Could my new snake have just one mite?

[RXLReptiles]

Thanks Deborah,

I did pre-treat to an extent, the tub was treated with PAM around 2-3 weeks ago, and as soon as I saw the mite on him, I treated him with natural chemistry, but I didn't know if there was anything else I could use to specifically treat his eye/head that I hadn't already done.

I do have him in quarantine, and I will be treating all my other enclosures asap, when my new can of PAM comes in. (Of course, now is when I would run out of the stuff.)

So could he have mite eggs on him that transferred from his old enclosure to here? As I understood it mites will solely lay eggs in the substrate, which I know I didn't bring any substrate home with him. And what is the timeline on mite lifecycle? How quickly to they reproduce, hatch, or grow?

[RXLReptiles]

I finally got a pic of his eye and uploaded it. This is what I'm seeing on him. It's the lump on the top left quadrant of his eye.


You'd be amazed how many times I almost got nailed last night trying to get him to cooperate for a pic, first thing this morning though he balled up on me and stuck just that eye out for a photo. I love him already, but man is he a pain in the butt.

[Bogertophis]

I'd be grumpy too, with a mite stuck to my eye! And yeah, sure looks like a mite from where I sit. Good job!

If you have another pair of hands to keep him absolutely still, you might be able to tease that mite out of there using
something small & blunt (like a small fine tweezer), but it's not 100% safe...I think it's what the vet would do.

[RXLReptiles]

Yeah, I wouldn't risk trying that myself. I'm gonna swing out to my vet's office with the pic and see if he thinks he can get it out or if I should keep treating as I am. I would just drag him straight there, but it's too cold out to be dragging him out and stressing him one day after moving in unless I have to. Poor little guy, he's just having a rough week.

[Bogertophis]

Yeah, I wouldn't risk trying that myself. I'm gonna swing out to my vet's office with the pic and see if he thinks he can get it out or if I should keep treating as I am. I would just drag him straight there, but it's too cold out to be dragging him out and stressing him one day after moving in unless I have to. Poor little guy, he's just having a rough week.

I agree, no sense stressing him any more than you have to. Have you tried just dislodging the mite with a damp Q-tip? I think that might work? Just do it lightly & if you
turn the Q-tip a little it (the cotton fibers) just might "catch" on that little pest.

Any time I take a snake some place like the vet's I take them in a secure cloth bag, inside an "ice chest"/insulated foam box*, & a bottle
of warm water would keep him warm. (*lunch boxes work too for small snakes) Even in warm weather, this is the safe way to keep them
from temp. excesses either direction (too hot or too cold).

[RXLReptiles]

Update Time!

So I want to thank everyone for their suggestions, I was able to get another can of PAM locally to treat his tub. The one mite that I had found on his eye has been removed and no new mites have been seen either on the paper towel or on him.

And a special thank you to bogertophis for walking me through some options and home remedies on my strangest case of mites to date.

So now he just needs to finish quarantine, with regular cleaning and mite treatments and he'll be good to go.

So here are the pics I have of "Butterfinger" my new 600 gram male Butter Enchi Pastel.

Who, while he did come with some unexpected guests, is more than worth his $120 Craigslist price tag.

Apologies for the sideways pictures, that's apparently the direction my computer has decided they need to be....

[Bogertophis]

I prefer to believe that your beautiful snake has both defied mites AND gravity. I hope that no more uninvited guests show up!

Do tell...who removed Mighty-Mite? -you or your vet?

Butterfinger...what an awesome name for him!

[Dianne]

Just beautiful...no matter what direction the pictures turn.

[rvcasa]

If you only found one mite, then the seller really took care of his animals!

I found heaps mites before and they were not from private collections...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RXLReptiles]

Bogertophis: I was able to gently remove it with a moistened Q-tip like you suggested, it was a relatively easy process considering I was dealing with a ticked off ball of python.

And my wife and I name all our balls with food related names, we have a super pastel named Cannoli, a lemon blast named Meringue (obviously), and a pastave bee that has been dubbed Praline. Since we got a butter mix, it was either Butterfinger, Butterball(a little too on the nose), or Margarine (more of a feminine name). So Butterfinger stuck.

rvcasa: I'm not 100% sure on that one, I've bought from private collections in the past and have never had a snake come to me with mites. Usually if I see mites I'm either dealing with a rescue snake or some other special circumstance animal that needs some help.