Ball Pythons & Water

I've owned my ball pythons for approx 3 months now, and just recently he he's become awfully fond of his water bowl.
At night he will often spend several hours soaking in the water(4-6 hours), mostly at night.

I know for a fact he does not have mites or ticks, I've checked him on serveral ocassions. Is this a normal behavior? I know snakes like water, but to me it seems a little excessive. Should I be concerned at all?

Any opinions would be appreciated, thanks!

Hello,

Mine did the same thing not long ago (soaking several hours, even during the day) for about a week, and after that I had a nice shed in one piece...

If that helps.

Should be fine, as long as he isn't there for several weeks at a time. Maybe your humidity isn't quite up to snuff?

CHECK FOR MITES!!!!

My snake did this for about 4 days.. I'd wake up in the morning.. and he'd be chillin' in his water bowl.

I took a long hard look at him one day, and found a bug. This is a big picture of it..

http://www.schoolofdan.com/images/snake/bugs.jpg