So your handling your new snake and showing him off to anybody and everybody that will take and interest and listen to you, and then bam all of a sudden out of the corner of your eye you see a small reddish black dot making a run for it. You grab the little blighter and give him a squeeze, and then you realise that it has popped and blood has erupted from its body, you have mites something that no snake owner wants to discover. I am going to give a couple of tips that I have used in the past to help reduce the likelihood of mites coming in to my collection, as well as the methods I have used to treat mites that have already settled in where they are not wanted.
Ophionyssus natricis, more commonly known as snake mites are host specific ectoparasites, meaning that they feed only on snakes and do not affect other pets, e.g. dogs, cats, lizards etc. or humans. Snake mites can lead to adverse effects on your snakes. The most predominantly ailment being dehydration, blood infections and stress. If an infestation is left untreated, and allowed to multiply and thrive, it can lead to large volumes of blood loss. This is due to the sheer population of mites feeding on the snake, in turn potentially leading to death. Although they pose a potentially catastrophic threat to a collection, being able to spread at an unimaginable rate, snake mites can be both easily avoided and treated with the correct knowledge.
I feel that vigilance is the best way to prevent the introduction of snake mites in to your beloved collection. When picking up a new snake check the snake over looking for mites across the entire length of the body, paying particular attention to the eyes, mouth, cloaca and between ventral scales. These areas are have a high blood flow and the mites love it. Also look for signs such as the snake soaking in their water bowl, black specs within the water bowl and mites on your hands after handling which look like specs of dirt. If you spot any signs of mites on a snake you are interested in purchasing I would personally steer clear as mites can lead to various other related ailments as mentioned above. I would also avoid purchasing snakes from that shop/breeder/person as all their animals may suffer from mites.
Snake mites can be transferred by the snake owner, this can be done by visiting a friend, a collection, shop or reptile show which has a mite infestation. The mites hitch a free ride on your clothing and have a new hunting ground when you get home. t is surprising how far a mite can walk when they are in search of a fresh victim to obtain a meal from. In order to reduce the introduction of mites is to ensure you clean your hands and change clothes after visiting other collections, shops or shows prior to contacting your own snakes A snake with a mite infestation which is introduced in to a 'clean' collection can once again reek havoc upon your collection. Snake mites can come from a substrate purchased from a reptile shop/dealer which has a mite problem, such as orchid bark, aspen and eco earth. The mites do not come from the substrate per say, however the mites get in to the substrate from the shops own mite infestation and then are introduced to your own collection when the substrate is introduced in to your enclosures. In order to reduce the likelihood of mites coming in to your collection via substrate there are certain steps that can be taken. Various people say that you can freeze or microwave your substrate and they have used this method with no ill effects, however I buy in bulk. By buying in bulk it means that when I need to use the substrate the mites have been away from snakes for too long, therefore they are starved, stopping their life cycle, I know that others used this method with similar methodology with great success.
My next tip is to have an effective quarantine method in place for any new arrivals that you bring in to your home. Obviuosly if your getting your first snake you shouldn't need to quarantine them as they cannot pass the mites on to any other snakes. In an ideal world a quarantine area should be in a room as far away from the rest of your collection as possible, however I know that this is not always possible. by quarantining you are able to spot not only a mite infestation, and treat accordingly, but also identify other ailments that the new arrival may have, e.g. Respiratory infection. My personal quarantine method consists of a vivarium with paper towels as the substrate, a selection of hides and a light colour (white or light blue) water bowl. By having a relatively bare temporary enclosure it means that any mites can be spotted on the paper towels or in the water dish relatively easily. Another benefit of the paper towels as a substrate means that the mature females cannot lay eggs, which stops the growth of the infestation due to ceasing the production of further generations. After 2 months in the quarantine enclosure the snake is moved in to its permanent enclosure. I have been very strict in sticking to my quarantine methods in order to reduce the spread of mites and I have effectively thwarted 2 attacks from these little blighters from snakes that I have purchased.
So we have covered what to do in order to identify mites before they become a problem to your collection. Now I am going to share the methods that have worked well for me in treating mites. I regularly check my snakes whilst handling as well as their water bowls for mites, just for piece of mind. If I do happen to spot signs of mites the first thing I do is strip all my snakes enclosures and deep clean everything (and I mean everything) with a 10% bleach solution, as well as reptile safe disinfectant. Pay particular attention to seals, joints and corners of the enclosure as there may be some eggs in those areas. I then use my quarantine method (paper towels, light colour water bowl and various hides) throughout my collection, for the reasons previously mentioned. I then soak each snake for 20-30 minutes in a warm water bath. This is to try and drown as many of the mites on the snakes body as possible in an attempt to decrease their numbers. Once the snake has been soaked it is returned to its enclosure. I then leave the snake for 1-2 days as all of this is a bit stressful for them, after 2 days I use callingtons mite spray for the enclosure, here is a link to where I buy my mite spray from. It uses a fine mist which gets in to all the cracks and crevasses within the enclosure, callingtons does not need to be rinsed off after application, meaning that it is constantly working against the attack of mite. The only thing that you need to ensure is that water is not in the enclosure during application, nor is it introduced within 48 of use. There is a lot of debate about whether or not it is safe to use with the snake in the enclosure, I personally don't but it has been mentioned that it is safe to do so. I apply callingtons once a week for 4 weeks, this allows adequate coverage during the mites entire life cycle meaning that eggs cannot be laid, nor can the adults survive. It also covers me for some time after just in case I have missed any hell raisers. Just follow the instructions on the can and you cant go wrong, if I can do it, any body can. I continue to soak my snakes once a week, clean the vivarium and change the paper towels when needed to aid in removing the mites, and breaking their life cycle. I should note that callingtons should not be used with hognose snakes due to the adverse effects that it can have on this species, potentially leading to death, alternative methods are mentioned below which are suitable for this species.
I keep my snakes on the paper towels for 2 months following the last sighting of a mite, once again just to be on the safe side because I am a bit paranoid like that. This is by no means an extensive list of how to treat snake mites, and I am aware that other methods work just as well. There are various other methods which can be found here, however I have not tried these methods myself so cannot comment on their efficacy. I have heard a lot of positive things about predator mites as a treatment, but I will only try these if the method I use no longer does the job.
Snake mites do not need to be seen as the plague to snake keepers. If appropriately managed snake mites can be controlled with minimal fuss and minimal stress to both you and your snakes. Hopefully you don't encounter snake mites but if you do I hope you find these tips useful.
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