Milksnake has mites?!

Question
I got a milksnake from someone who didn't want it anymore, I noticed on the white scales loads if little black dots some have a red colour, I'm sure they're mites, they're on the head area aswell, underneath the snake it's completely covered, they're are huge black blotches which is just thousands of the mites together under the scales, what should I do?! Should I try the reptile treatments or take it to the vet? He's about 3-4 ft long and possibly about 5 year old, he's also been soaking a lot but he is covered in these.

Answer
Sorry to say but you are going to have a long (at least) a week long process. The easiest thing to do is to put the snake in a plastic bin ( small as can be while still fitting him, a water bowl and some space) you will want to poke a few holes in it for him as well. Everything the snake touches will need to be soaked in HOT water and bleach daily, and rinsed very good.

He will need to be kept on paper towels and sprayed daily with mite spray. You can use a reptile spray but I use the RID lice spray, you can find it at most stores. I spray it all over the bin and wipe down well and spray a towel and wipe the snake down. Be careful around the eye area but get the head good. Keep him on heat and change the paper towels at least once a day.

The mites will live in fabric, beds, couches, etc while looking for a host so I would move him to separate rooms daily if you can. It is a very long process to get rid of mites, and a bigger pain than you can imagine. And half the time people don't properly kill them and they are back within a week. Unless he goes off food for a few weeks or becomes ill I wouldn't bother with a vet, they cant really do anything for mites aside from what you can already do at home.

Let me know if you have anymore questions.