HELP I think I have mites

teague · 08-10-09, 01:19 PM

Today I noticed my BP shed so I moved her hide and amoungst her shed was feces covered in little tiny white bugs. Are these mites? Or some kind of bug that was living in the substrate before I bought it? Please help, I hate bugs!

Will0W783 · 08-10-09, 01:39 PM

Oh dear, that is awful. Mites are not white, they are black and to me look like black sesame seeds. They are oval and if you look closely you can see the little legs at the narrow end. White bugs sound to me like maggots. If you have a screen lid that has fairly large gaps, it is possible a fly got in there and laid eggs in the feces and the maggot larvae are what you saw. It is also possible there were eggs in the substrate and they hatched and are feeding on the feces. Whatever the case, I would immediately remove the snake, dump out all that substrate, and scrub the cage down with a mixture of 2Tbsp bleach to 1 gallon of water. Clorox Anywhere spray works well also; it is basically a 10% bleach mixture. After using the bleach solution, you want to rinse down the cage really well with plain running water. Also remove all hides and perches and clean those down with bleach mixture followed by rinsing with water. You can also soak the snake in PLAIN water 85 degrees, for 10-15 minutes and look for any bugs that fall off it, although I doubt this is a mite problem. Once you have cleaned and dried the cage, put fresh substrate in and the hide and water bowl. Hopefully that will do it, but keep an eye out for any more of the bugs. Did you happen to take a picture?

Will0W783 · 08-10-09, 01:40 PM

One more thing, it is also possible that your snake has an internal parasite. They often defecate during or after shedding, so you might want to take a fecal sample to your herp vet if you have one.

gonesnakee · 08-10-09, 02:07 PM

Likely harmless nats/flies. I get them every summer in my enclosures with Aspen in them.
They tend to only be around fecal matter & are attracted to the water dishes as well.
Find them moreso in the higher humidity enclosures.
IF they appear maggot like or long & thin they could potentially be pinworms (BAD!) an internal parasite. Mark

teague · 08-11-09, 04:48 AM

Thank you so much. I don't think they are maggots because they also had little legs. They were probably no bigger that a grain of sand, but in an oval shape. I didn't find any on my snake. I will bleach out the tank, and wash all the hides and decor. I doubt I could get a picture of them they were so small. Once I removed the feces they scattered. Thanks again, I'll keep you posted.

teague · 08-19-09, 07:10 PM

Ok I bleached everything out that day, found a new poo yesterday, no bugs!!! Thanks for all the input.

Will0W783 · 08-20-09, 07:45 AM

No problem, glad you got rid of them.