How to wash a snake?

I clean off offending poo paint with unscented baby wipes...

You guys continue to do w.e works for you. But I have read on more than one occassion where someone drops a wet snake in a tub and they get sick soon after. But to each their own.

Also a dog getting a cold and a snake getting an RI is comparing apples to oranges. Which btw is still a little mean, to put in a cold wet dog inside a cold house.

I use a tub bath or Jurrassi Wipes

Is baby shampoo actually safe for them?

I've never had an issue. Not in three years. I avoid the eyes of course, and I don't let water get in their nostrils.

Gale

Yeah, sorry, I've never once had a snake get sick from being wet, lol. It doesn't even make sense--they soak in their water bowls sometimes, after all. The bin is nice and warm, why would being wet matter?

The reason cool temperatures can lead to RI in snakes is that being too cool lowers their immune system function, so they can't fight off bacteria as readily. This has nothing to do with being wet or dry. (Also, going outside without your jacket won't make you catch a cold. ;)

Just because someone had a snake get sick after they bathed it doesn't mean the illness was caused by the bathing. (I would also point out that if you heard of this happening several times...was it the same person? Because their husbandry may be bad, and that's why their snakes are getting sick....)

My snakes sometimes duck their head under the water when I'm bathing them in a tub, so keeping water out of their nostrils isn't really possible at that point, lol. Never had any issues.

Thanks so much! I did just rinse him off and let him run through a moist paper towel. I did dry him off, but thats mainly 'cause I wanted to have him on my lap to watch tv. He doesn't ever seem to stay wet very long anyway.

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Originally Posted by that_dc5

Also a dog getting a cold and a snake getting an RI is comparing apples to oranges. Which btw is still a little mean, to put in a cold wet dog inside a cold house.

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I guess I should have spelled it out a bit clearer. In the winter, I do not keep my house at 78F like my snake room. Therefore, it is colder in my house, where I bathe my dog - this does not mean my house is "cold," or that the dog was bathed in cold water (therefore, he is not "cold," either). If my snakes (or dog) get wet, they are still at an ambient temperature that is healthy for them and will not create a disease that did not exist.

I wash my BP once or twice a week in the bathroom sink with just a little "Betadine Vet Surgical Scrub" and rinse well. I keep his face away from the standing water till it doesn't have soap in it anymore because sometimes he drinks his bath water. (He will also drink right where it is coming out of the faucet.) He likes "showers" more than baths so I let most of the water drain out and let the water splash on him from the faucet. I have used Oatmeal soap and baby shampoo in the past as well.
I could be wrong but I figure skin is skin right? We bathe with it every day and it doesn't hurt us. I figure as long as it is rinsed off well it shouldn't matter too much but just to be on the safe side I avoid perfumed and deodorant soaps that leave a residue. Stay with natural soaps or "no tears" children's soaps or shampoos. And make sure you don't let them drink it or let it get in their eyes or nose.

:snake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFlV3y4Ra4o

In this video I was helping him shed but I give him regular baths in the sink too. Just to help hydrate his skin and keep him clean.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...11Hermes25.jpg

I have had him since May and have never had any problems. But being in Arizona it is a challenge keeping his enclosure humid enough. In his new enclosure I have to use a spray bottle a couple times a day to bring the humidity up....

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...n/100_7831.jpg

During the monsoon is the only time the humidity stays up by its self..

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Originally Posted by Vypyrz

poo paint

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This is the best description of wet snake poo EVER.

I just do tepid water/wet paper towels. They seem to like that MUCH more than swimming - at least mine do.