Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
First thank you to everyone who reads and answers this question for me. I have a newly aquired reticulated python. It is a male 5ft. I got him 2 days ago. I have placed him in a seperate room from the rest of my pythons. My question is this he has done nothing but sit in his water dish and strike at anything that moves. I moved him to change his water and have found allot of little black dots in there. Is it possible that these are mites?? I realize that without seeing them it is hard to answer but I am wondering if he is spending so much time in his water to get relief from them. I have a white lipped python that is fairly aggressive but nothing comparied to this guy. I have done extensive research on these guys as far as attitude and care but do they calm down after they get much older. Thanks for any and all help on this matter.

those black specks you find floating in the water bowl are most probably are mights. Mite infested snakes often spend the majority of the time soaking in the water. This offers them temporary relief from the aggrivation of the mites. You need to get some type of mite repellant. I would recommend either Pro-vent-a-mite, or Black knight. I have never used Black Night but have only heard great things about it if used in accordance with it's directions. You need to treat the snake and the cage as well as the area surrounding the cage. It will probably need to be done a couple of times to ensure that all the mites are eradicated. Ensure you follow th directions as printed on the can, Hope this helps, Todd