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I have seen mites before on other snakes. I handled our snow corn snake today, and my hands came away with bits of black flecks on him. Now these aren't as big as the mites I have seen in the past. I dont really see anything black on him. They is literally varying sizes like specs of dirt, they don't move on my hands, and don't move around on towel. Are these mites? His skin is VERY dry and I was going to put a shed box in with him to help. He is in a 75 gallon tank with the warm end around 88. I have several other snakes and don't want this to spread. What is going on? It just doesn't look like the mites I have seen I am confused.

He will be going to the vet but our reptile vet won't be in til monday or tuesday

Sorry for the bad grammar. I was panicked and writing very fast. I forgot to mention he is on newspaper for bedding. He seems to react badly to aspen.

Even if You remotely suspect it can be mites, make sure you move his cage to an area away from your other snakes as far as possible and still house him confortably. They spread incredibly fast. I have used a couple of remedys over the years I have had mites. A small piece of no-pest strip which I believe you can still get from Home Depot or Lowes, or other hardware stores. Cut a piece about two inches long and wide and put on top the screen of its cage where it cant reach it and come into direct contact. Take out the water bowl. The strip pesticide is pretty potent and not to be taken or handled lightly. To be honest, I cant remember how long I left it there, maybe a week. Ive also placed a piece in a perforated deli cup and placed in the cage. Just make sure water is out and the snake cannot come into direct contact with the strip. I also tried provent-a-mite, and Black Knight. Both worked ok. Throw out all old substrate and clean cage with mild bleach and water mix. Mites die easily by drowning in water. Then use the spray. Follow the directions and make sure the spray is completely dry before putting the snake back into the cage. Make sure to get all nooks, crannies, etc.

Good Luck!!!

are you sure its not just ink form the newspaper? Best thign to do is soak your snake, it will drown mites that are on him..then see if you can take a good picture of the flecks..but if they don't look like any mites you have seen, then they probably are not mites, especially if they are not moving.

Sometimes snakes will shed bits of skin, especially if they are having trouble shedding or suffered some minor skin damage (ie very minor burn, some chemicals or residue may cause it). If he had a bad reaction to aspen, maybe this is just his skin recovering (though not sure what you mean by a bad reaction)
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PHLdyPayne

I don't think it is ink. unless the ink is flaking off. Its certainly not like ink transfer on say your hands or silly putty. He hasn't been near any chemicals so I know its not that but his skin has been horribly dry, not sure why. I am trying to use a shedbox to fix that. I have to wait til I can get a tub to soak him in, as I don't want to soak him in anything i use for my other snakes. Nothing that I see is moving on him.

As far as what I meant by a bad reaction to aspen, we thought he had resp. infection for several months. This was a few weeks after we got him. He had been kept on carefresh at the breeders. We put him on aspen like all our other corns. As soon as the aspen bedding went away, so did the sneezing. He has been aspen free for at least 6 months to a year. He has a bad habbit of getting up in the lock mechanism for his lid (there are no good 75gallon reptile lids). This one has a top built in, old style. Anyway that might be what is giving his scales heck.

Basically I freaked cause I saw black things come off on my hands, from him. He hasn't been eating well. His scales look kinda crappy. I assumed mites. You have to understand that I am so OCD about disease, my own and my pets, its not even funny. I use hand sanitizer like its going out of style.

So. I will soak him tomorrow morning, and see what comes off him. Like I said though. Not one single out of the ten or so black specks I got off him were moving. He hasn't been soaking in his bowl. Maybe I am just freaking out. Just to be safe I ordered Prevent - a - Mite or whatever it is called, and the stuff you spray on the reptile as well (bundle deal from LLL reptile) Most of the specks are too small to even get a picture of, even with Macro mode. I am the kinda of person, when there is a problem, i cant eat sleep, work or think til its dealt with. I am probably over reacting to a large degree.

Hmmmm... Is it a black plastic cover for the tank?? Is it possible an overhead bulb is sitting on it? It may be slowly burning and getting brittle in areas if a heat source is on a plastic lid. Snake climbs over the brittle areas and plastic flakes off. Maybe painted metal on the top getting burnt the same way and flaking off. Does this sound possible with your set up?? Check your top for burnt brittle areas of plastic or paint. Go with an undertank heater if possible and thats what is occurring. Long shot, but your comment on the old style top got me thinking. I have had the old plastic tops with the thumb screws that secure it on the sides get burnt and flake.

Well we got back from the vet and he could find no mites. We think he was either getting black flecks off the top or the cork bark. As far as the crappy appearance of his scales and skin, it was probably due to rubbing on the top of the tank. No burnt areas because the light is on a half top that is home made using non painted non burnt metal. At least its not mites.