colomian red tailed boa

Question
I've had a RTB for about 2 monthes with no problems. She has been eating and everything has been just fine until this morning. We fed her a small adult mouse yesterday in a separate enclosure while I cleaned her tank and changed her bedding. This morning I found a bunch of black round creatures all over her body. They're aren't in the folds, just all over. I'm not sure if they're mites or bed bugs or what. Can you help me identify what they are and how I can treat them?

Thanks!

Answer
Hello Sarah,

They are more than likely mites. Bed bugs are rather large bug compared to mites. Mites will look allot like black pepper. Your going to need to clean the tank in and out and all ornamental items as well with a 1 part bleach to 10 parts water solution. You will also want to pick up some mite ridding oil sold at you local pet store. I found the one at PetSmart works great. You may want to buy a small ten gallon tank to keep her in until you have her main tank clean. Instead of putting any substrate down you should use paper towels, this will help you to see if you irradiated the problem.

Hope this helps,
Eric Rovegno