my bci has mites...

[lougotzz]

My boa has mites. Never had to deal with this before. What's the best way to get rid of them? I'm gonna switch to F/T mice from now on.

[Starbuck]

you should not be getting mites from live mice unless the mouse was placed in the cage of a snake with mites, refused, and then removed and fed to your snake. The mites also did not come from substrate (unless your substrate was also from another snakes cage).

if youve handled someone elses snakes recently, been to an expo, recently added a decorative element to your cage that could have been in contact with another snake, or brought a new snake home, those things could have introduced mites to your snake.

alternatively, your snake could have HAD mites and you didnt realize until now. what are you seeing that makes you positive it has mites?

PAM is recomended on this forum pretty commonly, but ive never used it so cant help you further.

[lougotzz]

I do throw the mouse in its cage, I know im not supposed to, but I do. There are little black bugs crawling around on the snake. There are dead black bugs in the water dish. They only started appearing after my snakes last meal.

[Lankyrob]

Originally Posted by lougotzz

I do throw the mouse in its cage, I know im not supposed to, but I do. There are little black bugs crawling around on the snake. There are dead black bugs in the water dish. They only started appearing after my snakes last meal.

Had the mouse been with another snake at all? As said above there is no way a mouse would be carrying snake mites

[lougotzz]

Im really not sure. The mouse could have went in with another snake, i got it from my pet store.

There are little black bugs in the cage. How do I get rid of them? If they arnt mites, what else could it be?

[Lankyrob]

Can you give a detailed description or get a decent picture of them? Have you changed/added anything in the enclosure recently?

[lougotzz]

I just checked my corn snake and she is completely clean. I get her food from the same store I get my Boas rodents.

There appear to be two types of bugs. One type is like a round black ball, very small, slow moving. The other type appears to be more on the red side, faster moving, smaller than the black bugs. There also appears to be a few tannish reddish bumps "growing" on the snake, I don't remember seeing that as part of his skin pattern.

The only thing I can think of is a few weeks ago, (3-4 weeks approx) my friend wanted me to bring the boa to her house. A few days after i brought it she told me her dog had fleas. The snake never crawled around on her floor, but it was at her house for at least two to three hours. I kept it in a small snake tub that it stayed in.

[lougotzz]

Also, the red bugs arnt really round, theyre flatter.

[Starbuck]

mammalian fleas should not bother your snake at all, and i definitely dont think they would have persisted in your snakes tank for this long, unless you have cats/dogs. A friend was cat-sitting and the cats had fleas and would sleep on top of the snake cages; so she had fleas in her snake tank. Fleas will be similar in size to a flake of pepper, and be significantly taller than wide (laterally flattened), they will also jump out of the way if you try to catch them. Snake mites are dorsoventrally flattened, and will hide out between the scales; it definitely sounds as though you have snake mites.

there are lots of threads recommending PAM on this forum; follow the directions on the jar carefully.

the other bugs you are seeing could be wood mites which pose no danger to your snake. they would be from something in the environment, new substrate, a new branch, etc.



R>E> the mouse: mites could definitely be from the petstore if they offered the mouse to a snake there and it was then refused. you CAN put prey in the snake's home-tank, but NEVER leave live prey unattended with your snake.

[Snowshoes]

I just had a horrible bout of mites with my new Ball. She had them at the petstore. We tried Zoo med mite off. DID not work. Provent-A-Mite is not available locally ( not to my knowledge anyway) so we used NIX (yes the lice junk) it has the same active ingredient. Apparently, lots of other people use it too. Dilute the 2 oz bottle to a whole gallon of distilled water. Google it, I'm glad I did. Oh! it HAS to be NIX not "rid" brand. (it has a different active ingredient. If you find something else better in your research, let me know Also, it's best to go a head and treat all of your reptiles for mites, as they can travel some 15 feet a day.

Good luck

[MDT]

Take everything out of the enclosure. Paper towels (or similar) for substrate. Either wash the snot out of everything (like dishwasher washing) or pitch it.

I have used this-- http://www.reptilebasics.com/reptile-relief-8-oz. in the past...I had very good results. There have been threads on PAM and other options like Starbuck suggested. Get them beat down quickly.

[Jendee]

nix lice shampoo will kill all bugs on your boa. Buy a pack of 2 oz bottles. take 2 ozs of shampoo put it in a 1 gallon (empty) milk jug container. fill with water mix it up. clean out cage bleach allow to dry outside. do not replace substrate or water bowl(12 hours after treatment) keep cage empty. spray boa and cage down with the nix mixture.
nix shampoo is baby safe fully concentrated, its 100% safe and has been used previously in this manner/mixture without harm on boas

[Snowshoes]

I would also switch to a paper substrate for a while so you can see the mites better. 1 treatment of the nix should be enough, but treat again in 5-7 days just in case. It is safe to spray around the head of the snake. get into all folds of skin because the mites will hide near the eyes and heat vents. Keep the Nix/ water mixture somewhere dark, as light will break down the nix active ingredient. It should keep for 1 year. I just bought a 2 pack of 2 oz bottles at walmart for $15, and distilled water is cheap too.

[BoaBoy91]

can you use regular faucet water and a milk jug

[KORBIN5895]

They recommend distilled water.

You got the mites just by being in the pet store that you got the mice from. Your corn will get them. Bleach won't kill them.