Reptile & Amphibian Forums

okay, i have two ball pythons, both are healthy and excellent eaters. both are approx. 26 inches and are housed together in a 40 gallon tank. well, of course, since they are housed together, they both have mites...i know, i shouldn't house them together, but i did/am. both snakes have mites in their heat pits. would it be okay to dab a drip or two of mineral/olive/baby oil into these pits to drown the mites without harming the snake? thanks.
~mike

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Think you should refer this to a Herp specialist if you are unable to get a responce here... I would hate to harm your snake by giving you advise that was unfounded...

thanks for your advice, i bathed both today and one had no visible mites while the other had 3 wedged in his heat pits. i worked them out with no fuss from him so thats good. i also soaked both for 10 mins. i'm going to continue this routine on a regular basis. i also am going to clean their tank this weekend.

i have two plastice shoe boxes...if i poke a bunch of little holes into the lids, the snakes should be fine? right? i really wish i had done more research before purchasing these two snakes because i knew absolutely nothing about them.

thanks to this forum and all the people here, i am becoming more educated by the minute. i'm going to save up so i can house my snakes seperately in a large enough enviroment. .thinking about seperating them now actually...i have a smaller tank...only 10 gallons, how long would that be good for? both are approx. 26 inches. also, if i wanted to keep them seperated, would switching them every few days from the 40 gallon tank to the 10 gallon tank be stressful? thanks.

Even if you house them in separate cages, they will both still get the mites; the little buggers can travel pretty far, and are drawn to the snakes...

If you can find it, try Black Knight Roach spray. It is really expensive, but one can will do you for years (with only two snakes). One blast every few days to get rid of the mites, then a blast every month keeps everything other than the snake out of the tank. Suggest you take the snake out before spraying

Black night, 10 paddle locks and a body guard coulden't keep my cat out of my BPs cage! LOL but a door can, she can't reach the nob, oh but how she tries to squeeze under that door! LOL
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"Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are." - Kurt Cobain

"It is better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you're not."

"You laugh at me because I am different; I laugh at you because you are all the same."

~~ Krystal - Future breeder of Pythons, Geckos, we'll see what else later! ~~ www.geocities.com/krystal19_85 ~~

An average 10 gal is kinda small for 26".... A small enclosure in and of itself can be stressful.... I usually work with my snakes daily, aside from sheading and feed times...

i guess that answers my question then. i try and handle mine daily, except feeding and shedding. they need their exercise. hmm, i wonder how long a 40 gal tank could hold 2 BP then... anyone? is this too small for 2 adult pythons?