Potential mite infestation?

[cuideag]

I was cleaning out Castiel's cage today and I noticed that the container I had him in while everything was drying and fuming out had a few of these little brown specks in it... Alarmed, I set him in a luke-warm soak for about 30 minutes as was suggested by another forum. None of the specks seemed to have moved in that time frame and I have found no other specks nor the white mite refuse that is supposed to become apparent in his bath. He's currently sitting in another freshly cleaned tub with a paper towel and I am scared that he might have gotten mites from his bedding.

Do you think I am overreacting? Could it just be dust or debris from the substrate itself, or should I go ahead and start proper mite treatment? I don't want to put him through unnecessary stress but I also don't want a potential infestation to get even worse.

Furthermore, if I should start mite treatment on him, should I also do the same for his neighbors? I don't recall ever seeing similar specks on any of the girls but I am going to be a lot more thorough in my checks once I get to cleaning their respective cages as well...

[ZiggysMom]

I would try to figure out if your snake has mites before treating for them, but try to figure out quickly.

If you squash a little brown spec, suspected mite, and you get a blood smear then you have mites. If they are long dead this may not work but often does with live or fresh dead ones.

Since your beloved snake is now on paper towel, look a couple times a day for new brown specs on the paper towel and in the water bowel. On the snake look between the scales and right around the eyes for black / brown specs right on the snake.

I have heard that mites are able to spread a remarkable distance. If one snake has mites keep a very close eye on all other reptiles in the house for at least a couple months. If they spread to a second I would probably clean and treat all of them.

[cuideag]

Thank you for the advice. I'll be keeping a close eye on him, see how things work out. :S

[ZiggysMom]

When I had a snake with mites I could feel the mites crawling on my skin after handling the snake.

If you are going to handle, feed, work near, more than one reptile in a day start with the animals least likely to have been exposed to the mites. Frequently wash up to your elbows. Work with the suspect snake last.

[Nanci]

I was fooled into thinking a snake had mites by seeing tiny specks from the cork bark hide. Like you said, they never moved!! I took macro photos of them, and discovered they were not anything alive.