BP Keeps Soaking in His Water Bowl

[Bogertophis]

Yeah... I was planning on keeping him on paper towel set up for at least another week before putting bedding in again, and then wait another couple weeks to put the decor back in.

It must be awful to have mite like that. Although in the wild the can shed to get the mites off and crawl away. In captivity they can't do that. Hopefully this problem is behind us.

Assuming you're in the U.S.? Snake mites are not native here...they're from imported snakes but then they're shared with all other captive snakes nearby. Ticks can hang on thru a shed, & where mites are native in the wild, I'd assume they just get right back on, even if shedding knocks them off.


I'd wait on the bedding too...any surviving mites can hide lots of eggs in that. If you want more humidity, just use damp paper towels or a sponge in a bowl for a temporary humid hide.

[Reptile$ 4 Life]

Assuming you're in the U.S.? Snake mites are not native here...they're from imported snakes but then they're shared with all other captive snakes nearby. Ticks can hang on thru a shed, & where mites are native in the wild, I'd assume they just get right back on, even if shedding knocks them off.


I'd wait on the bedding too...any surviving mites can hide lots of eggs in that. If you want more humidity, just use damp paper towels or a sponge in a bowl for a temporary humid hide.

I didn't know mites weren't native. I guess you really do learn something new every day.

I will wait on the bedding.

It was really funny, after I wiped Flicker down, he started slithering back and forth across the cage. It was like he was parading because the mites were dying!

[Bogertophis]

I didn't know mites weren't native. I guess you really do learn something new every day.

I will wait on the bedding.

It was really funny, after I wiped Flicker down, he started slithering back and forth across the cage. It was like he was parading because the mites were dying!

LOL, I can picture him taking a few victory laps... like "I feel good!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1wOK9yGUYM

There are many different kinds of mites, but they tend to be species-specific. Wild birds are often loaded with mites, but not ones that go after snakes, for example.

We talk so much about mites on snakes, I can understand how you'd get the impression that they're native to U.S. but I used to deal with a number of w/c snakes to rescue & relocate...they never had mites, then I found out why...they're fortunately not native here. But plenty of other pests are, like ticks. That's why, when I take my snakes outside for sunshine, I never put them on the ground, much as they'd enjoy it. Just don't want to deal with the consequences...they can pick up some kinds of intestinal worms, for example.

[Reptile$ 4 Life]

LOL, I can picture him taking a few victory laps... like "I feel good!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1wOK9yGUYM

There are many different kinds of mites, but they tend to be species-specific. Wild birds are often loaded with mites, but not ones that go after snakes, for example.

We talk so much about mites on snakes, I can understand how you'd get the impression that they're native to U.S. but I used to deal with a number of w/c snakes to rescue & relocate...they never had mites, then I found out why...they're fortunately not native here. But plenty of other pests are, like ticks. That's why, when I take my snakes outside for sunshine, I never put them on the ground, much as they'd enjoy it. Just don't want to deal with the consequences...they can pick up some kinds of intestinal worms, for example.

That makes sense. I knew mites were species specific, but because they are fairly common in the U.S., with snakes, I assumed they were native. I can imagine that ticks and intestinal worms would be a pain to deal with.

[Reptile$ 4 Life]

I figured that today would be a good day to do an update on my bp, Flicker. I haven't seen any mites even dead ones for the past several days, and Flicker hasn't soaked in his water bowl since I started treating him. In the evenings, he pokes his head out of his hide like he's saying, "It's ok dad the mites are gone. I want a rat now please." Also, after the first hated bath, he seems to be enjoying baths now and will just cruise around in circles for 5-10 minutes. I feel like this is good enrichment for him so I think I will continue with the baths periodically.