How did your snake get mites?

[67temp]

As the old saying goes an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Treat everything that isn't yours as if it was infested.

I've had mites show up twice. Both times it was new purchases that were still in quarantine. Keeping them on paper towels while in quarantine helps to catch the outbreak early.

If I go to a show with animals, they will get wiped down with reptile spray after the show before they go back into their enclosure. Clothes come of and go directly into the washer, then I shower.

I help tend to another keepers collection too. She has had mites 3 maybe 4 times. First time I found them on a snake was right after I started helping her. They were on a snake she had purchased several months prior. She didn't know they were mites and just thought they were bugs. The infestation was pretty bad. That snake got isolated and treated but unfortunately some mites or eggs managed to get into another enclosure that was nearby. So a few weeks later that snake had to get isolated and treated too.

Recently the same person acquired a retic and a month later a burm. Despite my recommendations neither was quarantined. The retic was fine up until the burn showed up. The previous owner of the burm dropped it off and apparently had wiped most of the visible mites off before delivering. While dropping it off the previous owner of the burm also handled the reitc and transferred mites to that snake. Anything I come home from that other keepers house, I don't touch any of my snakes or rodents. Clothes immediately got into the wash and I shower.

I've seen breeders wiping down snakes before a show. I've gotten to the point that I trust nobody.