mites????

Please tell me this is not a huge problem....
I just cleaned out my BRB tank and I scooped out the poo and thought I saw some movement. Oh, $*%^^# I think, he's got parasites, as the poo was fresh. No, no worms. Thhats the good news. Bad news is that on further inspection I did see maybe 3 small white buggers walking around on the poo. Look kinda like itty bitty aphids. Now what?!?

IF they're white and you keep him on wood shavings, they may just be wood mites which are harmless.

Snake mites are generally black and the size of a pinhead when they start moving a lot.

Check under his chin in the crease of skin and around the eyes.

If you can post pics of what you found, please do so.

Well, the creature commonly called a snake mite is black, even when barely large enough to be seen...so the first chore is to figure out what you are seeing (or at least where it came from). What type of substrate are you using?

Pretty much what they said. Sounds like wood mites. I've found it a good practice treat all wood or mulch substrates as if they had mites before I use them. I've heard of a couple ways to do this. I put it in a big plastic sterlite bin, and spray real good with P.A.M. close lid and tumble the bin, then do it again after about 10 minutes.

You MUST aerate the substrate before using in a viv, but can leave it in the bin to store it.

I have heard of people baking their substrate @ 250° for an hour too. I do not know how effective this really is, as I never tried it first hand. But I have baked wood decor before. Especially if it's something I just picked up somewhere in nature.

Even reptile mites can be dealt with fairly easy if you catch them early. Some times in just one treatment, but usually by two if it's done properly.

Keep us up on what it actually is.
Rick

Whew!!! Thanks all. I dont have any pics of the buggers, I kinda trashed them and promptly took the trash out. They are most def NOT black. I'd say white with maybe a tinge of pale green/yellow. I am currently keeping him on coconut stuff, but will be switching to cypress at the next bedding change. I'm glad you all say wood mites, I did have a piece of grapevine in there for him to climb on, but it started to rot and mold in the humidity so I took it out. Sounds like those guys may be remnants. I'm not seeing numbers that I'd call anything close to infestation. Really I've only seem the few last night. I did give him a good look over and didnt see anything crawling on him at all. His scales look very nice, shiny, healthy, no spots or anything. His head also looks great- clear, shiny, healthy. Do I need to worry about them populating like crazy in my coco mulch? Will they continue to exist in there after the switch to cypress? If so, is that a problem?

Just treat the cypress. It's best to treat any type of mulch substrate, because they can come with goodies laying dormant in there just waiting for warmth and humidity to reach the next stage of life. I know a lot of people don't, but that's my practice on the occasion I use such things.

I guess I'll be getting some PAM then. I'm kinda paranoid about putting combustible materials like wood in my oven, so I think the PAM method may be the way to go....just to clarify- I put the cypress in an empty tub, spray it, just to coat or more? I'm assuming I toss it around to coat evenly? Repeat a 2nd time 10 min later, and then wait how long before putting it in the viv? I dont want a greasy snake!

Originally Posted by geckogrl6

I guess I'll be getting some PAM then. I'm kinda paranoid about putting combustible materials like wood in my oven, so I think the PAM method may be the way to go....just to clarify- I put the cypress in an empty tub, spray it, just to coat or more? I'm assuming I toss it around to coat evenly? Repeat a 2nd time 10 min later, and then wait how long before putting it in the viv? I dont want a greasy snake!

Not cooking pam....

Provent a Mite.

Again, you MUST let the substrate air out before usage. Otherwise it could be harmful to your snake.

Whew! THAT coulda went really badly lmao! Thank you rom both of us for THAT little clarification. How long does it need to air out?

Originally Posted by geckogrl6

Whew! THAT coulda went really badly lmao! Thank you rom both of us for THAT little clarification. How long does it need to air out?

probably says on the bottle. ive never used it, so i cant help you there