Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi! I'm new to this forum and my boyfriend had posted at the burm forum but we havnt gotten a response from anyone and we are desperate for help. We basically rescued at albino burm from a pet store three days ago. The snake was in a old vision cage with old mulch that was wet and soggy. On further examination I could see mites all over the snake. The petstore people said he was extremely aggressive. I just think he was extremely hungry and stressed due to the fact he could smell rats that were a foot infront of his cage. So we bought a lrg rat and tossed it to him. He immediately struck and began eating. We carefully removed him while he had the rat, figuring it would be less stress on him and to keep us from getting bit. We placed him in a lrg rubbermaid and brought him home. We got his brand new BIG home set up. While we did that we decided we would put him in another rubbermaid with water and let him soak and clean off. I have never witnessed a snake dive into water. He swam around dipping his head in the water. He seemed so happy just to be in water. Which I guess makes sense considering he had NO water in his previous home for no telling how long.

So we transferred him out of the water and into his new home. Complete with a kitty litter box filled with water and a hide box. He immediately got ontop of the hide box and soaked all night under the light. So yesterday I saw the top of the hidebox was covered in dead mites. So we got him out and began cleaning the cage. We put him back in rubbermaid with water and I sprayed him down with delluted nix, which is what we use on all our snakes. When we opened the rubbermaid after cleaning his tank I realized that it wasn't dirt on his back and scales. It was MITES! I am so surprised this snake lived this long. He has hundreds of thousands of mites! The worse case I have ever seen. He allowed me to hold onto his tail and push the dead mites from under his scales. It was almost like he enjoyed me doing it. This aggressive burm is really a gentle giant that was being eaten alive by mites. I'm just wondering is there anything more than what we are doing? When he sheds will all the dead mites finally come out from under his scales? Like I said they are all dead from what I can see they are just lodged under his scales. I feel so bad and I know this has to be uncomfortable for him. We are just looking for any suggestions or ideas to help this guy out.

Thanks,
DeeRa and Jbugg

The best thing that has worked for me in the past is regular olive oil you can get from the super market. Take the snake out of his enclosure, slick him up like you are putting sun tan lotion on him. Then let him soak for a good 45 min. to an hour. Wash him up with a mild baby soap. While the snake is soaking wash his enclosure and all items from enclosure with a water bleach mix. Let cage and items air dry completely before you put the snake back in the cage. In a few days do the process again. Washing the snake with a wash cloth should get all the dead mites out of his scales. Hope this helps.

you can also try lice bedding spray. It works great and is very cheap and easy to find.
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i'm not over weight i'm under tall

Well today we repeated the same process. The hidebox was once again smoothered with hundreds of dead mites. You know I'm almost outraged that someone would let a snake get in this condition. Some people are just plain ignorant. I payed 60 bucks for him and now realize even though he is covered is mites it was worth it. He is a pleasure to be around and we are slowly starting to trust each other. My boyfriend and I soaked him today and then once again did a rub down. I found a piece of old mulch embedded down in one of his body scales. I gently removed it and checked the rest of his scales. I think due to the overwheelming amount of mites they are just stacked under his scales. So he is looking better and all of the mites I push out from under his scales are dead. I'm sure once he sheds he will be mite free and a lot happier. Thanks for all your help atleast he doesn't look like a paradox albino burm anymore. He is slowly looking like a normal 8ft albino burm.

:]

Thanks again,
DeeRa and Jbugg

Go to WalMart. Buy about 3-4 cans of their bed lice spray on their house brand of "Equate". Remove the snake from the cage. Spray the substrate of the cage thoroughly, along with any objects in the cage. NO water at this point. Also spray the entire outside of the cage. Put the snake back in in about an hour or so. If it's a real bad infestation, the snake can be sprayed directly, but stay away from the head. Repeat in two week to break the life cycle of the mite.
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