Question
There are tiny little white things crawling across my pet snakes face, and even on its eyes.
What are they, and what should I do about them? Are they harmful?
Answer
John is right, your snake has mites. They're pretty similar in reptiles as fleas are in dogs and cats. Unfortunately the best way to deal with mites is to never get them at all because of the difficulty in getting rid of them. Mites will take refuge in the snake's scales, and pretty much every chemical that would kill the mites is harmful to reptiles as well. They're also so tiny in their larval stage they can hide anywhere.
There are sprays you can get that can help sooth the bites on your snake. Reptile Relief is the most commonly used I think.
To actually get rid of the mites, you should give the snake a bath with some Betadine solution (enough so that the water looks like tea). Wait to put in the solution until after the snake is in the bath, as it might want to take a drink when it's first in there. Also, if the snake defecates while in the bath, you should draw a fresh bath.
The water should drown the mites, while the Betadine solution should help clean the bites. Make sure to also (carefully) treat the snake's head as the mites can take refuge on it's head during the bath. You can use a cotton swab to help get the mites off of the head.
Now leave the snake in the bath for a couple minutes to let the water kill the mites. If you're comfortable with leaving your snake in the bath for a bit, you can move on to the next step.
Basically, everything in the terrarium can be considered infested with mite eggs and larvae. A couple things besides the terrarium itself are salvageable. These are the food and water dishes, and the decorations. All of that should be soaked in water with a hint of bleach in it, something like half a cup of bleach per gallon of water.
Let it soak for several minutes to kill the mites, and let the bleach soak and kill the eggs. Anything that can't be soaked should be thrown away and replaced. It's almost best to just use paper towels as a substrate for the next couple of weeks, just in case it turns out that the mites are still around.
Now that the terrarium is empty, fill it up with water and a little bit of bleach. That should hopefully take care of any mites in the silicon corners.
At this point, enough time has probably passed where you can draw your snake another bath, this time with just plain water to rinse away the Betadine solution. Now check to make sure you can't see any mites hiding in the scales or vents. If there's only one or two, or if they're dead and just stuck, you should be able to grab them with a cotton swab and mineral oil.
Now, go back to the terrarium and decorations, and rinse it thoroughly to get rid of the bleach. Especially in the food and water bowls. Now you're ready to put the terrarium back together and put your snake back in it. Make sure to keep an eye on it for any mites that might reappear, if you see any, you'll want to start the process over again.
Answered By - Spidercat