Soaking in water

Oliver has taken to soaking in his water bowl for hours and hours..... He's either sleeping in his hide during the day, or soaking in his water bowl.

The tank temps and humidity are fine. I've looked him over, and don't see any obvious mites. I will treat him anyway, as he did come from a pet store, and mites are so common. He does have some pink on his belly, and I suspect a shed is imminent.

As far as I know, BPs aren't big water snakes. But Oliver certainly is - he'll spend 4 hours in his bowl at a time. Any other possibilities besides mites or shed?

I'd love to hear comments on this.... http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/10/juserysy.jpg


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There are a few possibilities: (I'm just going to list all of the ones I can think of)

1. Mites
2. Oncoming shed
3. Improper temperatures
4. Insufficient hides/hides the BP doesn't like
5. Dehydration
6. For no particular reason at all

I can elaborate on any of those if you want.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pbyeerts

He does have some pink on his belly, and I suspect a shed is imminent.

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Going into shed...some soak, some don't...

Some specimens just like a good soak and some will do it religiously during shed cycles or just recreation. Even my Morelia viridis will occasionally climb down for a bath.

I'm hoping that it is just something that he likes to do. I just remembered that twice when I visited him in the pet store, he was soaking himself there as well.

I'll treat him for mites using Reptile relief and Provent once it gets here. I guess that only time will tell regarding a shed :-)

As always, thanks for the excellent responses to my post.


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The final answer is mites, even though I don't see a lot on Oliver. I decided to pour out his water bowl over a white towel in the sink, and there they all were. Lots of black specs on the white towel. Hopefully the Provent and relief spray that I bought will arrive in a day or 2 :-)