Sauzo]

I bet it is snake mites. Snakes mites are different colors depending on their life stage. They are clear as babies almost invisible, and get reddish black when engourged with blood from feeding. If you BP was in the water dish, that is a good sign of mites. If it was something like wood mites which wouldnt be in coco fiber or some other harmless bug, your snake wouldnt be soaking. And motes dont stick to the scales, they go to places where they can feed on the snake like the fold of skin under the chin, or in the eye sockets. They will get between the scales too. And if there was enough of them on the snake that you saw them running all over and crawling on you, it sounds like you got an infestation. Better get some PAM, paper towels and zip lock bags. You are in for a 'fun' ride for the next 3 months.

Try to get some on a paper towel by running the snake through a wet paper towel. Then squish one of the bugs on your fingernail and see if it pops and leaves a blood spot. Do this with one of the dark colored ones.

And it wouldnt come from the substrate. As far as i know from the videos i watched of the Reptile Prime being made and bagged, there is no snakes in the area and snake mites are not native to the US. It's the main reason i order all my substrates online plus it is cheaper. But i have never gotten snake mites from substrate. The one time i had to deal with snakes mites, i got it from a hitchhiker i brought home and luckily it only affected Luna and not any of the other snakes.

[gusanr14]

Most likely it was a non reptile mite or flea. Do you have mammal pets like dogs, cats rabbits, hamsters, etc? Also and this is no calling into question the cleanliness of your house, do you have mold in the house? One option is booklice which aren't actually lice but feed on mold.

I do have dogs, hedgehog. The time it occur is right after I bring my hedgehog enclosure to the room where reptile is at. Before that, no sign of mites. Room in hedgehog got a bit cold, and I saw little bug in hedgehog enclosure after so I cleaned it. I will still have to be sure so I will do a treatment..


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[gusanr14]

I bet it is snake mites. Snakes mites are different colors depending on their life stage. They are clear as babies almost invisible, and get reddish black when engourged with blood from feeding. If you BP was in the water dish, that is a good sign of mites. If it was something like wood mites which wouldnt be in coco fiber or some other harmless bug, your snake wouldnt be soaking. And motes dont stick to the scales, they go to places where they can feed on the snake like the fold of skin under the chin, or in the eye sockets. They will get between the scales too. And if there was enough of them on the snake that you saw them running all over and crawling on you, it sounds like you got an infestation. Better get some PAM, paper towels and zip lock bags. You are in for a 'fun' ride for the next 3 months.

Try to get some on a paper towel by running the snake through a wet paper towel. Then squish one of the bugs on your fingernail and see if it pops and leaves a blood spot. Do this with one of the dark colored ones.

And it wouldnt come from the substrate. As far as i know from the videos i watched of the Reptile Prime being made and bagged, there is no snakes in the area and snake mites are not native to the US. It's the main reason i order all my substrates online plus it is cheaper. But i have never gotten snake mites from substrate. The one time i had to deal with snakes mites, i got it from a hitchhiker i brought home and luckily it only affected Luna and not any of the other snakes.

When I get home, I will take a look at it more closely. Had to go out in the morning so couldn’t observe it more. I have another ball right next to each other.. high chance mites transfer to them also if they were actual snake mite? If the other ball doesn’t possess it, could it mean something else?


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[gusanr14]

Came home, she was still soaking in the water. I soaked her in the tub while cleaning the whole enclosure with soap water scrubbing and f10 just in case. I also cleaned the other ball enclosure who was next to snake with suspected mite. I tried looking through the snake but couldn't find any marking of mites, and it is hard to see in the dark colored snake.
If the other ball was next to the mite enclosure, is there a high probability of mite spreading? I cleaned both enclosures and put paper towels down for now, just in case. Still waiting to get a provent a mite product, until she shows sign of mites again on the cleaned paper towel enclosure.

[gusanr14]

and question, if the snake doesn't soak in the water bowl anymore, does that mean there is no mites anymore? how do you know if mites are gone? any signs?

[Sunnieskys]

With a darker snake take a damp light colored paper towel and wipe her down. Are there any bugs on the damp paper towel?