New Boa Issues/Questions

[NewHerp293]

Im brand new to the group of people who own a snake and still fairly new to reptile keeping in general but I have a serious issue. I was just handling my newly acquired juvenile rosy boa and discovered some mites on her body. I had a few even crawl onto my hands :/ but im wondering how she could have been exposed to mites in the first place? Since I have the mites I would also appreciate any advice on how to get rid of them, it seems like prevent a mite is commonly used but is that only BEFORE you find mites? I also have a leopard gecko in a separate enclosure, is he in any danger of infestation? Any advice/help is appreciated.

[snakeman879]

U could soak her,him in like warm water that would help a bit but u will need to disinfect the viv and i would also buy some thing that is known to kill mites. And yes if you held it after handling your boa it could spread the mites. Hope that was of some use better answers to come i would think

[Batessi]

PAM is used very often, but I prefer Natural Chemistry Reptile Spray to be honest. Whichever you choose, make sure you follow all your directions and practice good hygiene.

[sharthun]

And provent a mite works as well.

[BagnaraSnakes16]

Unfortunately your gecko is at risk of obtaining them as well. Its something the sooner you do the better. I would treat your geckos cage as well when you decide to act on it. I dont know any specific products because I've only dealt with this situation once (the snake had them from the pet store), so i came back showed them and they treated them for me and gave me some powder to treat my cage and materials in them. Best of luck.

[SSSSnakes]

Snake mites are specific to snakes, your leopard gecko is not at risk of getting them.

[jpsteele80]

I had this great stuff I used to get out of a vet clinic in arizona, killed them on contact, I'll try and see if I can find it again

[Snakesitter]

Make sure they are not wood mites beore panicking...they look different and are not a threat to your snake.

If actual snake mites, they are not a threat to your gecko, but if they got near it you should treat its viv anyway as part of your general plan, just in case they laid eggs in that enclosure that could come back to haunt you in a few weeks.

Good luck!

[NewHerp293]

Thanks so much for all the suggestions! I was able to take care of the problem and my rosy is now mite free :) I didnt ever notice any of the mites on my leopard gecko, I wrapped both of the enclosures with double stick tape to avoid any traveling mites but I never even noticed any stuck to the tape. The solution I ended up using was zoo med mite off on the snake and cleaning everything else with a 10% bleach solution. I kept my rosy in a quarantine box for a couple weeks and sprayed her down with the mite off every few days. Sooo glad I caught this problem early and it didnt end up being a big deal!

[Kera]

Glad to hear! Not 100% out of the clear yet, in case of eggs laid, just keep a careful eye and I'd keep the snake on paper towel for a bit longer. :)

[Snakesitter]

Well done, NewHerp! Fingers crossed it stays that way!

[marvelfreak]

As far as how it got them? You can get on you at a pet store or like in my case checking out a buddies snakes. I didn't know he had just treated for them and i was check out his snake. I got home without changing close and went straight to my snake room to feed my snakes. A week later i hear from some one else about him having them so i check mine and sure enough a couple had them. so i had to treat my whole snake room. And nothing works even close to as good as PAM.

[shaunyboy]

i would treat EVERY enclosure with provent a mite

cheers shaun

[Snakesitter]

I would have had some strong words with that friend for failure to warn. Glad you caught it early and fixed it.

[NewHerp293]

So I had the initial problem taken care of but just as kera said the mites ended up coming back...must not have got all the eggs. I ordered a can of PAM and am now waiting for it to show up. I have a couple questions about it but I figure im gonna post them in the general discussion. I wanna get rid of these little buggers haha

[Cmwells90]

Honestly there are a huge pain, not because they'll do major damage (if caught soon enough they do little damage if any) but because they come back over and over until you FINALLY get them all. What worked great for me was dumping all the bedding in all of the cages, soaking everything for 12 hours, completely submerged. Laid down paper towels for about a week or two so I could see them come back if they did. I also baked any wood in the enclosure. Good luck and great job catching it in the first place!