Does Soaking always = mites?

I walked into my snake room to find my '08 female BP in her water dish - not her entire body but a large portion of her was in the bowl. My first thought was mites - I checked the water dish this morning and found no signs of mites.

Is there other reasons for them to climb into their water dish - do I need to be worried.

Thanks.

My BP's do that from time to time.. I thought it was b/c they got a lil warm and wanted to cool off some.. other than that I'm not sure.



Cheers

Oh, I will double check her temps but they are usually right on with 92 warm and 82 cool.

Thanks.

They will also climb in the water dish pre-shed when they seem to need more humidity.

Some of my bps soak before a shed.....you'll know in a couple days.

Soaking is very common. But if you are worried about mites you may want to change your bedding to paper towels . Then you will have a better chance of seeing any of those creepy things fall off on the white paper.

I have had them soak before shed and before ovulation.

This was the first time I have ever noticed her doing this - so it kind of caught me off guard.

Every time she has shed in the past it has been one complete piece - I keep her humidity between 55/60%

I use Uline Indented Craft Paper for substrate so I know I would see any critters hanging around. I also treat occassionally with PAM as a preventative.

Hopefully it was just her wanting to swim - LOL. She is giving me problems right now with eating - she hasn't eaten in over 2 months but I was told not to worry about it because it is breeding season. She is currently 1,650 grams - she has lost about 25 grams in that 2 month span without eating.

My little pied is what I call my water-baby.

He's completely healthy, husbandry is spot on, no mites anywhere, and he still goes for a soak every couple of days.

It used to put me in a panic, because I always read that meant something was wrong. After wearing myself out trying to figure out what, I finally realized he just likes water, period. If I offer him a large container of shallow water like for a soak or bath, he just goes limp. He'll submerge everything but his head and just lay there in bliss until I make him get out. Then he gets cranky. lol

I still keep a watchful eye on him, because everything I read tells me something is wrong, but I'll be darned if I can come up with anything other than the fact that he likes water.

Gale

So, other than mites - what else could possibly be wrong to cause them to go into the water. I will certainly double check my temps to make sure that is not the issue.

Thanks.

Some will soak themselves when they are ready to shed, or just in general if their humidity is too low. Sometimes, if a snake doesn't have an adequate hide, they'll try to use to water bowl as a hide. Soaking can also be useful if they are a little constipated, but I'm not sure I've ever heard of a snake seeking out the water for that reason, or if it is just a trick that keepers use.

some ball pythons will soak from time to time. But they also soak some times if something isn't right. when this happens don't panic, but you need to look her over for mites. also check her humidity, If everything is OK, then don't worry. Mine will soak from time to time for no reason I could find and they are just fine.

Like everyone else stated it could be mites, check the heat pits and around the eyes. It could be preshed soak. Or it could be he just likes it. I have one that after you handle her she has to "wash off" everytime.

If you have recently changed anything about his hides he may suddenly not feel secure enough in them an will resort to the water bowl...

Honestly, when my Monty got mites, he was in the water all the time. It got to the point where i was worried he would get scale rot he was in the water all the time. I used PAM once and hes good now. But, since you're using PAM i wouldn't worry about mites. It's probably just the humidity is low, or, ure ball is enjoying a little bathing time. :) Some just like the water.

Just an update on this issue - she only was found in the water that one time and hasn't done it again since - must have been a fluke. She is still not eating but everything else seems fine with her.

These snakes sure can cause one to worry about them - LOL

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Originally Posted by L.West

Just an update on this issue - she only was found in the water that one time and hasn't done it again since - must have been a fluke. She is still not eating but everything else seems fine with her.

These snakes sure can cause one to worry about them - LOL

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In all honesty you probably just caught her moving about the enclosure and once you saw her just just stopped where she was. I often find my snakes half draped in the water bowls just because they were moving around. Part of the body hanging in the water bowl does not equal soaking. Soaking is when the snake purposefully crams itself into the water bowl in order to feel safer or drown mites. I personally don't believe that this species will soak themselves prior to shed but that is just my opinion :)

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

I personally don't believe that this species will soak themselves prior to shed but that is just my opinion :)

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I have several that ALWAYS soak before shed.
My spider just shed, he sat in his water for 3 days before shedding last night.
My yellow belly also always soaks before shed, even if his humidity is fine in his tub.
I have no mites, just some snakes will soak and some won't.
Saying this species won't soak is wrong IMO

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

I have several that ALWAYS soak before shed.
My spider just shed, he sat in his water for 3 days before shedding last night.
My yellow belly also always soaks before shed, even if his humidity is fine in his tub.
I have no mites, just some snakes will soak and some won't.
Saying this species won't soak is wrong IMO

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To each their own :) I have 5 snakes and have never seen any of them soak prior to shedding, or soaking at all. Perhaps I have just not had a snake that likes to soak. But in my experience alone, I have never witnessed this species soak.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

To each their own :) I have 5 snakes and have never seen any of them soak prior to shedding, or soaking at all. Perhaps I have just not had a snake that likes to soak. But in my experience alone, I have never witnessed this species soak.

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That's more of a response that makes sense.
Making blanket statements about a ball pythons activities only defeats your purpose of teaching others.
I have kept over 70 snakes and seen numerous soakers, and they soak every shed period.
I currently have 21 in house and 3 like to soak, every time they shed.
Not trying to be a kill joy, I just don't think you can make a statement that they won't soak or don't soak during shed periods.
Humidity is the key, if they have good humidity then they most likely won't soak.
But keep them in lower humidity and give them a bowl large enough to soak in and many will.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

...Soaking is when the snake purposefully crams itself into the water bowl in order to feel safer or drown mites. I personally don't believe that this species will soak themselves prior to shed but that is just my opinion :)

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example of soaking to kill off mites.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w...2/IMG_0044.jpg

Is that your example?
Keeping snakes together that have mites?
She wasn't disagreeing about soaking for mites :P
She is of the opinion they won't soak for shed periods, which I totally disagree with.
I also disagree with keeping snakes in a tank together, but that's another thread :snake:

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g6...d/Image004.jpg

Lucy soaking prior to shed :cool:

Post pictures all you want but that is not going to change my opinion. If a ball python is provided with a proper environment then it shouldn't need to soak. This is not a blanket statement. It is my opinion based on my personal experience with this species. Maybe the way you keep you snakes makes them feel the need to soak prior to shed. Maybe the overall humidity in your particular climate is lower. All I know is my snakes have never soaked and all have perfect sheds.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Post pictures all you want but that is not going to change my opinion. If a ball python is provided with a proper environment then it shouldn't need to soak. This is not a blanket statement. It is my opinion based on my personal experience with this species. Maybe the way you keep you snakes makes them feel the need to soak prior to shed. Maybe the overall humidity in your particular climate is lower. All I know is my snakes have never soaked and all have perfect sheds.

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This is still a blanket statement made with your experience with 5 ball pythons.
Like people, not all ball pythons do the same things, and or act the same way.
If a ball python is in 50% humidity and lower, and is going into shed, and you provided it a bowl to climb into, many will soak. Maybe yours don't, but you can't say others won't, it's just not true.
If your humidity is like most of my tubs, and closer to 65% to 70% then no, most won't soak.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Post pictures all you want but that is not going to change my opinion. If a ball python is provided with a proper environment then it shouldn't need to soak. This is not a blanket statement. It is my opinion based on my personal experience with this species. Maybe the way you keep you snakes makes them feel the need to soak prior to shed. Maybe the overall humidity in your particular climate is lower. All I know is my snakes have never soaked and all have perfect sheds.

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no one said they NEED to soak. you simply stated that you do not believe this species soaks prior to shed. i posted a picture to show you that this species does in fact soak prior to shed. i am not saying YOUR snakes do.. nobody is saying YOUR snakes do... they are saying that they have seen a snake do that. i keep my snakes humidity where it should be, so dont come at me saying that i am doing something wrong. my snake does NOT always soak when she is about to shed, only when she wants to. all snakes are different and frankly they do what they want.. duh. you might have not seen this happen, but i can almost garuntee you havnt seen every snake on this planet prior to when it's about to shed. so by me saying that i think it is wrong for you to say that you dont think this species does... just like you have your opinions.. that is mine.:fishslap: