possible mites?

[oncebitten]

i just noticed in my snakes water a few little black thing in the bottom of her water bowl. upon further inspection she has a small black thing on the top of her head. not quite sure if it is mites but concerned as she is about to go into a shed. she ate yesterday. where can i find the stuff to kill the mites if thats what they are. what do they look like? i would hate to treat if thats not what they are. i am going to call the vet in the morning and see if i can get her in.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

The best thing is to get Provent-A-Mite use it according to the directions, it will eradicates mites at all stages of development.

Here is where to get it http://www.entirelypets.com/proventamite.html

PAM and Black Kight are the only products that are safe to use with reptiles.

[andwhy6]

also if you want to check and make sure that she does actually have mites this is how you check. look at the under side of her head (neck) use both you thumbs to kinda spread her scales. if you see a small black thing under there then she deffinatly has mites. also check around her eyes. if she does have mites make sure you take out all substrate and decor and bleach it. use simple things for substrate hides and water... newspaper cardboard boxes for hides and glad ware for water. soak her a few times a week. while soaking clean tank with provent a mite. I work at a pet store and mites will be gone is 2 weeks if you stick to this. good luck.

[oncebitten]

should i wait til tomorrow since she just ate to check under out the slit under her mouth?

[oncebitten]

i just removed her from her enclosure only saw one little black bug on her it is small. she is about to shed and is very jumpy so was not sure how she would handle me touching her head. gonna go to store and buy paper towels and remove her aspen. i guess i should save the bug for the vet to look at.

[Samuel]

it's mites.

[oncebitten]

i was hoping that it would not be but i guess i need to treat it asap. i put paper towels down removed bedding. i did not have any tupperware but found a glass bowl put water back in left one hide in for her. how should i treat the other hide and water dish?

[Samuel]

soak EVERYTHING with a 10% solution of bleach (1 part Bleach 9 parts water). Make sure it all get hit .. maybe twice. Make sure that it is all dried before placing it back into the enclosure, and that it all get rinsed well to remove the bleach. That really worked for me. The other thing I did, but have been yelled at for doing because others say it is not effective, but I coated my snake with some mineral oil EXCLUDING THE HEAD, and that got rid of all of my issues without having to buy any special mite spray.

You should probably get the spray anyway, but it the mean time .. this mehtod should work. They spread fast, so the faster you get this under control, the better. Hope this helps.

[oncebitten]

thanks for the help. i will buy the bleach tomorrow and do that with everything. how long should i soak it all for?

[andwhy6]

honestly you dont have to waste your money going to the vet. its at least 75$ for the vet to tell you everything that we just did. it sounds like you dont have to worry much because its still eating so its not a huge case of mite just a lil one. you shouldnt have a problem gettin rid of um wit the instructions we gave. good luck
Also with the shed dont worry bout keepin the humidity up cuz you will be soaking him weekly anyway.