Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Had a female Cinny show up with mites a couple weeks ago after she laid her clutch. It seems to be under control, but I'm still stumped as to where they came from. It was a mild case and they literally just appeared. No new animals have come into my collection in months. Anybody ever had that happen before? Did you ever figure out what triggered it?

have you added anything to your snakes setup? have you changed substrates perhaps?
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This is courage.. to bear unflinching what heaven sends. -unknown

1.0 Basset Hound (Capone)
1.1 cats (San Quinton and Gracie)

Buying feeders from infected stores James

NOTHING changed at all, same bedding as always and use only frozen rats. Plus this female hadn't eaten since about November. First time I've had to deal with any type of mites in at least 5 years or so. Seriously just spontaneously appeared.

Id say thats how most get them forsure,theres so many ways. People always ask to hold my Best Snakes. Who knows all what else they held. I make Everyone wash their hands now. Its endless I think they can even go airborne..lol. If Your Fighting them Good luck , just keep everything Clean as Poss

Van
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Forever Trust in what we are,and nothing else Matters

Where have YOU been? People can transport them easily. Visited any Pet Stores lately? Held other snakes? Maybe an Expo? Those would be my guesses.
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Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.0 Woma (hidden gene?), 0.1 Yellowbelly
2.0 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

Mites just don't "appear out of nowhere". They come in on something new. IF (and that's a big if) they are snake mites, the ONLY way they came in is on other snakes. Snakes mites do NOT hitch a ride on rats, mice, ASF's, or any other type of feeder. They are host specific.
IF they are rodent mites, they will do not harm to your reptiles, as reptiles are not rats. Again, host specific.
I think your most logical bet would be that they are indeed wood mites.
Surprise surprise!! host specific as well.
They are lighter in colour than snake mites, smaller, and move every which way. Again, they only eat wood and aside from looking gross and being annoying, they pose no threat to anything living. Most breeders of rodents (or live feeders) tend to have wood mites running around in the warmer months.
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www.strictlyballs.ca

No handling other snakes, no expos, no way for them to have been from prey items, etc. And especially for them to show up on this female. It just doesn't make any sense. My main point for the post is that I'm dumbfounded as to where they came from. I've been keeping snakes, and subsequently having run-ins with mites for almost 25 years, and I have absolutely no clue where they originated from this time around. All I can do is say 2 things:

1. Mites suck!
2. Reptile Relief is awesome.

You indicated your newest snake had mites...most likely a couple of those mites left the snake and found a nice place in your home to lay eggs. Once these hatch, you have more mites to deal with.

Also, if you have native snakes in your area, it is also possible to pick up mites on your shoes and clothing, especially if you take short cuts through fields and other natural 'snake' habitat. As mites are not easy to see, very easy for them to completely escape notice till they are all over your snakes.

As you indicated the mites keep reoccurring all the time...it may be necessary to do a complete home spray..to kill all mites and their eggs hidden all over the house.

I would start with a small room and spray it down...after a day or two to give some time for fumes to dissipate, move all your reptiles into that room. Then spray the reptile room and the rooms/halls leading away from it.

To help prevent an excessive building up fumes which can prove toxic to animals, spray only one room at a time, giving it a day or two to air out before doing the next room.

As Provent a Mite is expensive, your best bet is to get the human lice spray and use that to do the overall spraying.
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PHLdyPayne

Birds also carry mites and birds fly and land in everyones yard. I have had that happen before with a burmese and a boa. I took the burmese outside and let her crawl out in the yard. Few days later alakazam mites all over her. Almost the same thing with my boa, but it was mt dads fault that time. He went through the mite thing with the burmese with me because I was 15 at the time. So he should have known to keep it off of the grass. I even said, “You remember what happened the last time don't you?” He said, “Yeah.” Put her on the ground anyway. Freakin deuche bag!! Presto mite infestation 3 days later. So if birds land in your yard, which I'm pretty sure they do, that could be a reason. Aspen bedding and some other beddings they tend to dwell in as well.

I have to say, I had the same thing happen to my ball. No change in feeders. No handling other snakes. No change in bedding. And one day they just popped up. Snake never went in the grass or anything. Wasn't near any of my other snakes. I did finally get rid of them, but I still have NO idea where they came from. I guess its possible that she had one lone mite hiding away somewhere. Then if that lone mite laid some eggs, could have started the infestation. But that's about the best I can think of.

In my opinion, mites can hitch a ride on rats or mice in the right situation. Early in my snake keeping years, I had a snake burst into full blown mite infestation after well over a year in my possession. The snake had been to the reptile specialty vet twice with no signs of mites(when I first started, I took all my reptiles to the vet once a year). One night, I noticed it rustling around in its cage and it was covered in mites. The snake went from zero mites to an explosion of mites with in a couple of days. From what I put together, the mites must have come from the live feeders that I had been giving the snake. I later learned that the pet store that I was purchasing mice from would return uneaten feeders into the holding tanks where they would be sold. IMO, for short periods of time, snake specific mites can hitch a ride on prey items. I know that they do not feed the mice but they crawl around seeking a food source. The pet store that I was purchasing mice from also has had several significant mite outbreaks. They did not practice a quarantine procedures and would often order snakes from the cheapest suppliers...although I did not purchase snakes from the pet store, I would often inform the staff of the mite issues. Anyway, I believe, the mice that I received had only a few (or maybe just one) mites on it. Eggs were laid and soon hatched and the mites were swarming the cage. A few rounds of prevent-a-mite, soaking the snake and bleaching the cage and I they were gone. But this is one possibility how mite infestations can spring out of no where.

W. Smith