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[marvelfreak]

Originally Posted by Will0W783

Marvelfreak, I still wouldn't chance it. There's no earthly reason to put a towel in with a snake. They can't get warmth from it as they do not make their own body heat. They don't require a soft bed; they are quite content to curl up under things on hard surfaces. Besides, towels mold easily if damp. Just not a good idea IMHO. I would put your snake on aspen or cypress mulch if you want it to have something other than paper to lie on, and remove the towel immediately.

OK! I took the towel out. I really don't like news paper over time the ink has staind the cages.(white boaphile plastic cages) In the 15 years i had snakes i never used aspen or cypress or any of that kind of stuff, and none of my snakes have ever mites. Everyone i know who as use this kind of products have had mites problem at one time or another. Most mites reptiles get are wood mites. Guess where they live? If i used anything other than newspapers it would be sand.

[Will0W783]

The mite problems do not come from the bedding as long as you get your bedding from a reliable source. I can trace my mite outbreak to a kingsnake I adopted from a pet store and did not realize he had mites until I had infested my whole collection (I was young and stupid, thinking "oh mites won't happen to me because I buy from reliable sources"). Well the truth is no matter how good a breeder is, everyone gets mites at least once. Quarantining can keep the impact to a minimum. But snake bedding bought from a show or a breeder should never have mites in it.

And wood mites and snake mites are not the same thing, from what information I can find. Wood mites are members of Oribatidae, and are generally white. Snake mites are of the family Hypoaspis. Wood mites do not infest snakes, and snake mites do not infest wood. Snake mites are dark brown to black, and honestly look like tiny, flat ticks. Wood mites look like tiny dust spots with legs that move.

[marvelfreak]

My friend Shawn Savu Python had the white wood mites all over his cage about a week after Shawn put part of a bag of Aspen in it's cage. He got it at a pet store we don't normally go to, be cause your normal one was out. The bag had a small rip in it, but he got it anyway. (the last one they had.) We never seen white ones before. So we looked them up. We found out they were wood mites. We got the rest of the bag and dumped it in to a black trash bag. Took about a minute to see the first one moving around.(white wood mites) On a side note. He was telling me when he stop back in to tell the owner about it. He was looking around a notice 5 RTB and 3 other snakes had black mite on them. When he told the owner he just said " the reptile girl on vaction i tell her when she gets back next week." Shawn told him that "they could be dead by then." The owner said "i don't like reptile and don't touch them or have anything to do with them." As walking out Shawn said" and you run a pet store what a -uckin dumba-s." That was 8 months ago an we never been back.

[Will0W783]

I don't blame you. I would not go back either. I get my bedding from two places, both of which I know are clean and well-run pet stores. Or I get it at shows.

[never25]

ya, i used to get aspen at the local petsmart. i got mites once, i dont know where but the biggest reason i switched to paper was because how expensive it was getting as i got more snakes, i now have 15. its so much easier.

[mykee]

Wood mites LIVE in wood when the temperatures are acceptable enough for them to do so. They pose ZERO risk to your reptiles and are just a necessary evil if you keep your reptiles (or rodents) on shavings or chips.
You cannot avoid them.
Period.