Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got an adult python, and I love her. Took her in to the vet the other day because she's been a tad wheezy (though it could just be me not used to larger snakes?), and they gave her a clean bill of health.
I only took her in the other day, but I just discovered that she's covered in mites!? Thanks for nothing, vet!

So... what should I use? The rest of my group includes a hognose, and I've heard provent-a-mite is fatal for them, so I don't want to even buy the stuff if I can. I've inspected the other snakes and they all seem clean, so hopefully it can stay that way...

...if it's of any help, the bugs in question seem to be of the tiny white dot kind. They're pretty visibly equally on her, and her tank itself.

...okay, so I might've panicked a little. I don't see nearly as many as I initially thought (they're around her, not all over the cage), and if I'm reading correctly I'm only seeing the white nymphy stage.

Anyway, question remains for meds. Her temps are 74-90, she currently hangs in the warmer section almost exclusively so I don't think she ever gets far below 80. Has a lot of aspen, but I'll be dumping/cleaning all that tomorrow and taping down the newspaper while she gets a long, long bath.

Hey there-

For the wheezing part, you probably just need a bit warmer temps, try to hit that 90-92 range on the warm side. BP's seem to pick up a wheeze pretty easily, and even make this hissy wheezy sound without their being a problem. Just make sure it doesn't progress to mucus in the mouth.

As far as the mites, I've heard a lot of people have problems with provent a mite, but hadn't heard that specifically about hognoses. I have more hogs than anything so I'd like to hear more about this if anyone can provide info. Provent a mite does work, and I'd say that just about anything that truly does could pose problems if used incorrectly. I had one bad instance where a BP kind of seemed off for a bit after I treated his tank with Provent a Mite, but to prevent this from happening I usually switch tubs completely when spraying to make sure it gets aired out very completely.

I've mostly heard it around here. One thread in particular-
http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1520329,1521460

I've ended up getting Mite-off, as it seems to be the gentlest and safest of the toxic stuff you can get. Hopefully it'll work!

-n/p-

Provent-a-Mite has been safe when I used it in the cages of corns, kings, various small pythons and ball pythons. Perhaps Hognose are sensitive. I do not know. But I do know that following directions on the can, a large snake like your python will not have trouble.

You may be seeing little bugs that can live in aspen. They are harmless to the snake. Mites are black as adults and seen on the snake, whereas the wood bugs are whitish and crawl around on the cage floor, not on the snake.

If the python does really does have mites, bathing him/her, though great for the snake as far as hydration goes, will not cure the problem. Treating the cage will. Take snake out, clean the cage, spray Provant-a-Mite, let it dry all the way - no wet spots (I did about 2 hrs of wait time) - cover with newspaper or aspen or whatever, put snake back in. I've done this with spotted pythons and Savu pythons with no problems. Even with little babies of these snakes.
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Mark

Alright, bathed her in repti-relief while I sprayed the tank in PaM, and it looks like the problem's cured (just made sure to keep everything well away from the hog for a day or two). Yay!