Odd way to detect mites...?

[sw204me]

So I went to an herp meeting the other day, and one of the guys there said if you ever suspect your snake has mites, one trick you can do is put the snake in like a shoe box. and get some paper towels and some vegtable oil and to put a coat of oil on the snake a little bit behind its head, then to set it in the shoe box and let it sit for about 10-15 min. then take clean paper towels and wipe down the snake. If it has mites they will all wipe off and show up on the clean paper towel. This true? Or even healthy? The only thing I can guess is the oil completely block out all the oxygen from the mites and they all die off, so then when you wipe down the snake they all wipe off. Anyone have any comments on this?

[JLC]

Never coat your snake in oil. Heard too many unpleasant stories about scales flaking off all over the place (like a full shed but one scale at a time) due to oil being applied to a snake.


If a snake has mites...a simple rub with a damp paper towel would show them quite easily. Or just use paper towel as a substrate for awhile and you'll see them. All sorts of easier, less-risky ways of detecting them.

[wildlifewarrior]

I have been told by my herpetologist friends that veggie oil is completely safe as long as it is done properly, it doesn't cure the problem, but will eliminate large amounts of mites if no PAM or other "insecticide " is available.


~mike

[Adam_Wysocki]

as long as it is done properly

The problem is that there is no consistent definition of what "properly" is ... as a result, you have a lot of cowboys out there "winging it" and potentially causing further complications with their animal. If you don't know what you're doing and are not being instructed by someone that has successfully done it before, a living animal is not the right kind of subject to "tinker" with and hope you get it done "properly" .... just my opinion of course.

As far as mites ... if you think your animal has mites, look around the soft tissue of the eyes, the white skin fold on the bottom of the lower jaw, and run your hand down the length of it's body .... Mite feces will show up as a grey powder in your hand and the soft skin around the eyes and lower jaw is a buffet for the snake mite.

Hope this helps.

-adam

[JLC]

I'm not saying it would be harmful...just potentially exceedingly messy and gross. Why bother when there are better/easier solutions? Just my two coppers.


A drop of dish soap in a tub of water will also kill any mites existing on the snake (won't get rid of an infestation any more than oil will) without the mess of having snake scales all over everything. (Probably more stressful for the keeper than the snake...but who knows?)

[sw204me]

I havent been able to find any signs of mites and when I had him sex'd the Herp guy told me it was a very healthly male and he saw no signs of any kinds of mites. but for some reason I just really suspect he has him, nothing in his water till this morning saw some specs in there, but dunno if they are mites or just little debri from his bedding. Havent removed his swimming pool yet, need to find a smaller water dish for him, but he wasnt in it till really late last night (which i thought he wasnt going to go in at all cause I was able to keep the humidty up for awhile). During the day he sits in his hides, and its like a routine for him to wake up and sit in his water dish all night, then when i wake up and turn the lights back on its like his signal its day time and he crawls out and goes to sleep in his hide. When I take him out of his cage I look everywhere and I cant see any signs of mites though. I looked up what mites look like, man they are some nasty boogers. And yes, humidity is still a pita for me.

[wildlifewarrior]

The problem is that there is no consistent definition of what "properly" is ... as a result, you have a lot of cowboys out there "winging it" and potentially causing further complications with their animal. If you don't know what you're doing and are not being instructed by someone that has successfully done it before, a living animal is not the right kind of subject to "tinker" with and hope you get it done "properly" .... just my opinion of course.

As far as mites ... if you think your animal has mites, look around the soft tissue of the eyes, the white skin fold on the bottom of the lower jaw, and run your hand down the length of it's body .... Mite feces will show up as a grey powder in your hand and the soft skin around the eyes and lower jaw is a buffet for the snake mite.
Hope this helps.
-adam

well put, i agree, if you don't have training or someone to help you it isn't the best or even worth trying, similar to probing, not the same but similar

~mike