Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got some baby balls for a friend of mine around christmas. i didnt know it at the time but they had mites. we cant get rid of them. we have treated the cage and the snakes several times with different products. they seem to be getting less but never going away. my question is, can snakes die from mites? another thing i was wondering...they have field mice in thier house..could the snakes be getting reinfested from them?

As far as I know mite from rodents are different then snake mites. Can mites kill a snake? Yes they can they can stress them out and keep them from eatting, and they also are sucking blood from the snake making it very dehydrated. Mites are something that you need to stop and can not let continue. As far as the snake feels think of it like when you were a kid and had lice, I am sure we have all gone through that at one point in time and it sucks.

What to do:
First of all the hydration of the snake is very important so get a container that the snake can lay out in and fill it half way up the snakes body with room temp water. Make sure it is not to hot and not to cold. When you put the snake in the water if it starts freaking out trying to get out your temps are most likely off and need changed prior to leaving it in there. Give it at least 30 min soak every day. Also make sure your snake doesn't have to swim to stay a float.

As far as the cage is concerned if you have a fish tank cage, stick it in the bath tub and fill it to the rim with water, let is soak for a half hour. Then mix water with a very small amout of bleach (1 cap per gal-2 gal) and wipe down the cage, making sure to get the conners. Then rinse out good. Us paper towels as bedding for the time.

Repeat both of these methods daily or at least every other day and you should knock out your mites in about 2 weeks. Also remember just because you don't see them doesn't mean they are gone so if you don't see them after a week do not stop go the full two weeks. Also keep an eye on the water as mites cannot swim and you should see them laying at the bottom after the snake soaks.

matt

You won't fully eradicate mites without an insecticide. All you will do is drive down the number of live mites until the next batch of eggs hatch.

Get the Ball book by the Barker's at VPI, available here on the classifieds. It has the most comprehensive info, including attack strategies, to deal with reptile mites.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

they are eating and drinking fine. they are not soaking in thier water bowl and i have never had lice lol. i have tried two differnet mite treatments. but i get two different directions. one product says to spray the cage and then rinse it out and let dry and dont put the snake back in untill its rinsed. the other product says nothing about rinsing. so which one is right and what product is best? we have treated the cage in both solutions and even switched cages.

I personally have not used any of the mite treatments; however, I would say follow them as directed and you should be fine. Keep up on the soaking and since you switched cages do not use the old cage for at least a month this should kill off all mites left to hatch. Mite eggs hatch 1-3 days and if I recall right they need a blood source within 2 weeks, so by a month even the toughest should be gone. Also you can drop moth balls into the empty cage as moth balls also kill mites; however do not put moth balls in with the snake as this can be fatal for the snake as well. Also if you have carpet near the cage drop a moth ball in a vacuum and vacuum every day, the moth ball will make sure any mites you pick up are killed.

For the snake you can use olive oil and give it a full oil coat. Cover the whole snake with a layer of olive oil making sure to get by the eyes and under the cloacal secale after a few minutes you can wipe down the extra oil and then keep the snake on paper towel sub straight until its next shed.

Let me know if this helps,
matt