Soaking in water

Good to know and I try to watch it carefully on the humidity


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There is the small chance that it's hormonal as well...
Is ziggy a female? It's not as common I feel like, but some females would soak as they were getting close to ovulation. Over 2 years old is about right if they're over 1100g.
The only time some of my males may take a sip is if they're close to shedding.

Otherwise... Sometimes they're just weird little guys. One of mine went and made a mess with their bowl last night which is weird for them.
As long as you're double checking your temps, mite free and keeping some decent humidity, it could just be a weird whim.

Ziggy is a 4 year old male it’s starting to be winter here in Arizona and I offered him meals and hasn’t eaten since 11/3/23 I offered a week then 2 week then going on 3 weeks


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And last time I had him out I didn’t see anything unusual yet I wasn’t looking closely really need to do better on that


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Update I got home from work at 11 pm I pulled him out to check for mites I didn’t see any but I did sprayed him for it just incase and his bedding with this and I noticed a few dark marks that didn’t look like his normal markinghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b2f65995b6.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...271b277ab6.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...60d031f6bd.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...0c85540ab1.jpg


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That looks a little bit like a minor burn or minor scale rot? The coloration at least. I'm probably incorrect on that but it's what it looks like to me if it's not a normal part of his pattern. Someone else who has more experience with that sort of thing will have a better chance at figuring out what those markings are.

If you've had the snake for two years, and not taken in any other snakes more or less recently, and not handled any other snakes recently (at a shop or expo), I'd not suspect mites.

I'd not treat for mites -- even with ineffective products like the one in the photo -- without some evidence that there are mites or some reason to do so preventatively (as with keepers who use PAM on all new arrivals).

Troubleshooting questions:

"hasn’t eaten since 11/3/23 " -- is that within his normal feeding habits?

When did he last shed?

Is there a moist hide in the enclosure?

Is the only heat source the CHE that's above the water bowl?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ziggy31984

Update I got home from work at 11 pm I pulled him out to check for mites I didn’t see any but I did sprayed him for it just incase and his bedding with this and I noticed a few dark marks that didn’t look like his normal markinghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...b2f65995b6.jpg

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I wouldn't treat for mites unless you actually have mites. Being covered in pesticide is better than being covered in blood sucking insects, but neither is good for your snake.

The scales you circled don't concern me but the blotchy redness in the belly scales near it does concern me a little. It may be just normal pre-shed pinkness. It's been a while since I've seen it on a ball python, but it may be beginning scalerot. I imagine you may need to keep the substrate damp to keep the humidity up in that large screentop enclosure. If the substrate is kept too damp, it can lead to scalerot.

There are 3 other snake in the house but they are not mine and I try to keep the humidity close to 80% and there’s 2 heat pad with sensors


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He normally sheds about every other month except last month which I fine odd


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