Gravid Female with mites?? HELP!!

[Snakefood]

I have never had mites, so I need help to figure out if that is what is going on and what to do if it is.

I have a female BP who has gone through her post ovulation shed, I checked in on her tonight and there are little white things on her head and some on her body, they are NOT MOVING, not one little bit.

I brought a new addition (a Cornsnake) in 10 days ago, he is in quarantine in a separate room and I see NOTHING on him, nothing at all, but... there are a few black spots at the bottom of his water dish that I just noticed when I went to check to see if he had anything, black or white, moving or not on him. Again, there is nothing on the new snake and I see nothing moving on his white paper either, just the few black spots in his water dish.

So, is it mites on my female BP?? If so, what do I do?? I know that most here will say Prevent A Mite, however:
A) Is it safe to use on gravid females?... and:
B) What do I use if I can't find it?? (I have never seen this product in Canada, however, I have also never looked for it!

Also, if it is mites that means they have moved from one room to the next, I have snakes in 3 rooms of my house, the quarantine room, my bedroom (this is where my gravid female is that I see the white spots on) and in what I have built into the "snake nook" (a little space off of the living room), I have females who have been paired in both my bedroom and the snake nook, some I know are gravid, some I am not yet sure of. Do I treat everyone and every room??

Please help, I have never dealt with this before, and have not found any threads regarding mites and gravid females. I simply don't know what to do and am quite worried.

anyone who can give me useful and fast responses so I can DO SOMETHING, please do!! If I am worried over nothing and this is not a case of mites, please let me know so I can stop worrying about my gals!!
:hmm:

[Tsubaki]

Could you take a clear picture of the white 'things' you found? And try to see if the black things in the bottom of the water container have legs.

[Lankyrob]

From memeory, white bugs are more likely to be wood mites than snake mites. I believe all snake mites are black.

Have you added substrate or bought any substrate into the room recently? I regulalry get little bugs in my snakes viv when i get new substrate, i just ignore them until they drown themselves in the waterbowl

[formica]

snake mites aren't white, dont panic :) you really dont need to worry about them very much, white mites can be any number of mite species, the most dangerous are predatory, but they are only a problem for other mites


I find it highly unlikely that a pesticide is suitable for a gravid snake, and would be suspicious if the packaging didnt make that clear


but since they arent snake mites, there isnt much to worry about either way.


as asked already, have you added substrate to the enclosure? and (dont be offended..) is her enclosure as spotlessly clean, and cleaned as often, as it should be?

[Snakefood]

I use paper substrate, except for my mice and rats, which are in the next room.

I will check tonight after work to see if the black things in the water bowl have legs and try to get the best pic of this as I can.

As for cleanliness, I clean out her enclosure fully once/week when she is out for feeding, her feeding day is tonight, so it has been a week since the last full clean out. Of course I remove feces as I see them.

Thank you guys, this makes me feel better, as I stated before I have never had mites so really didn't know what to look for and was especially worried since she and some of my other females are gravid.

[KORBIN5895]

Why are you removing them for feeding? That may not be the best idea.

[Snakefood]

I have always tub fed my snakes, nobody has ever said anything against it before now???

[KORBIN5895]

I'm not sure about royals but handling gravity boas is a bad idea or at least frowned upon in the boa world.

[Aaron_S]

I have always tub fed my snakes, nobody has ever said anything against it before now???

There's tons of info on just doing it in their enclosures.
It's personal preference but when it comes to breeding animals, especially past post ov it's my personal opinion to leave the female alone.

She hasn't ovulated most likely if she's still eating by the way.

[Snakefood]

ok, duly noted. I have always taken feeding time to do a thorough cleaning on their enclosures. That has been the only time I have handled my breeding females during the season. But if I should stop, then I will.

Seems a long time to not do a really good clean on their enclosure though?? Or am I being too OCD on that one??

She has refused her last two meals, which is VERY unlike her, she is usually an enthusiastic and avid feeder!!

[Lankyrob]

I rarely thoroughly clean enclosures, i religiously spot clean and remove a good portion of substrate around the "waste" and then replace with another handful of new substrate.

[KORBIN5895]

ok, duly noted. I have always taken feeding time to do a thorough cleaning on their enclosures. That has been the only time I have handled my breeding females during the season. But if I should stop, then I will.

Seems a long time to not do a really good clean on their enclosure though?? Or am I being too OCD on that one??

She has refused her last two meals, which is VERY unlike her, she is usually an enthusiastic and avid feeder!!

I just changed the cocohusk in one of my enclosures for the first time in like 15-18 months.

[Aaron_S]

ok, duly noted. I have always taken feeding time to do a thorough cleaning on their enclosures. That has been the only time I have handled my breeding females during the season. But if I should stop, then I will.

Seems a long time to not do a really good clean on their enclosure though?? Or am I being too OCD on that one??

She has refused her last two meals, which is VERY unlike her, she is usually an enthusiastic and avid feeder!!

You left out the refusing to eat part. If you're 100% sure she's ovulated then just stop offering. Leave her alone and spot clean (if you use substrate) as needed.

I still clean my bins through this time but since they stopped eating it's less frequently needed. I simply handle to put into a bin, clean and put back if need be. I use newspaper though so it all comes out easily and quickly.
Since you clean and feed at the same time it's about the same.

[Snakefood]

yes, and I use paper also.

Sorry about leaving out the refused feedings as I was expecting it since she shed. I am waiting for another of my bred females to shed, I checked this morning and her eyes have gone "blue",....so soon!! She is also not eating which again I expected.

[Snakefood]

ok, so:

1) I cannot see anything resembling "legs" on the black specks in the new cornsnakes water dish.

2) All the pics I took of the female BP with white spots did not show the white specks on the photo's.

C) the white specks on her head are now gone, there are still 1 or 2 along the length of her body.

D) Mykee says that treating a gravid female with Nix will not harm her or the eggs.

So...... were they mites?? Should I leave it alone or should I treat all my snakes "just in case"??