Some kind of infection?

[Pinepusher]

My BP has some kind of disc looking thing behind it's head. It almost looks like a deformation of somekind. Anyone know what it is? It's about the size of a couple of scales or something. It's really wierd.

[SilverTongue]

post a pic please

[Pinepusher]

I won't be able to get my hands on my digital camera until this weekend but I took a closer look and then went back through my BP handbook and I think it's a tick!!! I don't really know how she could have gotten one, I didn't notice it when I bought her but then again she stayed in a loose ball the whole time I insp[ected her so I must have missed it.(I've only had her for about 2 mon.) She's abot 3 foot long and captive bred(last of the litter), but was housed w/ wild caughts so that would be my guess. I heard you are suppose to swab it w/ alchohol and then use tweezer by the head to pull it out. I'm not so sure I wanna do this in case I mess up and leave the head :(. I'll post pics this weekend and get your guys' insight. Any ideas what to do if its a tick?

[Big Mike]

You could always take her to a vet

[Scotty Allen]

Easiest way to remove a single tick is to touch it with the business end of a lit cigarette. They usually let go (the tick) at this point and you can pick them off with a pair of tweezers. Be sure to crush the tick, they're amazingly tough.

[Pinepusher]

You sure about the lit cigarette thing? Sounds kind of risky. I don't want to wait to take her to the vet. I think she has mites too. and who knows what else.

[JamesBryan]

Probably is a tick, but a pic would be best. Hopefully it is just the one, but it is possible that they are in the enclosure now. There are several chemicals you can use to treat the enclosure and the animal. Recently, a vet friend was telling me that one of the drop a month products for dogs has been approved for reptiles. You could check with your vet for a specific recommendation. Pull the tick (the alcohol can help get the tick to let go and will help kill germs on the surface) and clean everything out. Those pest strips people use for mites are not very effective against ticks. Ticks are tougher than mites, but don't populate like mites do.
Your vet may want the tick since it came in with imports. There are people who test ticks from imports to track diseases etc. I guess there is a job for everyone<g>.

James Bryan

[P.curtus]

If it is atick don't be afraid to pull it out with some tweezers. The reason you did'nt see it at first is because it was too small. It has since fed on your snake and blew up. As for the mites, no pest strip works great. There are a couple of sprays available, but the no pest strip works best.