I recently upped the prey size for Marble. She was on weaned rats around this time last year, and took them pretty well. Then she started her winter fast, and between that and some stuck shed on her eyes and her heat pad being entirely too hot, she didn't eat a thing for about six months. Eventually, she took some adult mice for me. A little over a month ago, I finally switched her back to weaned rats, and she's been eating great.

I was pretty worried she wouldn't eat them, since I had trouble switching her to rats before. There's also the size difference between weaned rats and adult mice. But lo and behold, she doesn't seem to care, so long as she gets to eat it. Barely a day after she's fed, and she's already hiding where I usually drop her food. She'll sit there and stare at me for days until it's time to eat again.

But after every feed, she'll go to her water dish and put her neck in the water. Neck totally submerged, head resting on the edge of the dish, rest of her lazing about all over the tank. I worry that her neck might be sore, but it's hard to tell. She's hated having her neck touched for as long as I've had her, and I always give her a couple days after a feed before I touch her anyway. She doesn't appear to have any burns or blisters or anything other than regular neck scales. Other than the neck soaking, which started maybe a month ago, there hasn't been any change in her regular behavior.

How would I know if she was in pain? Is this a weird hormone-driven thing? Do snakes just like wet necks?

She's roaming at night, as usual, doesn't care at all if she sees me watching her. Climbs and falls, as usual, doesn't seem any more clumsy than she's always been. And she's not trying to shed. Or if she is, she doesn't look it. At all. The only thing I can think of that's changed is that she grips me harder when I hold her, but that could also be because she's been eating well and she weighs more and she's got more muscle to grip with than she did. I don't know if snakes have much control over their strength.