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WolfWood

Jean D'Andrea's Place

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Hopefully you will never see these horrible little insects in your collection - they are extremely difficult to get rid of. Unfortunately, they are easy to catch! My one and only infestation came back with a pet python who'd been out on breeding loan. The person who he'd visited had no idea his female was infected, and we'd seen no signs when inspecting them prior to the loan.

A few days after I brought the snake home, I noticed he was sleeping in his water bowl much of the time. This was something he'd never done before. If I'd been aware that this was a symptom of mites, the infestation would have been a lot easier to deal with. As I wasn't aware this was why his behaviour had changed, the poor animal suffered longer than he should have.

During the week before I discovered what the problem was, I bathed him twice in tepid water in the bath, thinking this was what he wanted. Although he seemed to like the baths, it didn't stop him sleeping in the water bowl. It did appear to give him some relief and I didn't recognise the black dots in the water for what they were!

Finally, after about ten days, I saw a couple of live mites crawling up the side of the bowl, so was horrified but enlightened. Immediately, I did some research regarding a solution, and discussed it with the person who'd had my snake. He was very helpful and covered all costs for the treatment. The treatment of choice was "Top of Descent" the aircraft disinfectant, used by the Australian and New Zealand airlines. This is also known as "Black Knight" in the United States.

The snake was put in a bucket and sprayed with TOD then the lid was put on and he was left there for ten minutes. During this time, the kitty litter substrata and newspaper was removed from his cage, and the cage was washed. It was then sprayed with TOD. A good thing with TOD is the fact that you do not have to destroy everything as it becomes a gas on contact with the air, and gets into all the cracks and corners, reaching all the mites.

After spraying, the cage was left with just newspaper as a substrata, and the snake was returned to it. The water bowl had been removed, and was not replaced until the following day as a precaution against TOD getting into the water. This is not a real problem, as it is completely bio-degradable, according to all the reading I've done.

The room, especially the area where the python had been on his time out of the cage, was also sprayed with "Top of Descent", as were the cages of the other pythons in my collection. Their water bowls were also removed. None of the other snakes showed any signs of infestation, thankfully.

After about five days, the treatment was repeated for the infected snake, as he returned to his water bowl. This probably was due to some eggs hatching. After another seven days, his cage was treated again, and this seemed to do the trick. There has been no sign of mites since, and the snake has returned to his normal placid temperament.

You may notice that "Top of Descent" triggers a slough in your snakes, if you have to use it, but this is by no means a certainty. I have not seen any adverse reactions with any of my snakes, and would recommend this treatment to anyone unfortunate enough to get mites in their collection.

If you are uncertain as to how to treat your animal, please consult a veterinarian as soon as possible. Be aware that in severe cases, it is possible that your snake or reptile could die.