My Ball Python laying in her water bowl?

Hey,

So I posted a while ago about tips for setting up a good ball python tank and I think I have everything fine now. Hotspot is 90, cool side is 79-81, and humidity is typically 54-57.

I did check her for mites last week when she spent all night in her water bowl the night after I fed her, but I didn't see her hanging out in her water bowl anymore and I don't think I saw signs of mites, so I wasn't worried. Her feeding day is Wed, so I fed her and all Wednesday night and now tonight, she's spent all night in her water dish (and in one of her hides during the day). Is it odd/should I be worried?

It's set up kind of similar to this: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...With-Pictures!

Could her heat lamp being above her water dish make her want to curl up there?

There are few reasons why BP soak, you just need to be able to narrow it down (no one else can really do it for you ;))

Here are the reasons.

Mites
Too big of a meal
Too hot
Humidity not high enough and the animal is about to shed
Not feeling secure enough and using the water dish as a hide

But it for sure means something is wrong? I'd just have to figure out what?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vayra

But it for sure means something is wrong? I'd just have to figure out what?

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Contrary to the belief that BP needs a water dish big enough to soak in they actually rarely soak (a few exception might but the majority do not unless their is an underlying cause)

Often time it is mite related so I would check again for that, check the water dish for poppy seek like bugs, I would also suggest to put your BP on paper towel for a few weeks (this will help monitoring and make sure there is no mites issue.

Double check your temp reading with a temp gun if you have not done so yet.

All you can do is double check everything and if this is just one of those exception soaking for no reason I would suggest a smaller water dish.

I would have thought, if it was mites, she would have been soaking since I got her? She only started hanging out in her water bowl yesterday. But I'll check her water and check her over tomorrow. If I don't see any, should I get the mite stuff anyway and use it just in case?

I also put a second temperature gauge (since I don't have a temperature gun) in her tank to see what it reads.

The mites may of not been as bad as they are now if that's the case.

Check under her head around her jaw, they like to hide there. Look for little black flecks.

I checked her over and checked her water dish and didn't see anything, her water was clean and I didn't see any unusual spots or movement. I put her back in and she went back in her water dish shortly. I was worried, so I decided to go ahead and try lowering the temp a little. I looked about two hours later and she was perched on the tree branches I bought for her to lay on. She's been roaming the cage or in one of her hides since. I haven't seen her try to curl up in her water bowl anymore. I'll keep an eye on it and if I see her at it again, I'll maybe treat her for mites anyway, but hopefully the temperature was the problem and she'll be a happy snakey now. Thanks for all the help! :)

Edit: Also, lowering the heat lamp intensity also bumped up the humidity quite a bit and I know when their eyes go blue-ish they're shedding, but I'm not quite sure as to other signs/what to look for that could mean they'll shed in the next few days. So it could be the temp or humidity. Guess I'll know in a few days.