Hannahmania
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I have just confirmed that my snake (which I picked up a week ago) has mites. I noticed today some little black marks under the scales under her chin, and after a bit of effort trying to get her to let me have a closer look, I managed to get one out to find that it was a little black bug.
I have to say, I am a little annoyed... I got the snake from a store I have seen commented positively on here, and so far we first ended up paying an extra $100 for a different snake when the one we were originally going to get, which we had been told was a great handler, gave the store person a nasty bite when he went to get it out of the cage... and now this.
The problem is that I am a fairly recently single mum, and because of some health issues (and still having one kid not yet at school) I don't work at the moment... I had some money set aside, which I used to get the snake and the enclosure (kind of my "treat" in getting through all this), but with a few extra expenses around the snake that stretch the snake budget I am now living hand to mouth for the next few weeks. Worthwhile sacrifice, but with literally $5 in my wallet to get me through until next Tuesday... this is an extra expenseI could really do without.
Ummm... OK... so after that bit of a rant...
How should I be treating my snake and her enclosure?
At my disposal, I currently have a medium size click-clack (large enough to hold her comfortably for a while, but not big enough for her to live in - also I don't have a heat source for it) and her current hide/waterbowl, etc. I can fairly easily make a temporary hide and find something else to use as a waterbowl.
Do I need something heated to keep her in while I clean out her enclosure properly? (I could probably manage that if I get a heat mat and use it with the click-clack, but as I said, that would work for a few hours or so, not longer term).
What is the best bang for buck way to treat her enclosure? I would rather spend less than more, but at the same time, I don't want to waste money on a treatment that won't work.
What is the best way to treat her? Do I need anything special? I have read a few things that basically just suggest a bathtub with some diluted betadine - is that the best way to go about it?
Is there anything else I need to know/do? The enclosure is sitting on the carpet - do I need to do anything about the carpet and the area around it?
Oh - if it is any relevance, I have a 2ish yo Mac - about 110cm long.
Nothing like jumping in the deep end with all this stuff. I had assumed at this stage I would be dealing with the basic feeding/cleaning up snake poo type things, not health type issues already.
Thanks!
- Sharon
ETA - I did have a look over her before I got her, and didn't see any signs of the mites then, but she is my first snake, so I didn't really know exactly what I was looking for...
Later post - I guess it merges them...
Urgh - so I decided to give her a bath, at least to get rid of the worst of the ones on her until I can treat properly.
She didn't want her head in the water, so I attempted to wipe the underside of her chin with some damp paper towel to see if I could wipe some away...
New experience of the day... being pooed on by a snake. Hmmm... Upside is I won't have to clean it out of her cage later, I guess...
I have to say, I am a little annoyed... I got the snake from a store I have seen commented positively on here, and so far we first ended up paying an extra $100 for a different snake when the one we were originally going to get, which we had been told was a great handler, gave the store person a nasty bite when he went to get it out of the cage... and now this.
The problem is that I am a fairly recently single mum, and because of some health issues (and still having one kid not yet at school) I don't work at the moment... I had some money set aside, which I used to get the snake and the enclosure (kind of my "treat" in getting through all this), but with a few extra expenses around the snake that stretch the snake budget I am now living hand to mouth for the next few weeks. Worthwhile sacrifice, but with literally $5 in my wallet to get me through until next Tuesday... this is an extra expenseI could really do without.
Ummm... OK... so after that bit of a rant...
How should I be treating my snake and her enclosure?
At my disposal, I currently have a medium size click-clack (large enough to hold her comfortably for a while, but not big enough for her to live in - also I don't have a heat source for it) and her current hide/waterbowl, etc. I can fairly easily make a temporary hide and find something else to use as a waterbowl.
Do I need something heated to keep her in while I clean out her enclosure properly? (I could probably manage that if I get a heat mat and use it with the click-clack, but as I said, that would work for a few hours or so, not longer term).
What is the best bang for buck way to treat her enclosure? I would rather spend less than more, but at the same time, I don't want to waste money on a treatment that won't work.
What is the best way to treat her? Do I need anything special? I have read a few things that basically just suggest a bathtub with some diluted betadine - is that the best way to go about it?
Is there anything else I need to know/do? The enclosure is sitting on the carpet - do I need to do anything about the carpet and the area around it?
Oh - if it is any relevance, I have a 2ish yo Mac - about 110cm long.
Nothing like jumping in the deep end with all this stuff. I had assumed at this stage I would be dealing with the basic feeding/cleaning up snake poo type things, not health type issues already.
Thanks!
- Sharon
ETA - I did have a look over her before I got her, and didn't see any signs of the mites then, but she is my first snake, so I didn't really know exactly what I was looking for...
Later post - I guess it merges them...
Urgh - so I decided to give her a bath, at least to get rid of the worst of the ones on her until I can treat properly.
She didn't want her head in the water, so I attempted to wipe the underside of her chin with some damp paper towel to see if I could wipe some away...
New experience of the day... being pooed on by a snake. Hmmm... Upside is I won't have to clean it out of her cage later, I guess...
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