Phew! NOT Snake Mites, Mold Mites! (with Pics)

[ladybird]

After finding a few tiny white mites on one of my snakes, I took some and looked at them under a microscope. I was hoping against hope that they weren't snake mites! This is what they looked like (picture taken of the microscope eyepiece)




I looked at pictures of snake mites on the internet and they don't look like the ones I found. Then I found this page here What's That Bug:Mites almost half way down that page it has an article on "Computer Loving Mites". I read through that and when I got to the last bit where it says 'Update from Barry M. OConnor' that's when it struck a chord and I knew this was the mite I had found on my snake. It fits the description there perfectly, and this article says it's called Tyrophagus putrescentiae, the mold mite. The distinguishing thing seems to be the long body hairs. There's also an article on Wikipedia here Mold mite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and the microscope picture of the mold mite looks just like the photo I took of mine! Here's the link to the photo Image:Grain mite 1.JPG - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


So, false alarm and a HUGE sigh of relief that they aren't parasitic snake mites. They're just common household mold mites. Phew!

I think they probably came in the aspen bedding I got, possibly. I'm still going to keep an eye on them and totally scrub the tanks and snakes just in case. As of yet, I haven't seen any snake mites in my collection, and I hope I never do

[BassFerret]

Cool picture! Glad it wasn't snake mite...

...but, you know, if they ever do crop up, a picture like that would be awesome!

[magneticblue]

Glad for you that they're not snake mites. Good thread!