Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello,

i have a baby ball python who has a pit of a bug problem.
sometimes i can see very, very tiny little brown bugs - about the size of a period - crawling on him. i'm assuming those are mites.
he also has small black bugs - about 4 times the size of the brown bugs - under some of his scales.
are these two different bugs? or the same kind at different life stages?
are they mite? ticks? some other kind a parasite?
thanks for your help.

The small brown period sized bugs are mites. The larger bugs under the scales are ticks. You need to get rid of both ASAP. Your snake was obviously a wild caught python and if you want it to settle in and survive, you need to rid it of these ectoparasites.

I suggest you don't waste time with all the ineffective pseudo-remedies sold at most pet stores and suggested of some of these forums by other inexperienced people. Get yourself a can of Provent-a-mite and follow the directions that come with it. It is more expensive than other less effective treatments, but if you use it once correctly, you will solve the problem for good.

It is available at some better herp pet stores (not dumps like Petco/Petsmart) or you can buy it online from some of the herp supply places listed here at KS.com. I believe ProExotics carries it for example.

You can pull the ticks out gently with a pair of tweezers (a good steady pull is the best way as opposed to "plucking" them out quickly.

You will also have to disinfect all the cage furnishings and cage using Provent-a-mite.
-----
Chris Harrison