what do mites look like? are they red?

[ajandj]

Hi all, i was just feeding Yoda and i spotted this tiny tiny little red/orange fleck on Yoda. I was surprised when it moved. It's barely the size of a dot from a pen. Any ideas and how to l get rid of it/them?

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Snake mites are purplish or black dots, so the thing you've spotted is unlikely to be a snake mite. It may be a mite, but there are thousands of species of mites in the soil and on everything around us, they come in all colours so yours is probably just one of those taking a walk on your snake. If it's not a snake mite, you don't have anything to worry about.

Jamie

 

[slim6y]

Australia does get a fair share of red spider mites. But they're plant eaters only.

I did find some pictures of snake mites - but they're quite different to how Jamie describes them, so maybe I leave them off here...

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Australia does get a fair share of red spider mites. But they're plant eaters only.

I did find some pictures of snake mites - but they're quite different to how Jamie describes them, so maybe I leave them off here...

I'd be interested to see them slim. Bear in mind that micro photos can make something look very different to the way they're perceived when we see them with our naked eye.

Snale mites (Ophionyssus natricis) usually present as black, pin-head sized dots which leave a brown smear (ingested blood) if you wipe them with your finger.

J

 

[ryanm]

It's quite common to see Geckos or lizards with small red mites on them, particularly on their toes. Doesn't seem to harm them unless they get in massive numbers.

 

[AM Pythons]

red spider mites like high humidy & live on plant matter, snake mites are black & live on your snake, you may see them in the bottom of your water bowl if your snake has been soaking to try & drown them...or moving around your enclosure, squash them & blood(browny-red colour) comes out if they have just feed...

 

[-Peter]

It's quite common to see Geckos or lizards with small red mites on them, particularly on their toes. Doesn't seem to harm them unless they get in massive numbers.

Leaftail geckoes present with these quite a lot here in Sydney.

 

[shell477]

When my snake had mites there were red ones as well as black ones...



When engorged after a blood meal, protonymphs are dark red, smaller than adult females and not black in color.
VPI Publications - Uncategorized | Vida Preciosa International, Inc.

 

[ajandj]

ok, i've been reading that betadine and water is a good solution to wash/soak reptile to kill mites. Has anyone ever used it

 

[Pythoninfinite]

If you only found one and it was orange-red, it won't be a snake mite, so treatment is unnecessary. For all intents and purposes, they will appear 'blackish,' even the protonymphs...

Jamie

 

[reptileKev81]

I'm just wondering if Yoda is a snake or lizard. Everyone seems to be talking about snake mites, but you've posted this in the Lizards section.
You might wanna specify so you get the right info.

 

[ajandj]

Yoda is a 5 month old bearded dragon

 

[slim6y]

I'd be interested to see them slim. Bear in mind that micro photos can make something look very different to the way they're perceived when we see them with our naked eye.

Snale mites (Ophionyssus natricis) usually present as black, pin-head sized dots which leave a brown smear (ingested blood) if you wipe them with your finger.

J

http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/0604/1187.jpeg

They look rather orange to me... But it's a reasonable macro though.

Yoda is a 5 month old bearded dragon

Clearly not the 900 year old Jedi I thought he was....

 

[ajandj]

the other thing l wanted to know. Is vinegar and water ok to clean his enclosure or do l need to go chemical?

 

[pythrulz]

Mites are either black or white I believe but there are so many billions of bugs we dont know about or are to small to see we will never know all there colours and yes vinegar and water are fine dont use chemicals to clean enclosers there all poisoness and toxic household chemicals anyway

 

[GeckPhotographer]

Orange or red mites are a relatively common lizard mite. As some people have said they often are found in large numbers on Leaf-tails in the Sydney area. These mites in low numbers have little to no effect on a lizard but if they become to numerous can have health impacts. It is best to treat them immediately as once numbers grow it can become hard to eradicate them from an enclosure.

 

[-Peter]

There are over 40,000 identified mite species, it is considered this is the tip of the iceberg. They range from the microscopic to large ticks. Check out eyelash mites...

 

[reptileKev81]

If you wanna go chemical when cleaning your enclosure, get yourself some f10 disinfectant and use that.

 

[ajandj]

i'd rather not use chemical, but l also want to be sure that vinegar and water will be enough to clean thoroughly

 

[reptileKev81]

f10 is a veterinary grade disinfectant which is said to be complete safe to humans and reptiles, just fyi.
Sorry, I don't really know about cleaning with vinegar water, but I'm keen to see a reply to your last post.
I might start using it whenever the f10 runs out as I can't always replace it quickly (its quite expensive IMO and only available through a handful of suppliers but its worth it).