living in the water dish

HI all! I'm new to the forum and I have a question. I have a 6 year old females BP that I got from a friend of a friend type of deal. When I picked her up, they had hee in a 55 long with kist a space heater under the enclosure. THat just wasn't enough in my opinion. I added a heat lamp and that brought the temp up to a much better range. My main concern is that I fed her on Wednesday and she has been acting odd ever since. She hardly ever gets out of her water dish and she seems a bit aggressive. If she sees sudden movement outside of the eclosure, she kind of almost charges the glass. She doesn't strike or bite but she has my girlfriend concerned to the point where she won't touch her if I'm not home. I guess what I'm worried most about is the fact that she spends so much time soaking in her water dish. Any help or advice would be great. If you need more information in order to help, feel free to ask. Thank you.

When you take her out of the water dish, do you see anything in the water bowl that looks like pepper flakes? If so, then she is soaking because she has mites.

If you feed her a large meal, she may be soaking because she's trying to relieve the pressure in her belly.

If you don't have adequate hides, she's in her water dish to feel something touching her on all sides.

If it's too hot in her enclosure, she may be soaking to cool off. How are you measuring her temps (stick on dial, strip or a digital thermometer)?

It's not mites, I looked her over extremely close when I picked her up initially. When I fed her, I just gave her a mid size rat, about the same diameter as her body. I guess I wouldn't call it a large meal. I am still using the space heater under her enclosure along with the heat lamp. I'm using dial thermometer and hygrometer. Humidity is 55 to 60%. I have the water dish directly on the bottom of the enclosure and the water is warm to the touch. Hot side is at 87 degrees. Cool side is at about 82 degrees. And thank you so much for the fast response. I've been a lurker for awhile and finally had something to ask lol. I've had reps pretty much my whole life and I have to say this is the first time I've seen a ball spend so much time in the water.

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Originally Posted by mike54937

It's not mites, I looked her over extremely close when I picked her up initially. When I fed her, I just gave her a mid size rat, about the same diameter as her body. I guess I wouldn't call it a large meal. I am still using the space heater under her enclosure along with the heat lamp. I'm using dial thermometer and hygrometer. Humidity is 55 to 60%. I have the water dish directly on the bottom of the enclosure and the water is warm to the touch. Hot side is at 87 degrees. Cool side is at about 82 degrees. And thank you so much for the fast response. I've been a lurker for awhile and finally had something to ask lol. I've had reps pretty much my whole life and I have to say this is the first time I've seen a ball spend so much time in the water.

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Check her again for mites as sometimes people "brush" them off the snake in order to sell it.Then they hatchout a new batch once they are in the new home.If you use paper towels for the substrate they will be easier to see.

are you just measuring the ambient temperatures? the surface temp can be quite a bit higher than that...

The dial thermometers are notorious for being incorrect. It could be much warmer in the enclosure than you think it is. You can get a good digital thermometer at Walmart for about $12. Many of us use the Accurite brand.