Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I seen some pictures of snake owners who have their snakes outside on their lawns or sitting on the ground somewhere. Now I am fairly new to snakes but IMO this is a bad thing. Why? Well IMO the snake can pick up some hitch hikers like ticks or worse,MITES! I'll never take my snake outside and sit him on the lawn for a picture cause you never know what you're gonna bring back with him. All it takes is one mite with eggs and you can infest your whole collection.

That is so true. I take my jungle carpet outside but try not to let her get in the grass. I either hold her or she likes to crawl around our bench. I also let her get some excercise and hopefull she will do her duty while outside as well. :0) So far so good as far as not picking up any bugs..

From what I understand the snake mite that you see in captivity is an exotic and not found in the US. I have always had reptiles and on nice days taken them outside and never once had a problem. Come to think of it none of the snakes that I have caught around here have had mites on them.
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Anna

1.0.0 Ball Python {Shane}
1.0.0 Afican Bullfrog {Bungy}
2.2.5 Crested Geckos {Mel, Harley, Sally, Momma, unnamed}
0.0.1 Giant Black African Millipede {Milly}
2.0.0 Parakeets {Storm, Cloud}
1.2.0 Button Quails {Bob, unnamed}
1.0.0 Short Tail Possum {Eddie}
1.1.0 Dogs Lab/Pionter mix,German Shepherd {Vegas,Nevada}
2.1.0 Kitties {Kenny, Sebation, Pheobe}
1.0.0 Betta {George}
1.0.0 Boyfriend {Brian}
1 fish tanks with lots of fish
2 Crested Gecko eggs layed 5/18

Thats it for now.....

I used to keep my iguana outside in good weather. Invariably he would acquire some lovely red mites and need a shot of ivermectin to rid him of them when I brought him back inside. Don't know about snakes. I don't trust anything outside for long times due to west nile virus...and the weather (upstate NY)
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Sonya

Haven't we warned you about tampering with the structure of a chaotic system?
Mrs. Neutron

Don't think that bench outside is any more sterile than the grass... Cause its not. Mites can be there just like on the grass.

The little black mites are exotics and not found in the US but in Africa.There are little red mites in the US called Chiggers that will infest an animal fairly quickly if they come in contact with them. There are some other mites that will also attack an animal and human as well.

they drop off after about 4 days of sucking on you then turn into adults..You cant see chiggers really they are smaller then a period on this page.I think it would really be hard to get a chigger infestation in your house for the most part.I only know this because we have chiggers so I looked them up. When they are adults they feed on bug eggs like mosquitos so they would probably die in the house with nothing to eat..Come to think of it I have never seen any mites on the wild caughts around here. Mostly garters but a few other kinds mixed in..Ticks is a whole nother subject. I can get ticks in the house from the stupid dogs bringing them in. I hate ticks. But have never found one on the snakes. Ticks can live three years without food, that is sooo grooosssss!!!!!!

sites there are differing opinions of chiggers. So who knows? I guess letting the snakes out is like letting your cat out. You take the risk because the animal seems to enjoy it and the actual risk is very minimal. If you or other pets havent got chiggers in your yard chance are slim that the snake will get any.