Snake will not stop soaking

[jad23]

Hi all,

First time owner of a BP here. I've had the snake 3 weeks. He's been doing great, feeding normally etc. He has never shown any interest in his water bowl till last Thursday- since then I cannot get him to stay out of the bowl. He just soaks 24/7. Through my research I narrowed the reasons down to either shedding or mites. Upon inspecting his bowl, I could see approx. 3 little brown specks that I assumed were mites. I then removed everything from his enclosure, soaked him in a warm bath, and put down paper towels as bedding. I did not find many specks after his bath. The next day I received advice from several owners, and decided to again soak him but with a drop of dish soap- again, one or two dots but that's it. I also sprayed his enclosure with bedding spray and bleached all his stuff. After doing all of that, I put him back in the enclosure with just the water bowl and paper towels. I still am not finding much in the way of mite-evidence in his water bowl and I have found like one or two specks on the paper towels. As of last night, the snake is not only soaking but keeping his head under the water as well. I have gone ahead and ordered Provent-a-Mite but aside from that I don't know what to do and am going crazy. I have seen no evidence of mites on his body either, but then again I am a first time owner and I'm not sure if I'm just completely missing the obvious. His belly is showing no sign of turning pink and eyes are clear. He is approx. 3 feet long. I feel awful for the guy as something is clearly bothering him. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Skittles1101]

They're there, get some of this: http://www.pro-products.com/index.ph...d=53&Itemid=59

[gsarchie]

My ex is reporting a similar issue with my female cinnamon right now (she has the snakes while I am in Afghanistan). She told me yesterday that she thought that she was dead because her eyes were completely black and she was laying her head on the paper towels that had been put in the tank. I have no idea what the issue is but am hoping that it is nothing. The first thing that I thought was mites, however since putting in paper towels there have been indication that this is the case. She shed a week before the soaoking started so I don't believe that a shed was causing her to soak. Hopefully someone has seen something like this and can give some suggestions as to what it could be, or at least can say that their snakes are still alive and well.

[jad23]

You're right, the mites were hidden but definitely there. Problem solved!