I had to battle snake mites on my Burmese python when I first got brought him into my house as a rescue of sorts. I followed the advice given by the owner of ProProducts who makes Provent-a-Mite and had immediate success. The mite infestation was eradicated from the snake within a week with no contamination of other animals or re-infestation. Now, it may have been easier because his cage and everything coming in was treated immediately and I didn't have any other pre-existing mite infestation in the house.

I soaked the snake in a Rubbermaid container of warm water with a drop or two of dish soap. The water needed to be deep enough to cover his body and he had a chance to drink fresh water first. The soap is to break the surface tension of the water so that the mites cannot make a bubble of air and they drown. Using Betadine is to treat mite bites on the animal, I believe.

I removed everything from his cage (he had an aquarium at the time) and soaked it in bleach solution of about 10%. Then the tank and stand were sprayed with PAM according to directions and allowed to dry. I used newspaper for a substrate and sprayed both sides with PAM. The snake was not returned until everything was dry. I used PAM sprayed paper as a substrate for about a month to catch any newly hatched buggers.

I sprayed a two foot perimeter around his cage in the house for any mites that decided to walk, and then sprayed PAM on a paper towel and to wipe a one inch border around the tops of my other enclosures just in case any mites thought of traveling.

Using fly strips makes me a bit nervous, but that's just me. PAM cannot be used around hognose snakes because of their sensitivities.

Good luck!

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