so my corn snake has died for reasons im not sure of. when i got him i noticed he had snake mites, which i tryed my best to get rid of but ive afraid that could be the reason of him passing on. he seemed dehydrated but i had fresh water at all times, he was eating as well so i dk
corn snake
- Thread starter Natemass
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- Aug 30, 2005
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Sorry to hear that! 
It's possible that it could have been caused by the mites though I'm not sure if mites can be fatal. It could also be that if he was being kept before you got him in a place that harbored mites, it is likely that it was too moist and didn't have a proper temperature gradient which would have affected his immune system and led to respiratory infection or other infection. Corns are especially suspectible to respiratory infections. Sorry for your loss though!
It's possible that it could have been caused by the mites though I'm not sure if mites can be fatal. It could also be that if he was being kept before you got him in a place that harbored mites, it is likely that it was too moist and didn't have a proper temperature gradient which would have affected his immune system and led to respiratory infection or other infection. Corns are especially suspectible to respiratory infections. Sorry for your loss though! ya i no that corn snakes have 1 full lung and one smaller one. so that could have been it, now with the mites they drink the blood of the snake so it could be that for it would have been making the snake dehydrated. but i always had a water dish soo idk it happened and ill have to live with it:wall:
Oh man that really sucks, I'm sorry to hear that! How long ago did you buy it? If it already had mites when you bought it..chances are they had already started doing some serious damage to the corn. Mites can be very fatal if they've been present for a long period of time. This is from an article written by Chris Jordan cjreptiles.com resuming the problems with mites better in english:
"Snake mites, Ophionyssus natricis, are an arachnid ectoparasite of snakes and other reptiles. They cause problems by sucking the blood of their host, they cause skin problems, aggravate and disturb the reptile and transmit serious diseases from the mite to the reptile. In addition to this mites can be very difficult to eliminate once they are introduced to a captive snake collection and can travel freely and a long way for their size so can spread quickly to the rest of the collection.
The mites feeding on the blood of a reptile can cause many problems for the reptile. Heavily infested snakes may become dehydrated, lethargic, anaemic and suffer from chronic debility from blood loss.
An infestation of mites may lead to dermatitis (inflammation of the skin) in the affected reptile, which may become aggravated, disturbed and restless, seeking relief by lying in water to try and reduce the ‘itchiness’. The reptile’s skin at mite feeding sites often becomes swollen from a build up of blood or serous fluid. A skin hypersensitivity reaction to mites’ saliva has been reported in boids.
In pit vipers, inflammation and impaction of the loreal pits, the thermal sensitive pits, has been noted as a consequence of mite infestations.
The lifestyle of the snake mite - feeding once as a protonymph and then several times as an adult - means it can transmit infectious agents both mechanically and biologically (as it can pick up a disease between feeds and transmit diseases from snake to snake etc). Thus the snake mite is thought to be responsible for the transmission of several blood-borne viral, bacterial (Aeromonas hydrophila septicaemia) and filariid (round worms) pathogens of snakes.
According to the http://www.vpi.com website, at 86F, gravid engorged female mites looking for a place to lay eggs can travel at a speed of up to 20 cm per minute, up to 12 metres in an hour, and they may travel several hours looking for a good place to deposit eggs. Unfed females can crawl up to a rate of 28 cm per minute - almost 17 metres per hour. Just travelling for a couple of hours, mites can go considerable distances from their host snakes. They easily can pass through the ventilated surface of a cage and travel to another area of a snake collection in that room or even another area of the house. This means that the mites can spread throughout the collection and their rapid lifecycle means the population increases rapidly, so a small infestation can soon turn into a large, potentially fatal one.
How long ago did you buy it? If it already had mites when you bought it..chances are they had already started doing some serious damage to the corn. Mites can be very fatal if they've been present for a long period of time. This is from an article written by Chris Jordan cjreptiles.com resuming the problems with mites better in english:"Snake mites, Ophionyssus natricis, are an arachnid ectoparasite of snakes and other reptiles. They cause problems by sucking the blood of their host, they cause skin problems, aggravate and disturb the reptile and transmit serious diseases from the mite to the reptile. In addition to this mites can be very difficult to eliminate once they are introduced to a captive snake collection and can travel freely and a long way for their size so can spread quickly to the rest of the collection.
The mites feeding on the blood of a reptile can cause many problems for the reptile. Heavily infested snakes may become dehydrated, lethargic, anaemic and suffer from chronic debility from blood loss.
An infestation of mites may lead to dermatitis (inflammation of the skin) in the affected reptile, which may become aggravated, disturbed and restless, seeking relief by lying in water to try and reduce the ‘itchiness’. The reptile’s skin at mite feeding sites often becomes swollen from a build up of blood or serous fluid. A skin hypersensitivity reaction to mites’ saliva has been reported in boids.
In pit vipers, inflammation and impaction of the loreal pits, the thermal sensitive pits, has been noted as a consequence of mite infestations.
The lifestyle of the snake mite - feeding once as a protonymph and then several times as an adult - means it can transmit infectious agents both mechanically and biologically (as it can pick up a disease between feeds and transmit diseases from snake to snake etc). Thus the snake mite is thought to be responsible for the transmission of several blood-borne viral, bacterial (Aeromonas hydrophila septicaemia) and filariid (round worms) pathogens of snakes.
According to the http://www.vpi.com website, at 86F, gravid engorged female mites looking for a place to lay eggs can travel at a speed of up to 20 cm per minute, up to 12 metres in an hour, and they may travel several hours looking for a good place to deposit eggs. Unfed females can crawl up to a rate of 28 cm per minute - almost 17 metres per hour. Just travelling for a couple of hours, mites can go considerable distances from their host snakes. They easily can pass through the ventilated surface of a cage and travel to another area of a snake collection in that room or even another area of the house. This means that the mites can spread throughout the collection and their rapid lifecycle means the population increases rapidly, so a small infestation can soon turn into a large, potentially fatal one.
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Im so sorry to hear about your loss . Are you going to get another one?
I am surprised to see that mites are hard to get rid of, a corn snake that i bought at a reptile show last year died and there was a single snow corn snake that had been there a long time and it was still being sold as a baby even though several months old. I decided to get it and i still have her now. She had mites on her and they were easy for me to get rid of. The reptile person at my local Petco who is caring and knowledgable and I am friends with recommended a product. I got this thing called
Reptile Relief. You can find info about it at www.naturalchemistry.com. I sprayed her (not including her head) with it and removed the bedding from her tank and replaced it with paper towels and sprayed the towels too. I did every three days (it says no more than 3 day intervals) for about two and a half weeks. I also picked the mites that were on her every time i sprayed her since i picked her up and handled her to keep the spray out of her face. Two and a half weeks eliminated the mites.
Anyways, im sorry if this rubs it in, that i had mites and got rid of them, but if you get another snake, i suggest this stuff, which can be bought at Petco, as it worked very well for me. I hope you get a healthy and happy snake!
. Are you going to get another one?I am surprised to see that mites are hard to get rid of, a corn snake that i bought at a reptile show last year died and there was a single snow corn snake that had been there a long time and it was still being sold as a baby even though several months old. I decided to get it and i still have her now. She had mites on her and they were easy for me to get rid of. The reptile person at my local Petco who is caring and knowledgable and I am friends with recommended a product. I got this thing called
Reptile Relief. You can find info about it at www.naturalchemistry.com. I sprayed her (not including her head) with it and removed the bedding from her tank and replaced it with paper towels and sprayed the towels too. I did every three days (it says no more than 3 day intervals) for about two and a half weeks. I also picked the mites that were on her every time i sprayed her since i picked her up and handled her to keep the spray out of her face. Two and a half weeks eliminated the mites.
Anyways, im sorry if this rubs it in, that i had mites and got rid of them, but if you get another snake, i suggest this stuff, which can be bought at Petco, as it worked very well for me. I hope you get a healthy and happy snake!
Hallo,Im so sorry to hear about your loss
I am surprised to see that mites are hard to get rid of, a corn snake that i bought at a reptile show last year died and there was a single snow corn snake that had been there a long time and it was still being sold as a baby even though several months old. I decided to get it and i still have her now. She had mites on her and they were easy for me to get rid of. The reptile person at my local Petco who is caring and knowledgable and I am friends with recommended a product. I got this thing called
Reptile Relief. You can find info about it at www.naturalchemistry.com. I sprayed her (not including her head) with it and removed the bedding from her tank and replaced it with paper towels and sprayed the towels too. I did every three days (it says no more than 3 day intervals) for about two and a half weeks. I also picked the mites that were on her every time i sprayed her since i picked her up and handled her to keep the spray out of her face. Two and a half weeks eliminated the mites.
Anyways, im sorry if this rubs it in, that i had mites and got rid of them, but if you get another snake, i suggest this stuff, which can be bought at Petco, as it worked very well for me. I hope you get a healthy and happy snake!
Over the counter remedies work well if you don't delay in erradicating them early as soon as you notice them, and if your snake is in healthy condition and its surroundings get treated too. However, for very severe long term infestations, most comercially sold products will not be strong enough to get rid of them, and you will need to get a much more potent treatment such as Ivermec through your vet. As with any diseases and infections, the longer you wait, the more severe damage it will do, and the harder it will be to get rid of them.
Regards,
Ulrich