Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I didn't notice when I bought it, but is there anything I can do to salvage the pup while getting rid of the mites. I figure not, but I hate to have to kill the pup and I don't want a rat as a pet. Thank you.

I'd take it back to where you bought it. They ought to know.
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GratefulFred

yep.........

??are they ear mites???

never saw rat with mites.......odd

dont let it near your snake.

the pet shop kept them in or near reptiles..........

the world is covered in mites.....we are,the ground,everything.....there are probably milions of species of mites.............

anyways...........too late now..the rat would have died from lack of food by now........

............

:

Mites are EXTREMELY species specific. This means that a mite that lives on a mouse or rat WILL NOT feed on a snake. Now, it is possible that the pet shop where you bought the mouse has a LOT of snake mites and some just happened to hitch a ride home to your house on the mouse, but I doubt it--they would have to have a MAJOR infestation!!!!

In fact, mites that live on dogs will rarely exist on a cat and cat mites will rarely live on a dog. These two species are far more related than snakes and rodents!

I suspect you probably are looking at something more like a species of louse and not a mite at all. (Snake mites don't even bother lizards and lizard mites don't bother snakes. Finding a species that could both live off of a warm blooded animal and cold blooded animal is impossible as far as I am aware.) If it is in fact some other type of arthropod (not a snake mite) there is no harm in using it as is.

Rodney

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Good post. But don’t totally discount the possibility that an egg-filled female snake mite could hitch a ride home on a rodent or its purchaser. Ever picked up a snake with mites and then found one of those little buggers crawling up your arm? How long do you reckon they would keep wandering around before falling off?

-Joan