How do i know if my corn snake has mites?

Question

are they on the the outside or inside of the snake

Answer 1

Mites look like a smaller version of a flea.  They are usually only on the outside of the snake, but if they are on there long enough without being treated they will burrow themselves under the scales of the skin and then they are really hard to get rid of.  If your snake has light colors on him then you should be able to see black dots.  If he is dark then it is a lot harder to tell.  Another way to check is to look and see if there are black floating dots in his water dish.  If you still can't tell put your snake on some white computer paper and spray him with water and if he has mites, most likley they will jump off and you will see them on the paper.  

If he does have mites you need to go to a pet store and buy some mite spray.  Then spray the snake down with it, let him sit for about 5 hours and then get the snake out and wipe him down with a paper towel and it should get most of the mites off.  Then put the snake in a different cage that has been sanitized and clean his regular cage with either the mite spray or a mixture of water and alcohol.  Once it is clean and it dries all the way and two days have passed you need to spray the snake again, wait 5 hours, wipe him down, and you may want to give him a bath before putting him back into his original cage.  Also make sure to spray the area around his cage down with the mite spray like the carpet, stand, ect...

ADDED: yea if you are talking about if you hold him up to light and can see through him near his tail and you see black in there, yes that is just his food in there.  Unless it is a bunch of small black things you see in there you might want to get that checked out because it could be parasites.  How big is this snake?

Answer 2

If you’ve ever been handling your snake and noticed a tiny black spot moving around on its body you have likely been introduced to a mite. You’ll be lucky to just see one black spot as mites usually travel in groups and infest your snake. Mites can actually be rather difficult to get rid of even and sometimes will take multiple treatments. Needless to say a might infestation on your snake is not something to be taken lightly.

If you think your snake is infested, then do some research online.  There are several websites that have ways to get rid of them.