@tande Ok I have to ask as well. Have you thought about maybe having your reptile vet look Gary over? However maybe this is a bad idea because he might be stressed out even more. And there would be the chance of introducing mites to the vet……so yeah probably bad idea…… 
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It could be worth calling the vet and asking for their opinion on whether bringing him in would be safe, or if they feel he just seems ehxausted or dehydrated or something else they might recognize.
Some vets won’t tell you a thing unless they examine the animal In-Hand, but some are willing to at least advise on whether you should bring an animal in or treat conservatively at home.
(both approaches make very good sense in different cases)
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Maybe a electrolyte soak could help, if he is really dried out and dehydrated? The other problem with mites is the added stress to the animal in both having them, and trying to get rid of them. Some reptiles, even of the same species handle stress better then others -just like people. Stress can cause illness and worse in extreme cases. I would try a electrolyte soak and then just leave him be as much as possible, I wouldn’t take him to a vet unless he gets worse or you know he is sick.
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I’ve got a question about these electrolyte soaks. How do those work? What I mean is, snake skin is non-permeable, right? So is the hope that they will drink the electrolyte water? I haven’t done any research on these soaks, but I gotta tell you, it sounds like rubbish so far. Somebody school me.
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Snake skin is low-permeable, not non-permeable.
The electrolyte soak is more likely going to induce them to drink, which is where the potential benefits would come to play. That said, if the animal has miticide on it then it might not be prudent to soak them because the miticide could wash off and then be ingested which is to be avoided because it is highly toxic
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I’ll buy that over any of the electrolyte solution soaking through the skin. I’ve seen snakes swim in a river and they don’t puff up like rice afterwards. Heck, I’ve pulled ringneck snakes out of my pool skimmer after God knows how many hours in there and they were not waterlogged either.
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An electrolyte bath is actually a super smart idea considering how lethargic he’s acting. However after shedding, he hasn’t eaten BUT he has pooped, which I guess is a positive sign (me patting him and telling him ‘good job poopin’" like that vine with the toddler). He also now will right himself if upside down. I think he’s on the up and up now that he’s shed. I’ll grab some pedialyte (or just some salt to add to water) and give him a bath later tonight when i go to clean their enclosures.
I’ve also talked to the regional manager of petco now - he said the location hadn’t had mites for 8m and the rat snake was with them 3m. I showed pictures of Ely with the mites in his eyes saying that even I hecked it up - my best guess that maybe when he was put in the store enclosure he was free of them but picked them up from that enclosure. I hadn’t had another snake addition to my wild amount of animals since Gary in January and he surely didn’t come along with them from his breeder. I don’t even put substrate off the store shelf in my tanks; they hang out in my car for several weeks before i bring them in. ANYWAY, he asked me how much I spent on the mite treatment specifically for the texas rat snake, I said 55 dollars (since i bought a gallon of it), and he said there would be a gift card for me at the store with that amount in it. That honestly clears up any tiffs I have - he did say they were going to have a big sale on reptiles next month and I had to laugh it off being like yeah but I don’t want to add more animals to my collection until the mites are gone gone for at least a month (which I should be able to do before october’s Tinley show). ANYWAY…I think we’ll just use it for feeders for the frogs and go from there.
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Well I have to admit that the call you received from the regional manager is very surprising but I am glad you are being reimbursed for the product you had to buy. It’s hard to believe the rest of the reptiles were not infested. But as you said, it would be smart to stick with feeders, etc. and steer clear of the reptiles when you use your refund at Petco! 
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two updates - petco manager talked to me about it and also made sure to give us a good deal on feeder mice today + got us that gift card. Over all was an alright resolution. So that’s all done and dealt with.
other than that, mites are still only being found in the rat snake’s enclosure, so gonna give it a good wiping down or debating adding him to the tower of hognoses where its a small space (and easier to clean).
ALSO BONUS:
GARY IS DOING SOMUCH BETTER, he can move so much quicker now and actually managed to have a real hiss at me today. He’s on the upturn when I was fairly certain we’d lose him three days ago. Him shedding + extra soaks have helped so much for him. I’m going to try to feed him tonight with the rest of the hoggies.
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Glad to hear you got a resolution with the store that works for you, and omg GO GARY!!! I love coming in and seeing that he’s on the mend, hopefully he’s hungry tonight!
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Yay for Gary! I’m very happy he is feeling better!
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I’m soooooo glad Gary has got his “hiss” back! AND that Petco really did you right is just icing on the cake! Sometimes there are happy endings to unhappy stories and this is one occasion! Great job @tande!
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Gary looks great! Sounds like you’ve done great so far. Keep the rat snake away from the rest until you are sure there are no more mites, don’t wanna have to do the whole process all over. Better safe then sorry and all!
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so odd???
Gary developed an odd hunch back. He didn’t have a kink before. That hunch there is stiff, its like his “relaxed” position. His right part of his face also seems to droop a bit and his mouth has difficulties closing all the way at times.
??? can snakes have strokes??? I assume its a jaw problem.
Also did you know that closed tub + ball python = very very very stinky poops they just paint everywhere. I now know.
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This actually freaks me out! Kinks don’t just develop, to my knowledge? His jaw is different now too. I can only assume it’s not a kink from the skeletal system, must be neurological damage in the nervous system causing the nerves and muscles to fire or bunch up on there own? If that is true it would have to have been caused by the chemical mite treatment? I am sorry just so weird to me, I think we need to summon @t_h_wyman
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It must have been the mite treatment given he did seem to have this I just thought it was caused by the shed issue and it’d fix after he shed. He did not have this before treatment. He has not eaten yet and I have had to assist feed a BP once but never a hognose. He’s never been one to have appetite issues (fairly certain he ate before going into blue, so its been ~3w since he last ate).
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I wouldn’t worry about force feeding Mr Gary this soon. 3 weeks without food is not really that long so I would give him some more time. Good vibes to you and Gary! 
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Yes I agree with @caron No need to try to assist feed yet, could cause even more stress and he doesn’t look too skinny or anything. Keep a eye out on his back and jaw though, I hope they return to normal or don’t get worse.
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I have been watching this and if I am being honest I have been holding my tongue because I was hoping I was being paranoid and things would resolve without a poor outcome. I did not want to be the bearer of bad news or start a panic if I was misreading the situation
So… Hard truth is that the animal appears to have received an overdosed of the miticide. The physical symptoms are fairly consistent of what I have seen in species that are intolerant to the compound. The best option now is to cease all treatment protocols on this animal. What that means is moving it out of a tub that was treated with miticide and, if possible, to a room free of the compound as well. Change water daily. If you are worried about mites still being on this animal then I would advocate setting up in a very basic setup with media and dumping in some predatory mites
It is possible this animal will recover, but I cannot give you any precise statistical odds because I have never dealt with it in the species and reactions can vary dramatically
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I’d been holding back myself, as this reminded me of a post I’d seen in a fb group about a snake that had a poor reaction to mite spray. The stiffness/lethargy were noted by that owner.
Would you suggest another wash with mild detergent to remove any residues, or would that be ineffective at this time?
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