Dealing with snake mites should be a rarity if you're buying stock from reputable sources, but it can happen to even the most careful of us. One of the first reactions I've noticed people have is to blame substrate, blame walking around petco, and so on. The reality is the mites came in on an animal. It mite (pun intended) have taken a while before you noticed them, but one or more animals you purchased had mites on them. There is a light colored mite that can occasionally come in on wood products, but if you're seeing dark colored mites drowned in a water bowl or crawling on your snakes, you have a proper snake mite infestation. If a snake has suddenly began soaking for long periods and you've triple checked the temperatures and environment to be correct, look closely for mites on the snake and in the water bowl. Keep in mind that a few snakes, such as rhino ratsnakes, do naturally soak a good deal.
If you've confirmed that you have mites, you'll need to decide on a mite treatment. There are a number of ways to successfully treat a snake with mites. My concern has always been safeness and effectiveness. I have used three methods, 2 to treat actively infected snakes and 1 as a preventative for snakes in different rack/enclosure stacks in the same room as a confirmed infected rack. Bare in mind if you do not treat all of the infected animals, the mites will just continue to make rounds around your collection and you will end up treating the animals over and over which is likely not good for them. Fortunately, using these methods, I've never had mites survive a treatment routine. There are other methods, but I will only share the methods I have first hand experience with.
1) Predatory Mites (Hypoaspis miles)( I obtained these from Arbico). These are very low risk to use and work well for snakes kept on a substrate that is slightly damp such a cypress mulch. They would probably also do fine in a moist hidebox. They are not likely to be effective for snakes kept on paper products as they need a moist substrate in at least part of the enclosure to live in. I have only used these as a precaution for snakes that were in the same room as where mites were identified and where conditions made sense (snakes housed on a moist substrate or that spent considerable time hanging out in a moist hide). They are likely to be successful where conditions are right for their use. There is another species offered in Europe that may be able to extend these conditions, but I have not found that species to be common in the US at the time of writing and I do not have experience with it. If you are interested look up Cheyletus eruditus.
Note: For the next two methods, you're going to need to clean out the enclosures completely to remove as many eggs as possible and if possible for the species being kept, they should be kept on newspaper to limit the mites hiding places and ensure they come into contact with the insecticides. I would recommend discarding any wooden products and using plastic hide boxes at least in the short term. Most people also like to remove the water bowl for up to 24 hours after treatment to ensure no pesticide ends up in the water. Also any snakes in the vicinity of the infected snake will need to be treated in order to stop the infestation from rearing its head again.
2) Frontline Flea and Tick Spray (NOT the concentrated stuff that goes between a dog's shoulder blades). Here is what the bottle looks like. This stuff is very powerful and I have it is very effective and that you do not need a whole lot of it. There have been some reports of negative effects with hatchlings especially if they are put back in a bin before the product is fully dried. The one caution with this product seems to be to let it fully dry in a well ventilated area before rushing the snakes back into the reduced ventilation of an enclosure or tub and this seems to be especially important for hatchlings. Having said that, I have not experienced any issues as I've always given the product a few minutes to dry first. The way I apply it is to wear disposable gloves and simply spray the gloved hand with a small amount of the product and then rub it onto the snake up and down its body. I do not apply any to the the face or vent and I have found this product is extremely effective without doing so. This product seems to have some residual effects on the snakes skin and it is amazingly effective at killing mites. A second treatment in 10-14 days will ensure the next generation of mites that have hatched out will be killed.
3) Provent a Mite. This is another quality product that has residual action. I found it took longer to be effective than Frontline Flea and Tick spray to get rid of mites. I prefer to use it as a preventative for snakes that are in the same room as an infected animal but are not actively infected. I would also caution you that I have seen small snakes become unable to right themselves and show neurological symptoms after being placed in a bin that had been sprayed many hours earlier and allowed to dry out in the open without restricted airflow. Fortunately, the snakes regained full health after being removed from the bin for a time. Not long after I announced my issue with this product, I found others who had similar stories. What I have since learned is that in all cases I am aware of the product was applied directly to the plastic. It appears that when applied directly to plastic the vapors can continue to linger for quite some time. However, if you apply this product directly to paper and allow the paper to sit overnight, I am unaware of any reports of issues. Keep in mind that a few people recommend using this product in dangerous ways and by using the product in totally unreasonable ways people have caused serious and severe issues with their snakes. Although I am unaware of anyone with an adult snake encountering similar issues as long as sufficient dry time has occurred, I like to err on the side of caution and apply the treatment to a paper product such as newspaper which is allowed to thoroughly dry before being introduced into the enclosure. As this product has residual activity, the paper substrate only needs to be changed when soiled. In the rare case that the paper had not been soiled after 14 days, I would recommend reapplying to ensure good coverage of protection from the insecticide.
With any method you may find that there are reports of some species being more sensitive to a product or products than others. You should always research your specific species sensitivities, but the above methods have proven effective in my collection and with the species that I've used them with.
If you've confirmed that you have mites, you'll need to decide on a mite treatment. There are a number of ways to successfully treat a snake with mites. My concern has always been safeness and effectiveness. I have used three methods, 2 to treat actively infected snakes and 1 as a preventative for snakes in different rack/enclosure stacks in the same room as a confirmed infected rack. Bare in mind if you do not treat all of the infected animals, the mites will just continue to make rounds around your collection and you will end up treating the animals over and over which is likely not good for them. Fortunately, using these methods, I've never had mites survive a treatment routine. There are other methods, but I will only share the methods I have first hand experience with.
1) Predatory Mites (Hypoaspis miles)( I obtained these from Arbico). These are very low risk to use and work well for snakes kept on a substrate that is slightly damp such a cypress mulch. They would probably also do fine in a moist hidebox. They are not likely to be effective for snakes kept on paper products as they need a moist substrate in at least part of the enclosure to live in. I have only used these as a precaution for snakes that were in the same room as where mites were identified and where conditions made sense (snakes housed on a moist substrate or that spent considerable time hanging out in a moist hide). They are likely to be successful where conditions are right for their use. There is another species offered in Europe that may be able to extend these conditions, but I have not found that species to be common in the US at the time of writing and I do not have experience with it. If you are interested look up Cheyletus eruditus.
Note: For the next two methods, you're going to need to clean out the enclosures completely to remove as many eggs as possible and if possible for the species being kept, they should be kept on newspaper to limit the mites hiding places and ensure they come into contact with the insecticides. I would recommend discarding any wooden products and using plastic hide boxes at least in the short term. Most people also like to remove the water bowl for up to 24 hours after treatment to ensure no pesticide ends up in the water. Also any snakes in the vicinity of the infected snake will need to be treated in order to stop the infestation from rearing its head again.
2) Frontline Flea and Tick Spray (NOT the concentrated stuff that goes between a dog's shoulder blades). Here is what the bottle looks like. This stuff is very powerful and I have it is very effective and that you do not need a whole lot of it. There have been some reports of negative effects with hatchlings especially if they are put back in a bin before the product is fully dried. The one caution with this product seems to be to let it fully dry in a well ventilated area before rushing the snakes back into the reduced ventilation of an enclosure or tub and this seems to be especially important for hatchlings. Having said that, I have not experienced any issues as I've always given the product a few minutes to dry first. The way I apply it is to wear disposable gloves and simply spray the gloved hand with a small amount of the product and then rub it onto the snake up and down its body. I do not apply any to the the face or vent and I have found this product is extremely effective without doing so. This product seems to have some residual effects on the snakes skin and it is amazingly effective at killing mites. A second treatment in 10-14 days will ensure the next generation of mites that have hatched out will be killed.
3) Provent a Mite. This is another quality product that has residual action. I found it took longer to be effective than Frontline Flea and Tick spray to get rid of mites. I prefer to use it as a preventative for snakes that are in the same room as an infected animal but are not actively infected. I would also caution you that I have seen small snakes become unable to right themselves and show neurological symptoms after being placed in a bin that had been sprayed many hours earlier and allowed to dry out in the open without restricted airflow. Fortunately, the snakes regained full health after being removed from the bin for a time. Not long after I announced my issue with this product, I found others who had similar stories. What I have since learned is that in all cases I am aware of the product was applied directly to the plastic. It appears that when applied directly to plastic the vapors can continue to linger for quite some time. However, if you apply this product directly to paper and allow the paper to sit overnight, I am unaware of any reports of issues. Keep in mind that a few people recommend using this product in dangerous ways and by using the product in totally unreasonable ways people have caused serious and severe issues with their snakes. Although I am unaware of anyone with an adult snake encountering similar issues as long as sufficient dry time has occurred, I like to err on the side of caution and apply the treatment to a paper product such as newspaper which is allowed to thoroughly dry before being introduced into the enclosure. As this product has residual activity, the paper substrate only needs to be changed when soiled. In the rare case that the paper had not been soiled after 14 days, I would recommend reapplying to ensure good coverage of protection from the insecticide.
With any method you may find that there are reports of some species being more sensitive to a product or products than others. You should always research your specific species sensitivities, but the above methods have proven effective in my collection and with the species that I've used them with.