Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Posted by: D Goudie at Thu Sep 18 06:47:14 2003 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ]

Hi Guys;

I purchased a whitesided blackratsnake several months back that came complete with mites. Well I thought I had the problem taken care of.... luckily I still kept him in a seperate room, anyway 2 weeks ago...... 'voi la' MORE of the little creatures, following some what I thought was well stated advice I covered the snake in mineral oil to asphixiate the mites, now it appears there are no mites BUT he's going through a weird type shed where there's individual scales coming off him, not the entire scale but a trasparent piece almost like that of a shed on in a singular scale form as opposed to a complete shed..... I've given him several baths in warm water & washed a lot of the residue off with mild dish detergent, but he looks pretty crummy........ He's not sick but he hasn't eaten in the past couple weeks.

A friend of mine had the same problem, did the same thing which got me to thinking....... 'Mmmm better look over that adult whiteside I got in the laundry room. so I figured may as well try the mineral oil.

Any suggestions Dwight, Terry??? Would polysporiun or any kinda antibiotic treatment help??

Thanks

Dean

A guy had this happen with a boa constrictor a little while back, I guess mineral oil isn't a great idea. Neosporin couldn't hurt but I'm not exactly sure what to do but wait.

Dean, I only have a couple minutes, I'm heading out of town, but it doesn't sound like he should need an antibiotic. Sounds like he's reacting to the oil treatment. He's probably quite stressed. He needs RnR, I think. Also, pay close attention to the mite situation, they may come back. E-mail me for more mite info. I'd keep him warm and fairly humid, a moist hide or whatever, and rest until he gets it together. Talk more later,

TC

>>Posted by: D Goudie at Thu Sep 18 06:47:14 2003 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ]
>>
>>Hi Guys;
>>
>>I purchased a whitesided blackratsnake several months back that came complete with mites. Well I thought I had the problem taken care of.... luckily I still kept him in a seperate room, anyway 2 weeks ago...... 'voi la' MORE of the little creatures, following some what I thought was well stated advice I covered the snake in mineral oil to asphixiate the mites, now it appears there are no mites BUT he's going through a weird type shed where there's individual scales coming off him, not the entire scale but a trasparent piece almost like that of a shed on in a singular scale form as opposed to a complete shed..... I've given him several baths in warm water & washed a lot of the residue off with mild dish detergent, but he looks pretty crummy........ He's not sick but he hasn't eaten in the past couple weeks.
>>
>>A friend of mine had the same problem, did the same thing which got me to thinking....... 'Mmmm better look over that adult whiteside I got in the laundry room. so I figured may as well try the mineral oil.
>>
>>Any suggestions Dwight, Terry??? Would polysporiun or any kinda antibiotic treatment help??
>>
>>Thanks
>>
>>Dean