Mite Question

[Charger9]

Hi, what are the most common ways a snake can get mites and the easiest way to avoid these issues?

[SnakeCreations]

Hi, what are the most common ways a snake can get mites and the easiest way to avoid these issues?

Hi Charger!

I'm really not sure of how snakes commonly get mites, perhaps someone else can answer that.

I know that I commonly see mites at a privately owned petstore and two out of the five local Petco stores. They simply cannot eradicate their infestations. I gave them some tips and the private petstore is doing very well, but the petco stores won't/can't follow.

Anyway, mites are pretty easy to spot on snakes and hamsters (yes, I've found them on hammies...ewwww) - they look like pepper. That moves. Typically if you run your snake through your hands you'll see them on your hands. Honestly, if you are getting animals via places that have infestation, you are not going to be able to avoid it. I reccomend breeders you find here - I've had the BEST experiences, and you know what you are getting.

I have a minor problem with a hatchling that my daughter bought from a petco, however, it spread to MY snakes which were not in the same enclosure, but on the same shelf. ugh. They were pretty easy to get rid of. If you are interested in finding out how to get rid of them, there are several really good threads here - just search for "mites" and there will be several opinions that you can read thorough and choose the method you want to use.