I want to keep my Argentine Rainbows as a display type cage. Therefore newspaper or papertowel will just not cut it for this cage. I really like the look of the reptibark, and have tried it "just one more time" too many now. I bleached it, baked it THEN used it for his cage. I just did this a couple days ago in fact. One of my kids noticed that he was having some trouble in his cage today. When I checked I found him "rubbing" his head around in the substrate..gee I wonder why??? [img]images/forum/icons/icon_confused.gif[/img] Turns out he had pieces of the reptibark in his mouth, which got there as a result of him trying to "relieve" himself of
MITES ARGHHH. Now I myself was handling him just a couple of days ago when I did the change-over in substrate. At that time he had not a single mite or problem. [img]images/forum/icons/icon_eek.gif[/img] I also did cage cleanings for my other snakes cages at the same time and used other types of substrates for them. This snake, Argentine Rainbow, is the ONLY one with mites. [img]images/forum/icons/icon_mad.gif[/img]
GEE..WONDER WHAT THE SOURCE OF THE MITES IS?? [img]images/forum/icons/icon_eek.gif[/img] [img]images/forum/icons/icon_eek.gif[/img] [img]images/forum/icons/icon_eek.gif[/img] Just to top it off..he doesn't just have mites..he's INFESTED with the dang things!! Mineral oil...we're there allready. [img]images/forum/icons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]images/forum/icons/icon_eek.gif[/img] In fact it is sooo bad...I've got him actually soaking in a pool of mineral oil after I soaked him down with the stuff [img]images/forum/icons/icon_eek.gif[/img]
Lots of people have asked what these lil buggers actually look like..so here's some pics I had taken while I worked with him earlier....
These are mites under the head/chin area..all the lil black things...
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This is an underview of him ... the lil black dots are the mites....
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When I refer to scaling..this is how I do it with a card...
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This is what the mites look like once you get them off the snake....on your hand..
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Boy am I glad he's only a lil snake!![addsig]
