Will a humid hide attract mites? and Provent a Mite/ ball python questions?

I'm always having problems with low humidity, but what I do is keep a damp sponge or damp moss in the hide. I mist daily, and I keep a piece of wood in there that I dampen each day. It's also beneficial to keep a damp towel over the top.As far as heat, that can be done pretty easily.

I assume the light you described before is an infrared light. I would buy a basking light as well for during the day time. The one I have is a 75 watt, and it's UVA and UVB which best simulates natural sunlight.

During the summer I leave the basking light on during the day, then turn it off and use the infrared light at night. In the winter, if it's colder inside, I'll use the basking light on the warm side of the tank, and the infrared on the other side. She may not be feeding because she doesn't feel good between the mites and the fact that she's always cold.

It sounds like you're using frozen/thawed which is great. Make sure you wiggle the thawed mouse a little to simulate living movement. If she's still not interested cut the mouse to draw some blood and try it again.

If you know someone with a pet gerbil, ask if you can rub the mouse in the cage of the gerbil to pick up the smell--ball pythons LOVE gerbils. As for the mites, I'm afraid I can't help you much with that. I know other people swear by Prevent a Mite.

Soak the snake in lukewarm water and follow the instructions on the PAM packaging. If you have anything porous in the tank (such as wooden perches) I would get ride of these and start with something clean. The best advice I can give you is to head over to a snake forum.

One that I love (and am always on) is ball-pythons.net Go to the forums section and look around. Keep in mind that the abbreviation for Ball Python on there is "BP." There are a ton of very knowledgeable people there that can answer any of your questions.

Ok, a couple of things first. Number One, it's outrageous the pet store sold you a snake that had mites. It;s even worse if they didn't know as they are supposed to be in the business of teaching people how to care for their new pets, not just make a profit.

That being said, here's a couple of ideas, move your snake into a 10 gal or 20 long at the max. Set up 2 sides and raise the temp with a ceramic heat emitter and a dome. Your snake is not eating because it is cold, Balls need a 90 degree spot to digest and bask and 75 degrees isn't even close. The UTH and bulb won't be enough.

Also, the smaller tank will hold heat better and make the snake feel more secure. As far as the mites, you have the right stuff, don't be afraid to use it. Spray it on the newspaper if this is your substrate and change it 2-3 times a week even if t doesn't look like it needs it.

If you follow the directions, it won't kill your snake Also, once you have your Ball warmed up, try flipping him to rat pups instead of fuzzy mice. They are more nutritious and will be easier to match the feed as your snake grows. Good luck; I hope this helps.

Snakes with mites often will not eat. They're anemic and weak, so the mites should be dealt with before the feeding difficulties. Moving it into a plastic tub should take care of your temperature and humidity problems so a humid hide will be unnecessary.

Heat lamps dry out the air even worse, so the best thing is to get it into the plastic tub as soon as you have an appropriate heat pad. Here's what I do to treat for mites: 1) Remove the snake from the cage, gently rub it down with a natural oil (canola, olive, etc) and then let it sit in a plastic tub (small) while you clean out the cage. The oil will suffocate all the mites on the body, just be careful not to put too much around the mouth, nostrils, and heat pits.

Use a Q-tip for the face. 2) Clean out the tub (you can skip this step since you have a new tub anyway) 3) Sprinkle a thin layer of Diatomaceous Earth (Food Grade if possible) on the bare bottom of the tub. I also sprinkle DE all over the carpet.DE is a non-toxic, natural substance that kills insects on contact.

It works by being abrasive to insect's exoskeletons. Once the exoskeleton is damaged, the insect becomes dehydrated by the DE and dies. Obviously you don't want the snake inhaling it since it's abrasive and dehydrating, but it's not toxic and it's actually safe enough for human consumption.

You just might need to buy it off the internet because not many places sell it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceou… 4) Put the bedding in the tub (I use aspen shavings) 5) Spray the PAM on the sides, bedding, and inner lid of the tub.6) Let air-dry for half an hour with the lid off so there aren't any fumes. I also spray the surrounding area of the cage.

7) Wipe off any excess oil from the snake. I usually just use a dry towel to pat it down if it's the snake's first mite treatment and I KNOW it had mites. However, if I'm treating the other snakes in the room who might have mites, or they've already been treated before, then I use a VERY diluted Dawn dish soap mixture to clean the oil off the snake.

8) Return the snake to the cage, along with a clean bowl of water.

I would clean out the cage first off. Once everything has been thoroughly cleaned with a bleach/water solution and then rinsed, spray the provent a mite in the cage on all surfaces and let it dry. Place paper towel in there which will allow you to see any mites in the cage.

The provent a mite is very safe and I've never had an issue with it. It should kill all mites in all stages. I'd also soak the snake in tepid water with a drop of soap in it to kill any mites on him.

Dry him off and put him in. The older the snake, the less often he will she. He sounds like he's fairly young and normally they shed monthly, but yours may not need it right now.

Normally they will shed if they have mites and that may still come. The failure to eat can be a sign of irritation from the mites, or because it sounds like you're feeding frozen/thawed prey and he might have only eaten live. Ball pythons are sucky eaters to begin with and often will only eat live.

This is especially true if they came from petstores who buy imports. If you are feeding f/t, make sure it's very, very hot and offered with tongs. Just laying a tepid pinky in the cage won't get most snakes to eat.

Try getting a cup of water and bringing it to a near boil in the microwave. Dip the head of the fuzzy in there just before feeding, dry it off and offer it. Pythons feed at night and sense heat and if the mouse is too cool, they will not eat (some of them anyway).

The hotter the better. Right now I'd concern myself with the mites, not the humidity. It doesn't have to be higher than 50% unless he's shedding.50% is pretty high.

Offer a large water bowl for him to soak in if he wants to, but right now, get the mites taken care of. They are a larger health concern. They carry disease and can weaken a snake.In general, balls, like most pythons can go long periods without food.

Generally even babies can go a long time. I'd get a weight on this boy and track it weekly if you want to see if he's really losing weight. Generally they won't lose much.

This is part of the reason I rarely recommend ball pythons for first time snake owners. Their feeding habits are so bad that most owners are stressed out when their snake refuses food. Cornsnakes have much better feeding records and so do captive born and bred ball pythons from a good breeder.

Pet stores are rarely a good choice for any snake. You've already experienced some of the reasons: mites, and failure to feed.Do you know if it even fed at the store and what they were feeding it?

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.