Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've found a few of these in fecal floats recently. Does anyone recognize it? Is it a newly hatched snake mite (I haven't seen any adults recently)? Something that could have come out of the branch in the cage? Something that might have been on a fresh killed mouse?

Thanks for any info.

For scale, the second and third pics are at 400 power (it's a tiny little bugger).

That's what it looks like to me. Being in a fecal float it must have been on a food source.

Not a snake mite...

it is a type of rodent fur mite. Your mouse source has an infestation it would seem. Outbreaks can happen if sanitation is not kept up with (regular cage cleaning, bleaching cages, etc.).

Of the 3 common types known to infest mice, it would appear to be Radfordia affinis.

http://www.rmca.org/Articles/bugs.htm

http://www.radil.missouri.edu/info/para/Ectoparasites/

-----
_____

PHWyvern

>>Of the 3 common types known to infest mice, it would appear to be Radfordia affinis.

That's what it looks like to me too. Thanks!

The bad news is the snake I found them in has been eating mice from MY colony. Ooops... That's what I get for going to a pet shop to add new blood to the breeders... Doh!

>>>>Of the 3 common types known to infest mice, it would appear to be Radfordia affinis.
>>
>>That's what it looks like to me too. Thanks!
>>
>>The bad news is the snake I found them in has been eating mice from MY colony. Ooops... That's what I get for going to a pet shop to add new blood to the breeders... Doh!

Well mites can infest without the mice showing obvious signs sometimes so maybe the petstore didn't know they had an outbreak. The problem then is it can be too easy for a minor outbreak to turn into something else. If you have any P-A-M that stuff works great too on mammals IF you are careful with it. When I kept pet rats I used to use it once in a while as sometimes I would get grain mites in a bad batch of food. I also used it to treat a hedgehog with mange. Out of the normal amount of bedding I would use for a rat cage after cleaning, I would take about 1/3 of it and put it in a plastic bag and take it outside and lightly spray it with PAM. I would then let it dry for an hour. Once dry I would mix it up in with the other bedding. Then after thoroughly cleaning the cage, toys, etc. I would put the treated bedding into the cage. I would treat the bedding once a week for 3 weeks to be sure the outbreak was dealt with. I would also take a paper towel and spray PAM on it and wipe around the area outside of the cage a little. I always spray the stuff outside so as to not create large amount of fumes inside that might cause problems for the mammals, but mainly because I keep tarantulas and don't want to take chances with them getting killed.
-----
_____

PHWyvern

At first glance, I thought the mite looked very similar to a member of the Hirstiella genus, which are commonly found on recently imported lizards , but closer examination indicates PH hit the nail on the head with Radfordia affinis.
Mites are commonly found in fecal floats, when conducted upon specimens harboring mites, as such tend to congregate within and around the folds of the cloacal opening...

Jeff
-----
Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947