https://ball-pythons.net/forums/ Anything related to the care and keeping of ball pythons en Sat, 10 Oct 2026 22:00:42 GMT vBulletin 60 https://ball-pythons.net/forums/images/themes/default/misc/rss.png https://ball-pythons.net/forums/ https://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?273326-Soaking-before-shed&goto=newpost Mon, 21 Sep 2026 16:49:59 GMT Hi all, I’ve had my male BP for about 3 months. He’s approximately a year and a half old. It seems like he’s really gotten settled in. He’s been eating f/t small rats well, he handles well, he’ll occasionally explore at night, he’s on the smaller side still so he’s in a 36*19*12” pvc wilbanks... Hi all, I’ve had my male BP for about 3 months. He’s approximately a year and a half old. It seems like he’s really gotten settled in. He’s been eating f/t small rats well, he handles well, he’ll occasionally explore at night, he’s on the smaller side still so he’s in a 36*19*12” pvc wilbanks enclosure with a RHP, he has belly heat supplement that is on a thermostat… it’s low and covered in 4” of substrate… I check the temp regularly. His enclosure features live snake plants, blue grama grass, magnolia leaves and Wilbanks coco husk substrate and some reptisoil mixed in around the plants. He has sphagnum moss and aspen in his hides. There is an active white springtail colony in the enclosure. All his husbandry numbers are in tolerance. Typically 88 degrees and 65% humidity hot side, 78 degrees and 75% humidity cool side. I use two thermostats/hydrometers on both sides… Govee and INKBIRD, so I’m confident in the numbers.
He had a good shed three weeks after we got him. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to see the lead up to the shed. We had a family emergency and had to go out of town for 6 days. Came back and there was a shed in the enclosure. We didn’t see any signs of him needing to shed before that… but he was petty shy and secretive the first month we had him.

Two nights ago I saw him soaking in his water dish. He was in there about an hour. I didn’t disturb him and let him do his thing. Last night I got him out and checked him all over. No mites on him or in the water dish. His belly is slightly pinkish uniformly. I’ve read that’s a sign of preshed. I use an instant read heat gun, and there has been no temp in his enclosure that should be able to cause a burn, so I’m thinking the pink is due to preshed. No other scale abnormalities and he’s not wrinkly. He always has water and I see him drink from time to time. I didn’t get to see him last shed, so I’m not sure if soaking is normal for him or not. After I got him out last night he went back into his hide for a bit then went into his water dish again for another hour or so. Checked the dish again this morning, and again no snake mites. I can’t imagine the springtails would be bothering him to the point he’d need to soak… they shouldn’t be bothering him at all. I did bump his humidity up to 75% warm side and 80% cool side. I pour water in the corners of the enclosure on the plants so the top layer of substrate is never damp. I think I’ll add a temporary humid hide with damp sphagnum moss.

Questions:
Given all that info, what do you think about the soaking? Preshed activity or something else?
Does anyone else’s BP do this? If so, how long until they blue up and shed?
I was planning on feeding him tomorrow night, but I may skip a week… it depends on how long preshed usually goes for. What would you do? ]]> BP Husbandry Areed https://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?273326-Soaking-before-shed