last month i bought 2 ball pythons from a local show. I noticed upon their first feeding after they ate on the paper towels were atleast 10 visible mites i then checked my other adult and the rat i pre killed was also covered in mites after maybe 30 minutes. I have bought feeders for months from a local person that supplies a lot of people and would have assumed they wouldn’t be in business still if it was possible for the rats to carry mites from them. Do you think that i just got mites from the local show and some how when they feed they instantly go towards the dead rat? i have done the usual steps reptile relief paper towels and prevent a mite. any suggestions will be appreciated thanks you for your time.
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Probably got mites from local show would be my guess rats do carry mites but I do belive its not transferable to snakes when feeding
Mites are species specific for the most part. Snake mites are snake mites and rat mites are rat mites.
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Yes in some cases rats can carry snake mites from breeder to your home. It is a possible that the new snakes you purchased also where already infected with mites. Any possiblity though that these are rodent mites, they can have a similiar look when full of rodent blood, but typically have a white with black markings. I only ask due to the prekilled having so many on it, snake mites do not typically go to mamals. You may want to check with your rodent breeder to see if they are having an issue with rodent mites.
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There are Rodent mites and I am almost certain they can live on snakes or vice versa which causes a problem either way. They are also harder to kill than typical snake mites
Do you have any scientific data to back that up? Rodent mites are meant to feed on mammals, they will not infest reptiles.
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