Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone,

We've been on vacation for a few weeks, and I came home to find what appear to be mites on and around my blood python enclosure. My ball python, housed separately, seems clean of them.

My snakes have never had mites, so I don't quite know where they came from. I feed F/T rats to both snakes.

Anyway, there appear to be no mites on my snake (yet!), and what I see are tiny white dots about the size of the period on this sentence around and on the tank itself. They crawl, do not jump and have no wings. My blood isn't hanging out in her water dish either, but I'm presuming that will happen pretty soon.

Can anyone recommend an immediate treatment that's safe while I try to find a bottle of Provent-a-Mite in my area here? And, how best can I quarantine my other snake to prevent a second infestation in that tank? And, once I have Provent-a-Mite, what's the best way to use it effectively?

I know this sort of info has been posted endlessly, but I've never had mites so never really followed the posts with much interest.

Thanks a million for any and all thoughts!

Whenever I bring a new animal in I'll treat it for mites whether they're apparent or not and knock on wood a haven't had a problem. Get a small spray bottle and thouroughly spray your snake with olive oil. Make sure the snake is dry to begin with to avoid the oil beading and then rub it in with your hands to make sure every square inch of him/her is covered. This will drown all of the mites and eggs that are on the snake itself and is drastically more effective than soaking in water. Then take the snake out of it's enclosure and treat the inside and all around it liberally with provent a mite. That will kill all the mites and eggs inside the enclosure. The trick is to kill everything (mites, eggs) at once otherwise they'll reappear in a few weeks. If you do what I just said and do it again two weeks later you should be mite free. I've done it with quite a few animals in quarantine and it's always worked. Hope this helps!

I find that dawn original scent dish liquid(blue) works wonders with mites. You rub it all over their body, excluding the head. let it soak for about 10-15 mins. Rinse it off and then let it soak in a bath of warm water. All the times I've done it, it was a once and done. Also, wash everything in the cage off, soak it in very warm water if you can. Completely submurge everything that you can for about 15-20 minutes to drown the mites. Rinse everything off well with hot water. You should be good to go then. I cleared a corn snake that was covered in mites and even had them burried in eye sockets. One treatment and it was cleared.

PROVENT-A-MITE
Works.
Nick

for a fast treatment you can use the bedding head lyce spray from wal-mart its 100%the same as P.A.M. and is about the same price just in a smaller can @$4.00..all the info is on the can.good luck they suck!
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ball pythons
pastel,het&PH albino,het&PH hypo,PH pieds,PH clown,and norms!!
borneo ST,black,& red blood pythons
1.2 black SSTP
2.1 borneo STP
1.2 red bloods
garter snake morphs easterns/checkereds
w.hognose morphs
1.1 super kids Memfis Lance and Linda May(co-dom)

Someone posted a message to me on the ball python forum saying that snake mites are black, not white, as these are. Could they be something else?

Have you used the head lice spray on your snakes before? Any bad side affects to the snakes? I want to avoid that, for sure.'

Thanks for any additional info you want to post.

i found some white small bugs crawling on my snakes. I took a photo and sent it off to some folks who are in the know, and was told it appeared to be a wood louse. Keep an eye out for any black specks that come up floating in the water dish.

After i found that white bug, i became paranoid and for the last 3 weeks have inspected the cages and water bowls over and over and not found any evidence for the dreaded pepper looking mites.

i honestly think it came in from the newspaper. i took a half way decent photo of it, and if i can find it, i'll post it for reference.
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The New Redpython.net

it was taken on a black piece of vinal, hence the texture...not too shabby for something the size of a needle point.

I will say i found these on two snakes, and i used the same source of newspaper for bedding in these two snake's cages....so i am wondering if they came from the newspaper.

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The New Redpython.net

Hey, that's an awesome picture to refer me to. Thanks! I just noticed these little white bugs yesterday, and I haven't checked them with a magnifying glass yet. Just thought right away that they were probably the dreaded snake mites. But, I may have an infestation of just what you have there--only mine are coming out of barky type substrate. I think I'm going to dump it, clean the cage really well and switch to another substrate.

I've never had snake mites, and I feed her F/T. So, I can't figure out where real snake mites could come from unless I added a new snake to my collection, which I haven't.

Thanks alot!

some people bake it (i personally enjoy this as it gives my home a nice "country" aroma), some folks soak in a water/bleach solution. these two methods are supposedly useful in eliminating things that can be carried in on the bark.
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The New Redpython.net

I am using bark, and the irony is, it's never had bugs until I cleaned it. I baked it for 2 hours at 275 degrees before putting it back in the tank. Two weeks later, little white bugs. I've had this bark since January and never had any problems. I think I'm going to switch to newspaper. That seems to be the consensus among most. I can't easily get cypress mulch here in Ohio. It's all dyed pine variations, bark or rock here. None of it looks clean or safe enough for my snake.

i use newspaper and still had those little white bugs. It really makes me paranoid thinking about it.

What part of ohio are you in? I live in the great commonwealth of kentucky, but am a hoosier by birth
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The New Redpython.net

We're just outside of Columbus, but transplants from Mpls./St. Paul about seven years ago.

Hey, sorry to hear about your losses of animals earlier to a heating problem. Read about it on your web site, but didn't know it before. You've got nice looking bloods, and I like your story of how you got into herping as a kid. I was the same kind of guy--always turning over rocks and bringing turtles home from fishing trips. I can't seem to shake the snake addiction, but only two so far.

Love to buy one of your black bloods sometime in the future!

I've been through columbus a few times....There is a really beautiful place west of there called yellow springs.

i will be more than happy to sell you a black blood in the future!
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The New Redpython.net