black bugs on my snake, what do I do?

Question

I have a red tail boa and I was holding it and found a black bug and I took it off but it looks kinda like a flea but it doesnt jump, it crawls. do you know what they are? and how I can get rid of them?

Answer 1

They are mites. You can take it to the vet and get a shot that is supposed to clear it up, but mine suggested a flea and tick powder. You need to clean everything in the enclosure really well with bleach and put a dusting of the powder in the bottom of the cage. My vet recommended I put a bit in a bag and dust the snake with it too, but the stuff in his enclosure got rid of them pretty quickly. It's probably a good idea to take him to the vet too, because mites can get lodged under their scales and in their eyes and the vet can safely remove them.

Answer 2

your snake has mites. mites come from anyting like bedding, the accessories in the tank. boas are more prone to getting mites. how to treat them of the mites is to first clean out the tank and treat the things with a mite solution, and then you need to soak your snake. mites don't like water. they will drown in the water. you need to do this everyday for about 1 week and then if that doesn't work then you will have to go to the vet and they will give you some ivermectin for the mites. but try this at home first and then you will know what else you need to do. good luck

Answer 3

Maybe mites

Mites and Chiggars...oh my!
The most common (and, not coincidentally, most often studied) type of ectoparasitic mite to infest snakes and lizards is the Ophionyssus natricis, the snake mite. Though quite small, these black, red or gray dot-sized pests can be seen moving around on the reptile skin or under their scales (especially under the belly scutes on snakes). They tend to congregate where the skin is thinnest (ears, eyelids, armpits).

In the Prostigmatid mites are two families, the Ophioptidae, inhabiting the underside of snake scales, and Cloacaridae, commonly found in the cloacal mucosa of aquatic and semi-aquatic turtles. There are two species of Clacaridae found in North American reptiles: C. faini in the snapping turtle, and C. beeri in the painted.

Chiggars mites are actually the larvae of the Trombiculid mite, another very common ectoparasite of the squamata. We tend to think of larvae as being legless grubs, like mealworms and maggots, but chigger mite larvae have six legs which enable them to move around their meal (the snake or lizard) and the greater environment. The larvae are red and frequently seen in aggregations on the reptile, preferring the cozy folds of skin, especially in the folds around the hip and arm joints, but also in the recessed areas around dorsal crests and dewlap and eyelid folds

Answer 4

Ok wells heres the absolute best way to get rid of the mites Ive been invested once and I have a huge collection and it took me a month to get rid of everything
1. Go to a reptile or pet store pick up Provent a mite and Reptile relief and mineral oil
2. Take out your snakes put them in a tub clean out there tank entirely throw out there substrate by now its covered with mite eggs.
3. Wash there tank with about 10% bleach and 90% water
then wash it agian with watermake sure the bleach is gone
4. Dry the tank get some news print and put it on the bottom now spray provent a mite you only spray 1 second per foot of space soo not much let it air out for a while.
5. Decoratings and fake plants I threw mine out butt if you sanitize them some how that would be sufficient probubly with reptile relief then throw them in a dishwasher or something I had to take extra measures becasue I have so many animals so mine went in the trash
6. Now your ready for the animals itself you have redtails
I have two myself hehe should be no problem then spray them directly with reptile relief try to avoid getting it into there eyes or nostrols let her sit for about 10-15 mintues.
7. dip her in some warm water for 10 mintues then take the mineral oil and spread it on her body this will close up and sufficate any mites Note: She will have A terrible shed after this it wont be nice
8. Now that everything is prepeard put your snake back in the enclosure with just the news print and a hide I made a crappy homemade hide for the time being like a box of soem sort I left my animals like this for two weeks checking for mites daily if there are any spray the reptile with reptile releif and if there are spray the enclosure with provent a mite once a week e make sure u take the snake out!!!! and if theres no signs of mites anymore its safe to buy new decorations and substrate but when u put the substrate in spray with provent a mite just the substrate alone and let it air out agian.. thats how I got ird of all of my mites I have 40 lizards here it was alot of work but with only one redtail it should be very managable

Answer 5

Those are mites dear.
And they are sucking the blood off of our snake as we speak.
You need to take care of it now before it becomes a BIG problem because they can start bleeding and attain diseases easily from mites.
It called IBD
[Inclusion Bodily Disease]
We had to rid of our red tails because of that.

Soak them in mite off.
Or an other mite repelant you can find at like petco or something.
And replace their bedding with newspaper till you are sure it is gone.

DO NOT ALLOW THEM NEAR OTHER SNAKES.
they can also catch these mites and the disease.

Answer 6

Mites! you need to bathe your snake in warm water or pick them off with a small tweezer, but pull them gently so the mites can release their limbs from the snakes skin . If you pull them too fast that can result in a infection.

Answer 7

these bugs are mites. best bet is to take your critter to the vet to get him treated - mites are bad news for reptiles