Soaking in water for days

[PolkaDotPenguin]

Hey everyone!
I just got my Bp's a week ago.
And the darker male has been soaking in his water bowl for days.
Soaking so much even his head is underwater.
Last night i checked on them and he was totally under water and his head was no where in site.
I was afraid he drowned himself but i picked him up and he was totally fine.
I was told to check for mites, but i looked over him and found nothing.
Now we have them both in plastic bins with paper towels on the bottom, hides, and then a water bowl. And we have the heating pad on the bottom outside under the hides.
Should i be concerned that he is soaking 24/7 and most times his head is totally under water? or is this normal?
I have searched info but some people say its bad, while others say not to worry.
TY

[mainbutter]

It's not normal..

Keep an eye on them but other than mites I'm not well versed in BP soaking reasons.

[Dave Green]

Could it be going into shed?

[Kaorte]

What kind of hides does he have? Sometimes ball pythons will "hide" in their water bowls because they don't like their hide boxes.

[ScubaDiver007]

My pastel het pied did the same thing for days.. I thought something might be up as well. He's probably going into shed. After mine shed he stopped.

[PolkaDotPenguin]

His hide is just a dark black hide. The ones you buy @ the reptile shows.
He is in there now only because i took him out of his water bowl and changed the water and put less water in.
I though he was going into shed also but his eyes arent a blue tint yet.
I dont know maybe he just likes his water.

[tarakatrine]

you may not want to shake the mite thing just yet. i just treated my ball for mites and just because you cant see them after checking a couple of times..does not mean they arent there. especially if you got him from a pet store, i wouldnt rule it out just yet. if he has a minor infestation, there may not be many of them and they could be hiding in the folds of his belly scales or his heat pits. the paper towel and quarantine thing is a good idea. you should get a rubbermaid container that has a lid and submerge him but leave enough space between the surface and the lid so that he can leave his head out of water. make the water about 105 degrees. leave him for 30 minutes or so...and if he has mites...you will surely find at least one mite that has drown. thats a good way to tell. it worked for me....and once the snake sheds, he will shed his mites. they will quickly find him though and get back on him so you need to be on top of things. get the skin out immediately and let him soak again. also..if he does have mites, you can bake your wood products at 275 degrees for 3 hours in the oven to rid it of any mites hiding in the cracks. the heat will kill the eggs as well. hope this helps you...and i hope your snake doesnt have mites. hopefully you are right and he just likes his water. i am a firm believer in that we cant know everything there is to know about snakes..or any animal for that matter. who is to say that one is exactly the same as the other? you cant hop on google and find the answer to everything about your ball python when you need to. he may just be a water junkie.

[playingwithsnake_21]

when i was working bps, i had one that did that all the time,,,for about a week to 2 weeks and then i found out that he had a respiratory infection,,,, and i had treated him and he finally became better , had another one do the same thing , i later found out he had mites,,,, so i wouldnt wit to see whats happening and find out its to late and he passes,,, i would take him to you local vet and have him checked out up and down,,, hope every thing goes well,,,,

[jason79]

How do you check you temps? is it possible that its too hot and he's in the water to cool off? Just a suggestion.

[dr del]

Hi,

Sorry but I disagree with some of this.

you may not want to shake the mite thing just yet. i just treated my ball for mites and just because you cant see them after checking a couple of times..does not mean they arent there. especially if you got him from a pet store, i wouldnt rule it out just yet. if he has a minor infestation, there may not be many of them and they could be hiding in the folds of his belly scales or his heat pits. the paper towel and quarantine thing is a good idea. you should get a rubbermaid container that has a lid and submerge him but leave enough space between the surface and the lid so that he can leave his head out of water. make the water about 105 degrees. leave him for 30 minutes or so...and if he has mites...you will surely find at least one mite that has drown. thats a good way to tell. it worked for me....and once the snake sheds, he will shed his mites. they will quickly find him though and get back on him so you need to be on top of things. get the skin out immediately and let him soak again. also..if he does have mites, you can bake your wood products at 275 degrees for 3 hours in the oven to rid it of any mites hiding in the cracks. the heat will kill the eggs as well. hope this helps you...and i hope your snake doesnt have mites. hopefully you are right and he just likes his water. i am a firm believer in that we cant know everything there is to know about snakes..or any animal for that matter. who is to say that one is exactly the same as the other? you cant hop on google and find the answer to everything about your ball python when you need to. he may just be a water junkie.

The water in any tub like this should be about 86 degrees F - you really don't want it to be as hot as 100f at all. And if you are going to use water that deep it is really important that you supervise it constantly. But, to be honest, if the snake has been sitting in his waterbowl and there are no dead mites in that I would skip the bath alltogether.

The female mites lay the eggs away from the snake and possible even outside of the enclosure so while cleaning everything inside isn't a bad idea it certainly won't kill all the eggs. This is what makes mites such a pain you think you have got them all then 30 days later a new load hatch and you are back to square one.

If you have mites pay the $18 get Provent-A-Mite and treat the enclosure following the instructions exactly. Repeat in 30 days and your mite problem will be gone.

You don't need much of it at all so the can will last you for ages even if you treat all the enclosures as a preventative measure (which is a good idea for anyone with more than one animal who discovers they have mites ).


dr del