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oh no, not already.......

H

hannah_49

New member
oh no my poor little snake has got mites....well i got him out today and there was these tiny black things crawling on him, i panicked and called the place where i bought him from (i only got him on thursday too) and i have to take him back tomorrow to be treated. i dont really know what these things do to him or if they are hurting him but its very distressing, i feel like the worst mummy in the world!...will the mites be contained to the snake or can they be passed to humans? is there anything else i should do apart from thoroughly cleaning his viv?
 
Bleach everything you can and throw out what you can't. Snake mites are restricted to snakes, so you can't get them. They can be buggers to eradicate. If you're taking him back to the store where you got him to have him treated, I'm thinking they have a mite problem and I would be leery of buying another snake there. You should look on here for some home remedies. Very heavy infestations can kill a small snake, but most likely it's a nuisance right now for yours.

You might find some help in this link...

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34699
 
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I had the same problem. Luckily mine only had a few mites (that I could see anyway) I followed the advice of Bill and Kathy Love in their book The Corn Snake Manual. take snake out and soak in seperate container for 1 hour with water and a drop of liquid soap (to break water tension) Then wash out cage and acessories with a 10% bleach solution for 5 minutes. Make sure to rinse and dry completely before returning snake to cage. After snake was done soaking I used a wet washcloth to let him slide through and remove any "stubborn" mites under scales etc. It's been two weeks now and I still have not seen any new mites (phew)
 
do you mean just put him in a bowl of water?....wont he drown?.....to be honest i never done my research before getting him, and it is not as simple as i kidded myself it would be. ive learnt loads off this forum already but can see that i have alot more learning to do. any tips would be greatly appreciated. The last thing i want to do is hurt him or not do something thatb i am supposed to be doing, i love him to bits already and cant bear the thought of him suffering.
 
I have a small animal terrarium with a cover that I use to feed him in also. You are right not to put too much water in it. I just put about two inches in the bottom. If your snake seems to "freak out" with this then just gently hold him in the water so he won't hurt himself. Make sure you keep an eye on him during this time too. I felt bad about doing it too, but mine is now mite free and I think an hour of discomfort is worth the hassle. The mites would have caused more long-term discomfort for him too. Good luck!
 
I also would avoid returning to the store. The possibility of re-infesting from picking up more more there while treating your snake is high. While you can't get snake mites, they will use you as a carrier until they find a suitable host. I'd treat everything at home as suggested. You can find tons of information using the search function at the top of the page. Just type in snake mites and you'll probably find more info than you want! Good luck with your new snake and I'm sorry to hear your first experience isn't quite the one you wanted.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone, the shop still has him at the moment and i took him in last tuesday, they said it would only take a couple of days and they would phone me when he is ready to pick up but i havent heard anything yet so am getting a bit worried. We all miss him so much, cant wait to get him back.
 
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