About 2 years ago, we purchased some new snakes from a seller here. Opened one of the boxes and it was filled with mites. Of course I knew that there was always the possibility that we’d encounter an issue at some point. We have been keeping ball pythons for almost 15 years now, and had been lucky enough never to encounter any issues with snake mites. Long story short, those mites spread throughout our whole collection despite our best efforts. We stopped going to shows, stopped breeding, and took down our listings because of course we were not willing to pass these on to anyone else. It has been 2 years. I feel like my life has been consumed with cleaning snake enclosures, soaking snakes, etc. I feel like I have tried everything. My most recent effort was predatory mites. I thought since nothing else has worked, I’d give it a go. I read that it takes a while, and that the problem might get a little worse before getting better. That was a few months ago, and the problem is most definitely worse. I just don’t know what to do. I’m at my wits end. It’s all I can do to constantly cycle through the snakes, giving them soaks, smooshing mites, etc, only to get back to the beginning of the list and find there are more. This hobby has always been about fun and exploring the genes, but without being able to sell some animals, it is way too expensive. I have 100 pets that I cannot sell due to mites. I’m posting this not to complain (though I know it sounds like that), but just to ask for ideas. I have no idea what to do - I NEED to downsize. I NEED to be able to do something because I can’t afford it without going to shows/selling! I want someone to take them away at this point, but of course no one is going to want to with this issue. Has anyone else experienced this? The mites have absolutely taken over my life, and I’m just not doing well mentally trying to deal with this with seemingly no end in sight.
You’ve come to the right place! 2 years is a LONNNNNGGGGGG time to be dealing with a mite infestation. I would be going mad too. The first step is to close your eyes and take a few deep breaths, then take a few more. We can definitely get you on the road to being mite free in less than a month. Don’t bail on your hobby/business yet.
First of all, can you tell us everything you’ve tried so far? Take your time and be as detailed as you can.
Also, can you explain the setups and enclosures for the animals and what the room they’re in is like?
I can’t image how much of an absolute pain that has been to deal with for so long. I completely understand your frustration though (currently dealing with a flea outbreak in an almost fully carpeted house after dogsitting 
)
I’d imagine you’ve already tried a lot of methods over the 2 years you’ve been dealing with this.
A lot of the people that I’ve seen struggling with mites have not gone beyond just cleaning enclosures, not saying you haven’t but just throwing any ideas out there… mites of any species can live in carpet, porous surfaces, in between the cracks of wood flooring or other wood furniture… they can live in a lot of unsuspecting places so I’d start looking into anywhere they could be residing, if they aren’t eliminated from those hiding spots the infestation will just continue to reoccur.
Diatomaceous Earth is your friend here. Sprinkle it around the legs of furniture (or better yet put some in a container and then sit the furniture legs in the container with the powder) sprinkle it around the snake enclosures. Use paper towel as substrate and replace it daily throwing away the old substrate in a garbage bag with the Diatomaceous Earth to ensure the bugs do not have any chances of escape. If you use a shelved snake rack sprinkle the DE on the shelves between the snake bins.
Very importantly if you have carpet, vacuum daily, clean out your vacuum cleaner thoroughly and throw away any dirt debris and garbage you vacuum up in the same way I mentioned before about the substrate.
Its going to suck to be this thorough when you already feel you’ve exhausted all of your options but being thorough is the best answer. I hope you can eventually find some peace from that nightmare soon and get back to doing what you enjoy! 
Can you provide EXACT details of what you have done? Saying you have been “constantly cycle through the snakes, giving them soaks, smooshing mites, etc, only to get back to the beginning of the list” is not a particularly helpful description of treatment
Also, are you 100% certain you are looking at snake mites? I ask because in my decades I have lost count of the number of times people have misidentified grain mites, carpet mites, wood mites, and springtails as snake mites
As @cmsreptiles stated, diatomaceous earth is your friend. Use as advised.
There are a few ways to kill mites off that don’t involve exposing your pets to chemicals.
First, heat. I personally use a blow dryer or a propane torch. Heat everything to @45-50°C minimum ,that you can safely. Be cautious.
Second, water. Hot enough to scald. Wash/soak all that you can.
Bathing with a couple drops of Dawn dish soap will drown many. I use a water flosser set on lowest pressure to remove as many as possible while in the bath. Some feel this is stressful and it is but if you’re careful it is not much different than being rained on and will get the mites from under the scales. Start at the tail.
On the other end of that, dryness or low humidity will lower the mite eggs hatch rate. Your snakes can handle a couple days with no water.
I recently noticed that micro fleece, yes clothing, is good for tangling and pulling legs off the mites. Liken it to crawling through a bramble patch or barbed wire. You can dry wipe everyone then drop the cloth into very hot water after. Arachnids tend to not have coagulants in their blood so injury causes blood loss. Death by a thousand cuts type scenario.
Wash everything. Clothes, curtains, carpet, walls etc.
I would set up a clean area as far away from the snake room as possible and clean everybody, one at a time until all are done. In one go. Then I would heat the entire room and everything in it to lethal temps. A trick used by indoor growers to kill off spider mites is to seal the room and crank the CO2 levels to 2000+ ppm. This can be done by using a propane heater. This will raise the heat as well. Be exceptionally cautious if you go this route as CO2 levels this high will suffocate you. So have a way to vent the room completely before entering. Be careful.
I realize this is an extreme way of doing things but I just can’t bring myself to using chems. Too often they lose effectiveness too quickly, usually one or two generations.
It sucks that you’re dealing with this and for so long. Get help if you can and go scorched earth. Be extremely cautious if you go the heat route. It is hazardous but effective. And nontoxic.
It’s been a few months since I’ve seen mites in my collection (only @ 2 dozen specimens) but it is worth the effort.
As @t_h_wyman said, make sure to positively id the bugs you have.
Apologies in advance for this dumb question but would any of the above mites “squish” blood if mashed, as do snake mites?
TIA
Depending on what they have been eating (leaf litter, wood particulates, detritus, feces, etc.) they can leave a dark stain behind when squished that look rather like the consumed blood that comes out of a squished snake mite
Had that problem when a few praying mantises laid egg sacks in my house. It was awesome at first, then it got ridiculous. This was 3 years ago, and I’m still finding them everywhere.It got so bad that I found one sticking out of my dog’s mouth. 
That sounds like the most awesome infestation ever! (The mantises, not the mites.)
it is, it is, i have animals so im trying not to call an extermanator
I would have loved that as a kid.
Instead we had a VERY huge nest of large carpenter ants decide that the stairwell in my childhood home was great to start a mating flight. You couldn’t avoid stepping on dozens while going down the stairs. @_@
As far as mites and such, to add on to Travis, some mites are naturally a dark red color as well so when squished they can leave brighter red remains.
Would be great if OP comes back with more info. I’m actually really curious on the qt setup they had as well.
it would be great-if they didnt get into the bin where i breed my isopods… there goes a lot of money, i even found an egg sack in there this summer! @armiyana
Yuck!!! 
Yup makes sense!
Yikes! While I think ants are super neat creatures, I am not a fan of ants indoors. We’re currently having a huge issue with ants at my work, they’re EVERYWHERE and are getting into everything. They’re even managing to get inside sealed food containers. Somehow. We’ve had to throw out so much food. They’re tenacious little buggers.
I currently have a rather adorable infestation of little jumping spiders. They’re all over the ground floor of my condo, I assume they’re getting in through a combination of the front door, back slider, and kitchen window. They’re eating all my cellar spiders (“daddy long legs”). It’s like an interspecies turf war. 
Had the same thing in my bedroom and in the living room! It was beyond something I could tolerate, to say the least, they’re such adorable little things that even if I was buried in them I’d be more worried about which ones I’d squished than anything
Completely different species of mite. The ones that infest isopods do not feed on snakes
im talking abt a mantis infestation
Ah…
Apologies, my brain was just tracking the snake mite side of things