Mites...

[EasternGirl]

I'm pretty sure Selena has mites. I read about them in my garter care books...I was petting her tonight, and after, when I went to wash my hands...I saw tiny black specks on my hands. That is probably mites, correct? What do I do to treat them?

[guidofatherof5]

Pro-vent a mite.
Pro-Products | Provent-a-Mite

Awesome stuff and the only way I've ever been able to get rid of them. I've tried other products but they didn't work.

The problem is the baby mites. You can't see them.
Selena needs a bath in warm water. Let her get a drink. When she's finished drinking put 1 drop of liquid dishwashing soap in the water. This will kill any mites that leave her while she's in the water.
Mites are a serious issue and can kill your snake.

[guidofatherof5]

A water bleach mixure to clean the enclosure but that might not kill all the mite and a short time later they will be back. Provent-a-Mite will take can of that.

[drache]

Yes - provent-a-mite is the treatment of choice, but until you get it, you can do a few things . . .
bathing the snake and thoroughly cleaning the cage to remove the mites is something you need to do right away, and repeat until you get the provent-a-mite
there are other treatments that will work, but they require you to do stuff frequently and for weeks to be sure
please understand that as innocuous they may look (just little bugs), they can kill your snake

[EasternGirl]

Yes...thank you for the concern. I talked to Steve last night and he explained how dangerous the mites can be...at this point, I'm not sure that she actually has them...will be checking for them again today. If so, I will bathe her and clean out her enclosure and order the provent-a-mite.

[ConcinusMan]

I think you might be getting over protective again. I've never seen a case of mites that wasn't obvious. You can actually see them moving and your snake would show obvious signs of discomfort such as twitching and constantly rubbing up against things. In severe cases, some scales get lifted a little from all the mites hiding under the scales. Mites aren't nearly as common from WC snakes as they are in captive collections.

[radtad]

I have had them once from a snake we were snake sitting for. What I did was went and bought a bottle of Lice MD from Walmart for $10.00. rubbed the snakes down with it on a paper towel. Then cleaned the enclosure with the same stuff. Soaked all decorations in the stuff and rinsed. Put all the stuff back in and then added Prevent -A-Mite. Have never had issues again. Make sure you do not have your water dish in the enclosure when you do the Prevent a Mite. Add water dish last after stuff has dried. Good Luck hope this helps

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Do they move? If the tiny black specks did not move... Then they are not mites

[Mommy2many]

Do they move? If the tiny black specks did not move... Then they are not mites

Exactly.

[MasSalvaje]

Constant soaking is also a good indicator, adult mites will also drown in the water dish. They will be a very deep red or black and if you squish them with your fingernails you will usually see a bloob spot.

As long as all other factors are good, mites are eazy to get rid of. It is when your snake is already weak or the encloser is not cleaned properly when you start to run into problems. Just follow Steve's (and other's) steps and you should be just fine.

-Thomas