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Veterinarian Practice & General Health Issues Anything to do with veterinarians, health issues, pathogens, hygiene, or sanitation.

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Old 03-30-2018, 12:43 AM   #1
BlueCrowned
What happened to my milk snake?

I have had my nelson's milk snake for three months now and I just went to feed her and found her dead. She is covered in mites but i never noticed any mites at all prior to her death. There is no way I would miss that on a bright red snake. I have had mites before so I know what to look for. I did notice her soaking but I know I have a minor humidity problem and I'm working on getting them all in bins to help with that so I thought nothing of it. None of my other snakes seem to have any problems or signs of mites. She appeared to be in shed for a few days before i found her dead. She was eating great and only missed her last meal due to being in shed. What happened here? How could I miss a mite problem until death?
 
Old 03-30-2018, 02:02 AM   #2
BlueCrowned
After some poking around I'm hearing that the only way a snake dies from mites is neglect. I assure you she was not neglected in any way. Here is a photo of the body. As soon as I saw the mites I rushed outside to get her away from my other animals so this was taken with a spotlight. The perfectly round dots appear to be mites. They were moving all over the body. The rest is eco earth.

 
Old 03-30-2018, 02:03 AM   #3
BlueCrowned
The pic didn't work, sorry.

 
Old 03-30-2018, 02:56 AM   #4
BlueCrowned
Upon closer inspection and further research I am fairly confident impaction from eco earth killed her. She has a ton in her mouth.
 
Old 03-30-2018, 08:48 AM   #5
bcr229
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueCrowned View Post
Upon closer inspection and further research I am fairly confident impaction from eco earth killed her. She has a ton in her mouth.
Not necessarily. Snakes in their death throes will often snap at anything so she could have grabbed a mouthful of the eco earth as she was dying.

Also if she was on the eco earth that's likely why you didn't notice the mites as they'd blend right in to the substrate.

How long did you have her?
 
Old 03-30-2018, 08:49 AM   #6
bcr229
Never mind, saw you had her for three months. How long did you quarantine her?
 
Old 03-30-2018, 09:07 AM   #7
Morticia
Just as a peace of mind, I had a small GTP for a few months. Now I look at this snake every day, he's displayed right next to my gaming PC, which I sit at for the better part of every night after work. I went to bed on a Friday, woke up on Saturday and he was COVERED. I'm talking mites here, mites there, mites climbing out of the freakin enclosure. I had taken a photo holding that snake 2 days prior, not one on it. They just seem to EXPLODE. So, very well could have been that you hadn't seen them, and they sucked her dry overnight.
 
Old 03-30-2018, 10:14 AM   #8
BlueCrowned
I wasn't able to quarantine her properly in a completely separate room but I did the best i could for a month.

I inspected my other snakes and didn't notice any mites, Fwiw.
 
Old 03-30-2018, 10:32 AM   #9
bcr229
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueCrowned View Post
I wasn't able to quarantine her properly in a completely separate room but I did the best i could for a month.

I inspected my other snakes and didn't notice any mites, Fwiw.
Mites travel. Even though you aren't seeing them on your other snakes now it's a good bet the rest of your snakes have them. Also a female mite that has had a blood meal can survive for many months before needing to feed again. You absolutely must treat the rest of your snakes and I wouldn't get any new ones any time soon.

QT is at least 90 days with the snake on paper substrate because that lets you see mites quickly.
 
Old 03-30-2018, 10:41 AM   #10
BlueCrowned
One of the snakes in question is an amel corn snake. I would see any dark specks on her right away.

The supposed mites on the milk snake seemed different than the ones on my boa when she had them. Could they have been a harmless mite in the substrate which appeared after her death?
 

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