mites!

Allanira · 11-12-10, 10:12 AM

I have 2 baby ball pythons. They have been very good eater until recently when 1 decided she didnt want to eat. I have the temp set in their tank at 88 degrees. I have a red bulb and a uth. I looked at them yesterday and I saw mites. I imediately started soaking them in a mix of about a dime size of dawn soap, about the same of salt and water. I soaked them for about 30 min. They were NOT happy with me. I also have newspaper in as a substrat, bleached out their enclosure, and all the furnishing. Soaked all the furnishing over night in bleach then rinsed them well. I am going to order some reptile relief? I think its called and some PAM for the enclosure. I think I got the mites from the petstore that I got the baby that doesnt want to eat right now. I have been putting them in a seperate container to feed them. Any and all advise is appreciated TY in advance

Ch^4 · 11-12-10, 12:55 PM

That's unfortunate to hear. Did you quarantine the new baby before introducing it to the same enclosure as your other BP?

Here is a good thread on mites and getting rid of them. I am fortunate enough to not have had this problem, but the advice is very good and I've been using preventative measures regardless.

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/gener...650-mites.html

Hope that helps!

infernalis · 11-12-10, 12:55 PM

Please don't soak them in that mixture ever again, it's not good for the snakes.

Mites are a problem almost all of us have faced at some point.

Don't ever listen to anybody who tries to tell you that it's your fault, or that it only happens to snakes kept in dirty cages. That would be the same mentality that only poor people ever get lice.

Mites are a parasite, a bug.. They can get onto your snakes in many ways.

However it is most likely that if they are babies, that you probably got your snakes already pre-infested.

Bleach does very little and does not always kill all the eggs. It's a great disinfectant for germs, but not insects.

Lice bedding spray sold at the drug store has done wonders, and it was recently posted that it contains the same exact ingredient as PAM but at a better price.

There will be lots of other posters telling you what works for them, listen close, they have all had snakes for a lot of years..

Enjoy the forums..

Freebody · 11-12-10, 01:09 PM

Learn About Head Lice – Find Information to Detect, Eliminate & Prevent Headlice | Nix Lice Treatment this is what i was told to use and it worked for me, you get it and any pharmany, you mix the bottle into 4 litres ie 1 gallon of water or as directed on your box, spray everything and your snake let it sit for 2-3 days then wash it all off, 1 treatment usually works but you can do 2 to be safe or it you still see live one. you can spray a perimiter around you cages as well.

good luck, i had them just a few months back and it worked great after 1 treatment. just make sure to take any insect out of the area, like spriders crickets, scorpions....

Jay · 11-12-10, 05:35 PM

The nix solution !!! google it it worked great for me !

Allanira · 11-12-10, 05:59 PM

I am now just soaking them in water. I think they got them from either the pet shop I got them from or from me messing with other pythons that the first shop. I got them on the same day just from 2 different locations. One was from the Pheonix show and the other was from the Pittsburg show. I will definitely look into the nix solution. Its been suggested a lot. Does the lice bedding spray work well on them? I know its not my fault they got them because I spot clen their enclosure every day that it needs it. I really dont care where I got them the mission Im on is getting RID if them lol. On the lice thing its not just poor people. Growing up I was very prone to them. I had them about 3x a year back when I was a kid lol. Thank goodness that was a while ago and I am no longer prone lol. TY again for the advise.

Allanira · 11-13-10, 07:07 AM

Thank goodness for common sense on here. I am on another forum also and they are basicly yelling at me because I have them housed together in the same tank. I have a sheet covering all the sides to cut off my cats viewing of them. They are the same size and everything but Ala is darker than Ajali. These are my first BPs. I have been playing with the idea for years of getting 1 but havent until now. Is it good to have 4 hides in the tank also? I have 2 on the warm side and 2 on the cooler side and water in the middle. I do want to get a wooden show case eventually but not right now. They are just too young and would be lost in it. I would never find them lol. I soaked them again last night in plain water and then took my tweezers to them to get the ones that didnt fall off in the water. Let me tell you they were not happy. But after all this is said and done they will be. TY again guys. I am going to get some nix tooday and start the mixing. They are now making combo packs with the nix and bedding spray in 1 pack that I am going to pick up. The bottle is smaller than the one in the googling I found I think. I just wish that it didnt take me having to do this. I dont like mites. I dont care if its on my snakes, geckos, dogs, cats or husband. They make my skin crawl not to mention are nasty looking. Oh that reminds me. I need to put frontline on the dogs lol. TY again. have a great one. Will keep yall posted on how it goes.

citysnakes · 11-13-10, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allanira

Thank goodness for common sense on here. I am on another forum also and they are basicly yelling at me because I have them housed together in the same tank.

ok honey, you do need to house ball pythons separately if you want them to thrive in your care. they are not yelling at you to be mean, they are trying to inform you on how to properly care for and house your snakes.

are you sure that the little bugs you are seeing are actually snake mites and are you attributing the reason why one snake is not eating solely to the mite infestation?

while many snakes infested with mites will refuse food, ball pythons suffering from the stress of a cagemate will also commonly refuse food.

also how are you measuring your cage temperatures? are you using a a digital thermometer or an analog dial type and where in the cage are you getting this reading? is your UTH being controlled by a thermostat?

your snakes may not be eating now due to a mite infestation, improper temperatures, lack of a sense of security and stress due to a cagemate (either a more dominant or even just the presence of one).

you need to correct these environmental errors before you can determine the reason or reasons why your ball is not eating.

also balls kept in proper conditions that occasionally refuse food may simply just not be hungry. a healthy happy ball that refuses a meal or few is nothing to worry about. in your case i would correct much of the environment before i would ever consider them healthy or happy.

if you determine that you actually do have mites then buy a can of PAM and follow the directions. as you have already done, strip down your enclosure, or better yet enclosures, to only newspaper substrate, two hides and a water bowel. be careful with any mite treatment that you decide to use as they can be harmful to you animals.

good luck.

shaunyboy · 11-13-10, 10:39 AM

the above post covers it all

i use

PROVENT A MITE

its always worked 100% first time every time for me

it remains active for 30 days

cheers shaun

infernalis · 11-13-10, 07:41 AM

Is that your thread on Fauna classified you mention??

baby not eating. - FaunaClassifieds

Allanira · 11-13-10, 08:11 AM

yep. I think now the reason shes not eating is because of the mites. Im gonna wait a week after this next treatment and try her again. I also think shes not hungry right now.

Allanira · 11-16-10, 08:02 AM

Oh yeah they were mites. all over under the chin and crawling on me when I picked the babies up. I squiched a couple and it was a bloody smear left behind. I turned on the light in the kitchen and looked they were all over under the scales on both. in the little fold of skin under their chins around their eyes and in the heat pits. It gave me the heepy jeebies lol. My husband was laughing at me cause I was doing the whole skin crawling yuck sound about it. I still have them on paper towels right now. I didnt see any live ones yesterday and havent looked today. They are stayin on paper towels for a while right now. I am going to start ordering the substrat online and spraying everything weekly after moving them out of the room. I dont need this to happen to them. The hubbies already said if they die Im not getting any more. Besides I dont want them to die just cause they are now part of this family and their babies. Should I try to feed them today? I havent messed with them except to see that they dont have any live mites on them. I am letting them relax right now. I am looking at getting another 20 or 29 gallon tank for 1 of them. with all the stuff that they need. I have a rheostat with an analog temp gauge and an analog temp on the cooler side. The cooler side is staying around 80 and the warmer around 88. I would like to get a temp gun but gotta wait a bit before I get it. I also have the same rheostat on my green eyed geckos and the temp stays steady for them too. Their in a 55gal.

derekcm87 · 11-16-10, 08:12 AM

I have used the equate lice bedding spray from wal mart, same active ingredient as pam and only cost $4.00. Also I have used a diluted nix solution (2oz. of nix shampoo to a gallon of distilled water.) Got rid of the mites in about 2-3 treatments. Yeah mites are not from dirty cages, My cages are kept immaculate I wash them completely about every 2-3 days so they are in no way shape or form ever dirty. I picked up my mites from a local reptile show, probably brought them home on my clothes or something from a vendor. I know what alot of people say about not directly spraying your reptile with solution but with the above diluted solution, the person who I heard it from did and as did I and have had no ill affects whatsoever. The only important thing is you must soak your snake in a tub of warm water (about 88 degrees) for an hour to hydrate them. wash out their enclosure real good, spray it with the nix solution, spray the bedding, put the snake in, spray the snake (the solution will dry on the snake this is why soaking is necessary for hydration) Take out the water bowl for 12 hours. then put it back in and repeat steps above untill no more dead mites are found on the newspaper/papertowels. Also the equate bedding spray can be used by removing the snake from the enclosure, spraying every where (lightly, dont over due it where its running down the sides and creating puddles.) let it dry and put the snake back in and any mites that come in contact will die. Do not spray the snake with the equate bedding spray directly.

shaunyboy · 11-16-10, 08:22 AM

imo the great thing about provent a mite is...

you only have to use it once.no need for repeat treatments

its made for reptile use

it stays active for 30 days.so no mites survive

in all the years ive kept snakes its worked first time every time.with no adverse reactions from my snakes

you do not spray the snake with this treatment

only the tank and the contents of the tank with the exception of the water bowl.just wash that with hot soapy water

put snake in a different room for 2 hours then put everything including the snake back into tank.job done...!!

cheers shaun

derekcm87 · 11-16-10, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaunyboy

imo the great thing about provent a mite is...

you only have to use it once.no need for repeat treatments

its made for reptile use

it stays active for 30 days.so no mites survive

in all the years ive kept snakes its worked first time every time.with no adverse reactions from my snakes

you do not spray the snake with this treatment

only the tank and the contents of the tank with the exception of the water bowl.just wash that with hot soapy water

cheers shaun

This is true, provent a mite is probably the easiest and like said above, only one treatment is needed and prevents for 30 days, I only learned of this new treatment that I mentioned and know that it worked for me because, Once I realized I had the mites, I freaked and went directly to get the equate bedding spray (once again same as pam) because I did not want to wait for the pam to be shipped and of course wal mart was out of the equate at the time so I went the other route. But If I had the pam Id use that over the diluted nix solution.

Good luck. Mites Suck plain and simple.