I guess I have mites...

[addsdad]

I don't, but Jafar does. I just noticed a very small black dot running around on his head. I guess I am assuming this would be a mite. What problems do these cause and what can I do to treat it?

[Sausage]

As far as I know, all that mites do is cause your snake to become very uncomfortable... I'm sure someone else here will give the full info on them.

As for treatment, the best stuff to use is PAM(Prevent-a-mite) which you can buy from most reptile supply stores. Make sure that you follow the directions!

Best of luck!

[tigerlily]

Mites feed off the blood of your snake. Enough of the blood sucking little fiends, and your snake will become anemic. It's easy enough to treat, and the best stuff is Provent-a-mite.

http://www.pro-products.com/miteandtemp.html

[Rapture]

If left untreated, the mites could multiply and start seriously draining your snake. Mites can also transfer diseases from snake to snake.

You'll be able to find Provent-A-Mite easily at online reptile supply stores.

The product called "Reptile Relief" will only kill adult mites, so do not rely on this product to fix your problem.

[moespeaking]

To repeat others Provent a mite works great the first try.

[addsdad]

alright, thanks everybody. I will stop by some pet stores tomorrow and try to find a can. If I can't find it locally, I will order online.

[Ginevive]

Mites definately need to be dealt with fast. Unfortunately, I have never found a pet store that carries PAM.. you might have to order it online.
Its technical name is Provent A Mite.. it is priceless in killing mites; don't bother with anything else

[addsdad]

One more question about these mites. Are these mites specific to reptiles, or can/will they be transferred to other pets and kids?

[rabernet]

They are reptile specific, but they could jump on the kids/animals and transfer to other reptiles in your home (if there are any). But they aren't going to see them as a good host.

I purchased mine from http://www.entirelypets.com and you can also buy it from http://www.pro-products.com/ as well (I think they may even be a little less than Entirely Pets).

[frankykeno]

Snake mites are species specific however can "hitchhike" on other things like people and I assume a pet if it was in close contact, though I don't expect they could survive long without their host animal. If you are very concerned about this you can always pick up some Equate lice spray from WalMart and give the couch or whatever the snake's been crawling on a good blast. You probably have nothing to worry about that way really. If you have other snakes however you do need to worry about spreading mites to them.

For now while you locate and get some P.A.M., you should thoroughly clean the snake's enclosure, replace it's bedding with layers of plain white papertowels (easiest to see the pesky bugs on). You can bathe your snake in tepid water with a drop or two of dish soap (breaks the surface tension) to get rid of the mites on the snake. This is only a stop gap thing as it does not destroy any eggs so you still need the P.A.M. or you will end up with a reinfestation.

If you have children I'd just keep them from handling the snake until you get this under control and keep the snake quarantined as much as possible. Remember to use the P.A.M. exactly as directed (it does not get sprayed directly on the snake).