Look Twice at Mites!

[Elfer]

Hello fellow members,

A few weeks ago I had a post about my baby possibly having mites. I checked my snake, but didnt see any mites on her, but her cage had them. After going through all the proper steps to be sure that my snake and enclosure were free of mites, I found out the mites I treated for were harmless. I spoke to my vet, who checked out my snake. She asked me what bedding that I use and I told her that I used reptibark. She then smiled and told me that it is not uncommon for that type of bark to get something called "wood mites". She said they arent harmful to the snake at all, but they will drive them crazy. So, I thought that I would let you know that reptibark can carry these mites, so be sure to check your snake to be sure that the mites you have are infact the culprits we all hate. If you do have the harmless variety, my vet told me to bake the bark at 200 degrees for 2 hours, or to "deep freeze" the bark for a few days. She said this would kill any in the bedding. Then just wash the enclosure like you would for regular mites.

Hope this helps!

-Elfer

 

[CAV]

Very good post!

Thanks for sharing this information.

 

[Neumann]

Thanks for the heads up! Are these wood mites that invaded your reptibark after placing it in the viv, or do you think they may have come in the reptibark bag?

We're going to switch our sub. to reptibark after our little friend finishes his shed sometime this week, so I'm curious what to look for?


Cheers,
Jason

 

[Elfer]

I think that they actually came straight from the bag of bark. I usually mix jungle earth and reptibark together because jungle earth is a little moist so it keeps the humidity at a perfect level when mixed with the bark. That way I dont have to worry too much about misting. I had just bought more reptibark for mixing, and a week later was when I noticed the little guys. They look similar to other mites in that they are small, but they look ashy, and move very fast. I noticed them crawling on the fake cave I had, and I saw some in the water dish. Since the jungle earth is moist, I threw that bag away to be safe (this was before I saw the vet). I then threw out the bark in the viv, and took the remainder of the bag of reptibark I had, and then froze it for about 5 days in the freezer since I dont have a deep freezer. My vet is wonderful in that she has corn babies of her own, and is a HUGE reptile fan, as she visits conventions and is a member of the herpitological society. She is where many people take their herps. I guess what really to look for is if your snake actually has mites on them or not. My snake didnt, and had no bites on her. But to be safe I treated it as a regular mite infestation.

 

[Rachel]

I noticed these harmless types of mites a year or so back and posted here about them. I too, reacted like you and was like 'aaahh mite attack!' and went to the vet. He told me that the mites were windowsill mites and also there were a few soil mites (I had real plants in the viv at the time). He said, like your vet, that the mites were harmless but just a bit of a pain. I followed the same procedures as you (and replaced real plants with fake).

 

[Ronda]

I had wood mites from aspen a few years back, so I think you can get them with any wood, not just bark. I noticed them crawling just above the water line in the water bowls. They are much smaller than a snake mite (you really have to look hard to find these guys, they are soooo tiny) and light brown. Actually, they're about the same color as the aspen, which made them even harder to spot. I never saw them crawling on the snakes, but that doesn't mean they weren't there. I treated the problem like any other mite infestation and ditched that bale of aspen. Blech. Obnoxious little bugs.