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It appears that a few snakes in our collection have gotten mites...we disinfected the enclosure with a household cleaning spray and threw away the paper towel and hide boxes they were using as well as rubbed down the snakes in soapy water.

Is there any other steps we should be taking???

Any suggestions???

Also, what the hell causes these little pests to be sucking blood from our snakes??? or do they just kind of happen on their own?

Thanks.
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Chris Vanderwees

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Oh boy. That sucks.

You need to act fast or your entire collection will be infested. actually, you have to act as though the entire collection IS infested.

1. Take out and throw out (or sterilize) everything in all of the cages.
2. Throw away all mulch or any bedding in all of the cages. Take it outside and bag it up. Get it the hell away from your house.
3. Put the snakes all on white paper towels for now - it helps to see the little bastards.
4. Go to the hardware store and ask for a "no pest strip". it smells funny but kills mites and ticks. You will have to use a craft knife to cut the yellow, waxy strips into useable pieces. Lay these on top of the cage (if you have a screen top). Otherwise u will have to put it in a perforated deli cup and lay it in the cage. IMPORTANT - you need to change water daily in all of the cages while doing this so that your snake does not get poisoned.
5. Individually as your snakes eat and go opaque, be prepared to "shed them" manually a couple of days after their eyes return from blue. People say that this does not work because the mites burrow under the old skin during this process but I can tell you from experience that if you use the no-pest strip it WILL work. I have done it and gotten rid of mites in the past.

I think the no pest strip kills all or most of the mites and when you manually shed the snake you will be getting rid of whatever weakened "hangers-on" and any eggs.

Good luck,
Peter Jolles

I just got rid of mites using reptile relief that i got from petco.I just sprayed them down every 3 days for 9 days and it got rid of them..also cleaned EVERYTHING OUT of the cages and NOW WE ARE MITE FREE!!!!!!!