this may sound like a dumb question but, once you remove the snake from the dawn water, do you rinse them off under the sink or just dry them off? also, how do you keep them from getting the dawn in their eyes if they’re in it for an hour?
I typically just dry them off completely before putting them back into their enclosure, but this is a good thought to ponder a bit further. Dawn is very benign to use on snakes but also kills the mites because the soap chokes out the mites. I know of no ill effects from just drying them off after the soak as opposed to washing off the soap completely and then drying. As for their eyes, they have eye scales that cover their eyes that is also connected to the rest of their scales (if you look at a snake shed, you can see it's all one "wrapper" so to speak). So because of this they don't have the issue of getting soap in their actual eyes.
@elenaasimakopoulou1358 So they are visible when you really look, though if you were looking for them on an all black snake, it would be a challenge. I knew to look for them because I had one very lethargic acting snake, 2 snakes soaking wayyy to much for what had been their normal soaking amounts, and a full adult female shedding monthly. Her shedding so much was definitely not normal for an adult snake as they should only shed 2 to 3 times a year. Adult snakes shed more if sick or injured. I honestly should have checked even sooner then I did, but most mite infestations come.from introducing a new snake that already has them into the collection and I hadn't brought in any new snakes/animals into my collection for over a year at this point. I now suspect they were in the substrate somehow.
I'm guessing it was either substrate or a new hide where I missed cleaning a part of it. Most the time, snake mites come from a new animal being brought in and not quarantining, but I didn't have a new animal in the last year. So that's my best guess. Great question!
GREAT vid !! Thank you 😊
Glad you liked it! Been planning to post more videos on care, just haven't yet since I'm undergoing a move for my home 😁
this may sound like a dumb question but, once you remove the snake from the dawn water, do you rinse them
off under the sink or just dry them off? also, how do you keep them from getting the dawn in their eyes if they’re in it for an hour?
I typically just dry them off completely before putting them back into their enclosure, but this is a good thought to ponder a bit further. Dawn is very benign to use on snakes but also kills the mites because the soap chokes out the mites. I know of no ill effects from just drying them off after the soak as opposed to washing off the soap completely and then drying.
As for their eyes, they have eye scales that cover their eyes that is also connected to the rest of their scales (if you look at a snake shed, you can see it's all one "wrapper" so to speak). So because of this they don't have the issue of getting soap in their actual eyes.
How did you realise you had mites? Are they visible?
@elenaasimakopoulou1358 So they are visible when you really look, though if you were looking for them on an all black snake, it would be a challenge.
I knew to look for them because I had one very lethargic acting snake, 2 snakes soaking wayyy to much for what had been their normal soaking amounts, and a full adult female shedding monthly. Her shedding so much was definitely not normal for an adult snake as they should only shed 2 to 3 times a year. Adult snakes shed more if sick or injured.
I honestly should have checked even sooner then I did, but most mite infestations come.from introducing a new snake that already has them into the collection and I hadn't brought in any new snakes/animals into my collection for over a year at this point. I now suspect they were in the substrate somehow.
Any idea on how you got the mites.
I'm guessing it was either substrate or a new hide where I missed cleaning a part of it. Most the time, snake mites come from a new animal being brought in and not quarantining, but I didn't have a new animal in the last year. So that's my best guess. Great question!