Sick? Dying? What's going on?

[xPython Loverx]

My Ball Python is about 3 months old. It stopped eating about a month and a half ago and now it has these weird little black bugs??
We clean his cage once a week to make sure there is no bugs in there but they always come back.. Whats going on?! :confused:
Information would be greatly appreciated!
:)

[never25]

your snake has mites. you need to soak the snake and get medicine for it. Provent-a-mite worked good for me. when you soak it the mites can't live in the water. put the snake in room tempature water and use the Provent-a-mite as directed. i lost one of my bps at about that same age due to mites. you can due a search on google for additional info and im sure some of the other guys will give you some good advice. good luck

[Chu'Wuti]

There are instructions on this forum for using Nix to rid your snake of mites. Nix is much less expensive than Provent-a-Mite from what has been said on this site, and it's the same active ingredient. Nix will get rid of the eggs, too.

Here's where instructions for getting rid of mites is posted:
http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/general-discussion/17014-nix-treatment-snake-mites.html

[starry11]

Make sure to treat the cage really well and the surrounding area too. Ive treated my snake before and then not done the cage thouroghly enough and the little pests came back. If it's a wooden cage you may want to move your snake into a simple plastic rub setup until you are sure the mites are gone as it can be a pain trying to treat the cage if it's got tons of joins and cracks. Giving your snake some time to soak in water is good as it will keep it hydrated and as a bonus mabye kill a few mites:)

[starry11]

sorry to post again but i forgot to ask is it a new snake? if it's only three months old then i'm assuming so. He probobaly had mites when you got him and theyve been breeding ever since. mites will make a snake go off food as they irritate them. It will also make your snake ill if not treated so id try to get it sorted as soon as you can. Check the substrate, what kind are you using at the moment. They can get mites from there too. Whilst treating the snake switch to newspaper or kitchen roll and after use aspen or newspaper as bark is rubbish for harbouring bugs and pests. Kepp things minimilistic aswell and give the mites less places to hide.

[Chu'Wuti]

White paper toweling is a good substrate during treatment & for awhile after, as you will be able to see immediately if your snake still has mites or if mites are hatching out in the enclosure. As Starry says, changing to a different container would be good to prevent reinfection until you are certain mites have been eliminated completely from the regular enclosure. The link I posted has complete instructions.

[asudeM]

I don't have a snake but I do know that the mites hide in the skin somehow. So just keep a good eye around your snakes body, thats where they might be hiding.