Redtail infested with mites
I just now noticed this thread, and wish I had noticed it sooner. Last June I purchased a redtail boa from Mark Carmany, of Tarheel Reptiles. He was very polite and helpful in all of the Emailings I did with him, however the boa I recieved was COVERED in mites. I didn't notice them the first day, or the second day I don't think, but the third day I was handling the boa, and noticed mites crawling all over my hands and arms. He told me that there might have been one or two mites when it left his posession, but that it was a very unusual ocurrance, and that they would be very simple for me to get rid of.
I was scheduled for foot surgery on both of my feet within several weeks and did my best to rid him of the mites as I could, but they turned out to be just too much, especially on a 5 foot snake. He had offered to give me a full refund and help me through advice as much as he could, but up until the point that I stopped communicating with him I told him it was alright, but that I was very upset to find mites on him.
Not only did they spread to all of the rest of my other snakes, but I wound up having to give the boa away as I was unable to walk and rinse him daily and treat him and his environment as needed. I barely was able to treat my existing snakes, and I had to ask friends to come over for hours each day to help me with that. It took me months to get rid of the mites. I had never had a snake with mites before, and it caused me months of grief. I spent hours upon hours rinsing the boa off in the shower, watching hundreds (literally hundreds, I'm not exaggerating) of mites flow down the drain, and checking underneath the scales trying to pick off as many individuals as I could before coating him in reptile relief, and baby oil, and treating his cage.
It's not a fluke occurance. It's not a coincidence that two people get snakes covered in mites from the same person. I had to give away a several hundred dollar snake, because it was covered in mites, and there's no way I could sell him with a clean conscience. I heavily warned the new owner of the mites, and showed them to him myself so he knew what he was getting into. I felt extremely guilty as it was, knowing that I was putting mites into yet another household.
It is a very poor business that would send mites into someone's home. I would never do business with Tarheel again. He was very decent to me, and offered me a full refund and to take the snake back, but the damage had been done - my whole collection infested, even with a quarentine. It's not worth it.
