Are These MITES??

[Hornets23]

I thought my snake had mites...but when i actually look on her, I dont see any. The reason I thought she had them was becuase there was this little white speck moving in her water bowl..which is black. Are all mites black? Maybe I just need to look harder for the mites but i figured they would be fairly easy to see if they are there. It is a dark snake though...Does anyone have any opinions on this?

[Snake lover 3-25]

yeah i had those too.... they are just little wood bugs.... they do no harm to the snakes just change out the substrate and bake the other wooden things if you want them gone

[Aundrea]

Yep they are mites. I have him soaking now in some warm water. Poor guy. I saw one crawling all over his eye!!!!!!! Im gonna go get some stuff at petsmart tomorrow. I didnt get to go tonight. Ill keep him away from the others but I also will treat the others. UGH I HATE MITES LOL

[Hornets23]

Ahhh sweet. Thats good new shanley...Thanks! I'm still going to keep an eye on her but that a relief to hear.

yeah i had those too.... they are just little wood bugs.... they do no harm to the snakes just change out the substrate and bake the other wooden things if you want them gone

[reptile3]

Yep they are mites. I have him soaking now in some warm water. Poor guy. I saw one crawling all over his eye!!!!!!! Im gonna go get some stuff at petsmart tomorrow. I didnt get to go tonight. Ill keep him away from the others but I also will treat the others. UGH I HATE MITES LOL

That's a bummer.. Make sure you let that guy know, OK!!! water suffocates the mites, they little black looking ticks.

[drache]

you can also rub him down with some vegetable oil - the mites don't like it and it'sll protect him until you can treat him - in fact it used to be the treatment people used

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

The best time to nip mites in the bud is when the snake is ready to shed. You have to be able to catch it and you have to know when it's time, though. Right after the blue phase, a snake's cloudiness all but dissapears and while the snake looks duller than usual, the skin itself is clear again. That is the time when the snake will slough and if you are able to slough the skin for the snake very carefully and in one peice (it literally will slide right off and once started the snake will even help you) ALL the mites come off WITH the old skin and are stuck inside of it since the skin forms a compelte barrier and turns inside out upon being shed. Basically you end up with a mite free snake and an old nasty bag full of mites.. you can see them crawling insde the skin freaking out!!

I have used that to my advantage to successfuly eradicate mites. I just take one fingernail and gently slide it over the snakes nose and start the shed. It is important that the now mite free snake does NOT come into contact with his old skin, or his enclosure again until it has been COMPELTELY torn apart, sterilized, and cleaned. Anything pourous should be discarded and anything non porous should be HARDCORE washed.

and don't try it unless you are fully comfortable and capable of doing so , you don't want to hurt your snake!

[Aundrea]

Shannon I wish we lived by each other LOL

[infernalis]

I helped Carmella and Snowflake shed last night, just to be helpful.

Carmella was coming off in hunks, so I sprayed her with the zoo med stuff, and the rest peeled off nice.

Snowflake was rubbing the water bowl, I caught her, and zip-peeled right off.

[Aundrea]

I wish i could do that. I dont know if they would let me help them peel. Well I think Bennie would but the others dunno. I need to get some of that Zoo Meds shed stuff. That would help them better.