Soaking in her water dish?!

[Emily Hubbard]

Hey all. This morning when I woke up, I checked on Zola and she was soaking in her water dish, which I haven't seen her do before. After I got out of the shower, she was hiding, then when I got home from my finals just now, she was back in the water. Her temps are fine, humidity at 60. She ate yesterday, and normally after she eats, I don't see her leave her warm side hide for 2 days. So, this is new, and I want to know if I should be concerned because I have heard BPs don't soak generally.

I have heard they may soak to get rid of mites, so that was my first red flag. My girl has never had contact with another snake, aside from where she was bred and she was mite free when I got her, I made sure to check. Can snakes get mites out of the blue, having never come in contact with another snake?! Everything in her tub I bleached before I put it in and I bleach it every 2 weeks.

Because she ate less than 24 hours ago, I don't want to pull her out and check for mites. Plus, I am hoping that is just not the case because I don't have any other snakes....

I am hoping she is preparing for a shed.... her last one was over a month ago, I marked it on a chart I have for her. She is almost 4 months old, and I hear the growing snakes can shed monthly, sometimes even more frequently, so the time is right. There isn't good lighting in her terrarium, so I can't tell if she looks dull unless I pull her out, which like I said, I don't want to do til tomorrow at the earliest, more likely Thursday. Should I start misting to up the humidity assuming she is going into shed? Or is she taking care of things herself by soaking? Or should I just stop worrying and assume she just felt like a soak?

[Maixx]

I've heard that snakes can catch them from substrate purchased at a petstore that had mites.

[Emily Hubbard]

I've heard that snakes can catch them from substrate purchased at a petstore that had mites.

Oh, nice. Well, I do buy my substrate at PetCo, but it's in a sealed bag.... Well, until I actually see a mite on her I am not going to jump to conclusions, but I will thoroughly check her out.

[Balls Out Morphs]

Probably just getting ready to shed, I have a couple that are always in their water bowls once the haziness hits them.

[Emily Hubbard]

Probably just getting ready to shed, I have a couple that are always in their water bowls once the haziness hits them.

That's what I like to hear Poor thing, full stomach and a shed starting. She's probably not going to be too happy with me this week. I need to change her water now because she got it all full of substrate, but I usually do not even open the glass on her digestion days, that is her alone time.

She has now crawled out of the water and is contently sleeping. Much better.

On an unrelated note, I cannot believe how fast she is growing! I was looking at pictures of her when she first arrived last month and she is a little BEAST already. Well, not in comparison to the beast she will be in a couple years, but still! Why doesn't anything stay an adorable baby for long

[decensored]

I would switch her to paper towel to be sure its not mites. The paper towel will allow you to see the mites easy and subsequently take measures to correct the problem.

Yes mites can come in on the substrate. It's a different kind of mite, they are called wood mites and wont live off the reptile as a food source. The will however crawl on them, and may try to feed from them although they cannot be sustained by blood. It's annoying to the snake and they may hide in the water dish to protect themselves.

When my guys got mites they started hiding in their water dishes 2 weeks before I seen one. Just keep an eye out, and the thing to remember is that mites are just mites. They suck and should be corrected ASAP but are not usually life threatening and are easy to get rid of.

It could also be that they are in shed too. I would wait for your BP to shed, and then put them on paper towel. Paper towel sucks for humidity and if you put them on now than you risk having a bed shed.

Just some thoughts

Chris.

[WarriorPrincess90]

My female does this around the time she's getting ready to shed. So it may just be that she's upping her own humidity.

But definitely just keep an eye out for mites. Just in case.

[snakesRkewl]

Probably just an upcoming shed.

To check for mites wait until she's soaked for hours on end and remove her from the water bowl and grab a magnifying glass and scope out the water bowl real good

[Emily Hubbard]

Probably just an upcoming shed.

To check for mites wait until she's soaked for hours on end and remove her from the water bowl and grab a magnifying glass and scope out the water bowl real good

I actually just tried this, but since I am using coco husk and she got it all in the water going in and out, I couldn't possibly tell if there were mites. I have another thread going about changing my substrate, guess I just found another con against the husk.

I have never heard of wood mites, good to know! That would be much more logical, I can't see how she could have contracted snake mites. But, this is still in the speculation stage, I have yet to see anything but soaking behavior.

I actually am staying at my mom's house for five weeks starting a week from Thursday, so everything in the the tank and the tank itself will get a a good clean for the move. I usually deep clean the tank every other week, but there will be cleaning two weeks in a row coming up since this thursday, to conclude finals week, I am deep cleaning my whole apartment, including Zola's home.. I will keep an eye out for any mites while I clean, and even if I don't see them, if they are there a good double bleaching will be good for the situation.

[Emily Hubbard]

It's a shed for sure! AND it looks like a complete shed! I hope I am not speaking too soon... haha. She is all wrapped up behind a hide and a plant, but I peeked in at her just now and I can totally see the shed peeled back like a sock around her lower half! This is her second shed with me, the first one was a nightmare, so if this one is complete, I am going to be very proud of myself, I did EVERYTHING to make this one more smooth, obsessive humidity checks, humid hide, over sized water dish....

So, YAY!