HELP! New ball python owner

Im not completely sure the breeder i got her from said she was a super fire

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Thank you!! And merry Christmas!! :gift::christmas_tree: i found more mites any tips to get rid of them?

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I’ve personally never heard of red mites, but if you want to get rid of these bugs whether they’re mites or not then I recommend a deep cleaning of your enclosure. Also I don’t recommend you soak your ball python in soapy water because your snake might try to drink it and that’s no good, instead what I do is give them a normal soak but then take a rag or paper towel and put soap on it and rub my snake down with that and then rinse him under the sink (with warm water) it’s a bit of a weirder process but I’d rather do that then risk ingestion of soap.

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I had a small infestation of little bugs in my bp’s enclosure (pretty sure they were dust mites or something of that sort) and this is how I got rid of them. In other words these are more detailed answers to each of these questions,

Deep clean your enclosure and everything in it. Clean everything thoroughly!!

Replace all bedding as the bugs are going to be inside it all, I don’t see a way you could save any of it sadly, but others might have ideas. You don’t have to throw away all of the decor, just disinfect it!

I don’t usually have plants in my snake’s enclosure, but recently added some potted plants in and the only thing I could suggest is that you replant the plants, if they are in pots you would have to completely repot them and replace the soil they are in which could kill the plants but the bugs are going to be in the soil and it’s the only way I know of that you could use to keep the plants. Someone else will probably have a better answer than me so take my advice with a grain of salt.

Spray it down with a disinfectant spray and then wipe it, or you can use dish soap whichever works for you! Rinse it thoroughly and then dry it if you want before you put it back in the enclosure. Basically like washing a used dish and putting it back in the cabinet :sweat_smile:

I already answered the soaking question in my other reply to you so I won’t bother adding it into this one. Good luck!

Thank you!! I just gave her a little bath with dish soap and rinsed her off now shes soaking in water while i remove everything in her enclosure. But yeah im not sure if they are mites because from what I’ve heard mites are underneath their scales? But the ones on her were just laying right on top of her i didnt see any under any scales. if i find some more i will take a picture.

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Mites can still crawl on the snake, it’s one of the signs of mites actually! I’m still a bit puzzled about the red coloration of the mites… It’s something I’ve never heard of or seen! It probably is out there though and I just haven’t heard of it yet.

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Also, make sure you keep at it; you have to wipe out their entire life cycle. I used paper towels and plastic bin with under tank heat pad on thermostat. They are in the tick family iirc. There’s also something called “reptile spray” on Amazon that I used to supplement treatment. I sprayed down snake, avoiding face and rubbed it in, waited a few minutes and wiped off with a damp paper towel. Then sprayed enclosure and wiped with dry paper towel. I used that plus the dish soap (Dawn original).
Everyone has different methods, so there are plenty of choices. Just make sure you treat it; I read about snakes having died when left untreated

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Use paper towels for bedding, until they are gone. As mentioned before, if you can setup a bin with heat, it will be easier to clean and you can have the original setup ready to go when it is all over.

As others, I have never heard of red mites.

Soaking her in water and wipe her down with soap would be the recommended procedure. Don’t put soap in the water for soaking. The soap just help stop the mites from getting a grip and they slid off.

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Thank you! I threw everything out because i didnt want to risk anything. I soaked the hides in dawn dish soap for an hour and then used a toothbrush to scrub every crevice of the hides. Im not sure what i will do with the plants but I’ll probably keep them outside so i dont have to throw them out. I added a humid hide because shes about to shed and just in case the humidity drops since its only paper towels she has the option to go in there. I also filled the bottom of the enclosure with water and dawn dish soap and ket that sit for about an hour then rinsed it all off. Hopefully i can get rid of them soon😖

Do you know how snakes get mites? Is it something i did? The only thing i can think of is the live plants but i removed all the soil they came in and soaked them in water with a bit of dawn dish soap and then i repotted them in organic topsoil that i baked for 3 hours to kill any bugs and sterilize the soil before adding it to the enclosure. :confused:


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I dont have a bin but im going to buy one today so its easier to keep clean. Do you recommend any type of spray to kill the mites? Or just continue changing our the bedding everyday? And how often should i soak her and wipe her down with soap?

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As @gina5678 stated, you can find some on Amazon. Use as directed.

Bedding changes do not have to be daily. You can check it for mites and if any are seen, you can change it. But it won’t hurt to change it regularly to keep them away.

I would use the soap until you get the spray. Then just use the spray ad directed. The soap idea is in place of the sprays or inital step to try and get rid of as much as possible.

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You definitely want to toss all your substrate and plants. Use paper towels while doing the treatment. The Ivermectin treatment seems to be the most comprehensive as it treats the snake and the enclosure. Provent-A-Mite (PAM) is used by many people with great success. It works even though you don’t use it directly on the snake. Emily says RID has the same active ingredients at a quarter the cost. RID will not have directions on how to use it on snakes, so you would probably look up the directions for PAM and use them with the RID. The snake mite life cycle is about two weeks, so to be safe I would treat for three weeks. Definitely setup the infected snake in a room as far from the rest of your collection as possible. Clean your hands thoroughly after working on the infected snake. You do NOT want the mites to spread to the rest of your collection.

Snake mites, like the flu and the common cold, don’t just happen out of thin air. You “caught” them from somewhere. I’d bet money your newly acquired snake came with mites from the breeder. This is one reason we quarantine.

Good luck and keep us updated.

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Here is a video on how to setup a bin. It Also has other info, but it does explain how to make it.

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I think its wood mites not snake mites. They look like this

Has anyone ever had wood mites from repti chip before?

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I could very well be wrong but I think these are ok? And won’t hurt anything? But also I think you can bake the Reptibark to get rid of them……

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Substrate like that can carry mites. Most breeders will get their block, and freeze it for a week (if not more) and then thaw it out before using.

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Here’s a link to 2 posts about wood mites. From what I’m reading there, they are white. Have you squashed any to see if blood is visible?

Are these Wood Mites?

Wood Mite Advice

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I already threw it away :sweat_smile:i was freaking out

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I haven’t seen any at all since i got rid of the substrate but when I squished it before there was no blood

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I’m a shredded aspen person myself…….

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