Mites are the least of your worries. Check out the list of nasty things that can be transmitted through fecal matter. Enatamoeba, coccidia, and cryptosporidium come to mind immediately. These can all cause death. Crypto has no treatment. I know it's rare, but if you bring it into your collection, you can kiss them all goodbye if you're not exercising reasonable quarantine practices. Washing your hands, and keeping cage furniture absolutely separate go a long way towards protecting your collection from possible transmission. I agree...if your collection is all long-term residents, I dont see a need to be as rigorous.
Hand washing is the number one way to minimize transmission of common diseases between humans. Why some people think it has no value in herpetoculture is beyond me.
Roy
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1 adult bull snake: "Dozer"; 1.1 juvenile bull snakes: Oscar and Phoebe; 3 baby red-sided garters; 1.1 macklot's pythons
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