Soaking... why?

[Lolo76]

My JCP Kipling is about 3 1/2 years old, and until now hasn't been much of a soaker... he's always seemed content with the humidity levels, and I've never had to mist him or anything. But for the last month or so, he's been soaking in his dish almost every day!! I checked thoroughly for mites, and see no signs of them - not to mention, the other 20+ snakes in the room have no mites, and are not soaking in their water (he's the only Morelia, though). He appears otherwise perfectly healthy, and his last shed was one piece IIRC. I have two possible explanations for this behavior, and hoped to get some opinions/advice:

1. I recently upgraded him from a 28qt to 41qt tub, and was using the same bowl at first. I've since switched to a larger one, and even added a second this week, but he's still hanging out in the water. Maybe I need to start misting with this larger tub?

2. We moved from chilly/foggy San Francisco to warm/dry San Jose last year, and ambient temps here never get much above 30%. But this is now our second summer here, and I don't recall him soaking last summer. Maybe he's still adjusting to the weather, and/or it's just hotter this year?

Got some cute pics, though - LOL! This first one is with the old bowl, and the second shows the larger one (of two) he now has in the tub... his scales do look dry in these shots, but they don't look as dry in real life (might be the flash).

[Skiploder]

3. He's cooling off. Hasn't the last month been very hot in the south bay? What is the ambient temp in the tub on an 80 to 90 degree day?

4. He's decided he likes to soak. In the absence of any temperature issues or any health issues, it is not uncommon for morelia to soak. Snakes can change habits just like any other animal. It's possible he has just decided that he wants to soak.

[reptileexperts]

Yep, one of my Carpets is a soaker, didn't start that way, just happened one day. Then she moved to being a ground percher as she got bigger and no longer would sit on her perches. Now she's back to a percher. The temps haven't changed throughout this time, not have mites been introduced, just her habits :-)

[lefty]

i love that first pic where he is trying to jam himself in to that small water dish......

[Lolo76]

3. He's cooling off. Hasn't the last month been very hot in the south bay? What is the ambient temp in the tub on an 80 to 90 degree day?

It has been pretty hot, which was part of my #2 thought. I only have one other summer to compare, but it did seem more comfortable with a short burst of heat last year - whereas this year, it's been steadily 80-90 since early June. Luckily my apartment stays relatively cool, so their ambient temps are never much above 80-83 AFAIK.

4. He's decided he likes to soak. In the absence of any temperature issues or any health issues, it is not uncommon for morelia to soak. Snakes can change habits just like any other animal. It's possible he has just decided that he wants to soak.

Yeah, that could be one answer - LOL. He's my first and only Morelia, so I guess I'm just more accustomed to Python & Colubrid behavior... guess I'll stop being a worrywart, since he seems fine otherwise. Actually, he hasn't been soaking the last few days, since the weather started to cool off.

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i love that first pic where he is trying to jam himself in to that small water dish......

Me too! Reminds me of when my cats squeeze into ridiculously small spots, like "as long as one paw's inside, it counts!"