Ball laying in the water dish.

[Monsterkx500]

My Bp lay in the water dish is this normal? I have never seen it in the water dish as long I own it (2 years).

[ROACH]

Check it for mites. Also how are your temps? If it is too hot, it may be looking for some coolness. Also some tend to want to soak before sheding, not all, but some do.

[Morris Reese]

Probably the first worry I would have is mites. Check that first.
Second I would check humidity and temps.

[Monsterkx500]

Temp is 74° cool side and humity is 73%

[Morris Reese]

Check him good for mites. Look in the water bowl for little specks.

[Mr. Misha]

Temp is 74° cool side and humity is 73%

Your temp is a little to cold. You should bring it up to about 78.

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[Monsterkx500]

OK I check for mites and I found some. so what should I do now? This is the first for me.

[Morris Reese]

You need to treat the cage. Prevent-a-mite is best. You will need to spray the enclosure and have somewhere else for your snake to stay until it dries completely. Follow the directions on the can. You will also need to treat your snake, but not with the same thing. Your local reptile shop should have exactly what you need.

[bcr229]

The product is Provent-A-Mite (PAM) from Pro Products: http://pro-products.com/provent-a-mite/

A less expensive but also effective treatment is to use the 2 oz bottle of NIX or RID cream rinse treatment for lice. You can find it at WalMart, CVS, etc. Mix the whole bottle well with 1 gallon of warm water to make a weak permethrin solution and use a clean spray bottle to apply it.

Both the PAM and NIX/RID are used the same way: remove everything from the enclosure and wash it out well. People use bleach, vinegar, and even steam to kill off the mites in the enclosure. While you are are doing that you can soak the snake in a little warm water with a tiny drop of dish soap added - the soap prevents the mites from floating on top of the water, so they drown.

DO NOT USE PAM OR NIX/RID DIRECTLY ON THE SNAKE OR THE WATER BOWL. Treat the enclosure, hide, and white paper towels you will be using for substrate. Allow everything to dry completely before putting the snake back in.

I have used Reptile Spray from http://www.ReptileBasics.com/ for treating the snake directly for mites, and it works well. Instead of spraying the snake I spray a white paper towel and wipe the snake down with it, as it's less stressful for the animal, uses less product, and I can check the paper towel for mites when I'm done.

Also, is this your only snake or did you get a new one recently? Because if you have a new one, 1) it probably has mites along with all the others you own by now, and 2) you need to improve your quarantine practices. If you didn't, have you been to a pet store or reptile expo recently?

[Monsterkx500]

Thank for your help. I got some mites spray and soak the ball in warm water found 1 mite then wipe it down found 5 mites clean and wipe down the cage. I put a small tub with water in the cage so it can soak himself in it and I put paper towels on the bottom.