Do your BPs like baths?

[MontyAndMelissa]

How would I go about letting him take a bath?
Any degree of temperature you would recommend?
I want to give him more things to do since his aquarium is a bit boring!

Make sure your snake likes the water first. The temperature should be roughly the temperature of the side of the tank he's on more often (that's what I did at least) and make sure they have somewhere to go if they don't like it.

[xXBASSXx777]

How would I go about letting him take a bath?
Any degree of temperature you would recommend?
I want to give him more things to do since his aquarium is a bit boring!

Hello,
If it is his/hers first bath, then go with some large space (tub) because he/she may totally freak. start with shallow water that way he/she is very comfortable and allow him/her a place to escape the water complete. (like a dry towel, it will get wet )

I would recommend NO more than than than 85 degrees. (If you do not have a proper form of measurements, go with slightly warmer than luke warm. Human external body temp is like 93 so it should not feel warm to you, but it should have NO chill.)

If his/her aquarium is rather large for him/her than more things is not just nice but nearly imperative. you can add fake leaves, three hides (one on hot side, one on cool side, and one in the middle that is humid), you can get something solid for him/her to climb (if you get it from outside DO YOUR RESEARCH first), and just use your imagination (and the internet ).

[KMG]

Make sure your snake likes the water first. The temperature should be roughly the temperature of the side of the tank he's on more often (that's what I did at least) and make sure they have somewhere to go if they don't like it.

When I let a snake soak I use a locking tub and it has no other place to go. If Im soaking them its for a reason so they need to stay in the water.

One other thing is when you soak them you don't want to leave them in water so deep they have to continually swim to stay above the water. Snakes can and do drown. I only put enough water to go about 3/4 of the way up the snakes body.

[MontyAndMelissa]

When I let a snake soak I use a locking tub and it has no other place to go. If Im soaking them its for a reason so they need to stay in the water.

One other thing is when you soak them you don't want to leave them in water so deep they have to continually swim to stay above the water. Snakes can and do drown. I only put enough water to go about 3/4 of the way up the snakes body.

There is also a difference between a soak and a bath. I've had to soak Monty before, where I used a tub with a locking lid. This was a bath, where he had free range of the tub and I watched him the entire time. I don't leave my snake alone when I take him out.

[MontyAndMelissa]

I love how people can tell when their snakes are happy, sad, bored, blah blah blah etc. etc.

I love how people can't tell when their snakes are stressed out, relaxed, blah blah blah. Maybe you should get a dog.

[albinos_rule]

Yeah I like people who have had one snake, and think they know all about them

[Skiploder]

Today, I took Monty, my BP, out and noticed he was a little chilly. I remembered reading somewhere that snakes like to swim so I put an inch or two of warm water in the bathtub, gave him a place to slither up onto if he didn't like it, and placed him gently in the tub. He absolutely seemed to love it. He swam around the tub like it was the best 5 minutes of his life. My question is, if he does indeed like this, how often is okay to let him swim? I don't want him getting stressed out, but he seems to enjoy it and its a good way to warm him up!

Ball pythons are fairly sedentary animals. Except for feeding and roaming about looking for other ball pythons to have sex with, they choose to remain in a den or a hide.

There are several reasons for this and they are all biological.

We don't know if any snake "likes" to swim. We can ASSume that they do not. What we do know is that they do not do things for fun and that their biological imperatives center around conserving energy, making more snakes and limiting opportunities for other creatures to harm them.

Some snakes are aquatic, some snakes will take to water to hunt, and some snakes will swim as part of their normal travels. The purpose of these travels are too seek mates, to find prey or to find suitable den sites...not for exercise, relaxation or any other form of perceived happiness.

In the end, it's your snake and you can do anything you want to it. However your goal as a keeper should be to minimize stress.

When you place a ball python in a tub and he swims around for 5 minutes, keep in mind that being in motion = an indication of stress for a ball python...not the opposite. He is moving in an attempt to get somewhere where he doesn't have to move...out of the water. Ball pythons move only for specific reasons and a recreational swim is not one of them.

You can do lots of things with your snake, you can keep him in several ways. Whether in a tank or a tub, whether with a heat lamp or a heat pad, as long as you meet his husbandry requirements, you are doing okay by him.

However, you need to pay attention to signs of stress. In a ball python, one of those signs is restless behavior. A happy ball python is one that spends most of it's time feeling secure in a hide. A happy ball python is not one that is swimming (either frantically or lackadaisically) in the tub.

Again, your snake shows signs of contentment in several ways. One of them is to find a secure and happy place and then move as little as possible. In other words, you should probably change your assessment of what makes him happy.

I guess the question I have for you is: How do you know he likes it? What behavioral clues are you focusing on?

[DVirginiana]

My BP always seems nervous when she's moving more than just her head. She'll crawl under the first thing she sees and immediately try to curl up again.

I base whether my reptiles 'enjoy' something or not on whether they'll seek it out. For example, if I put a large tub of water in my garters' enclosures they will repeatedly seek it out and go swimming. I think it's safe to say they 'enjoy' it since it fulfills an instinct to seek out prey in water. If I did that for my BP I get the feeling she'd probably ignore it until she was thirsty.

[MontyAndMelissa]

Well I figured out today (in the worst way) that it was time to feed. He damn near bit me. So I would assume he was looking for prey.

[albinos_rule]

Well I figured out today (in the worst way) that it was time to feed. He damn near bit me. So I would assume he was looking for prey.

Well you probably know why, seeing as you are the snake whisperer and all