Seeking advice

Based on Jonah's thread about rinkly skin & such, I am thinkin that Hissy is dehydrated. The temps & humidity in her tank are perfect but she NEVER ever soaks or drinks!! Would it be a good idea to soak her at least once per week?? I gotta say, she is not a huge fan of water. I have a probe thermometer that I stole from work (shhhhh :roll: ) & i always make sure that her water for soaking is between 90F & 95F. When I put her in there, she is always tryin to scoot out. Should I force a soak upon her once a week to make sure she is getting the proper hydration??

The only time I make Bob soak is during shed time. Alot of times at night he will drink if I have all the lights out in the basement and I am just on my computer he comes out and cruises around.

eddie, i have a good feeling your snake isn't dehydrated. dehyrdation isn't something that happens one day, it's a periodic development from living in a too-dry enviornment. if your snake was dehydrated, you'd know it. bc it WOULD be soaking and WOULD be drinking, a lot.

a common sign of dehydration (and is almost ALWAYS there when a snake is dehydrated) is dented, and cracked up eyes.

yeah, hissy used to cruise at nite all the time but once she got on a regular feeding schedule she got lazy. But i started thinkin about it after Jonah posted the care sheet on dehydration &, she has some small rinkles, she has small dents in her eyes & she is pretty damn lazy lately. I soaked her a couple times during shed week & we had an absolutely perfect shed. Her feeding response is unmatched so i know she is doing alright but with the little things i talked about, i think that she is dehydrated. I just never ever see her anywhere near her water at all.

and you most likely won't. the chances of you catching your bp taking a drink are very slim, but i assure you. if water is there, they are drinking it.

btw, my biggest bp was dehydrated like HELL when i got him. he looked like a fake snake. dry and cracked up, his scales were folding in the opposite direction, and his skin just didn't look right. i kept his humidity around 80% and provided fresh water daily for about 2 weeks, then slowly dropped the humidity. he is over his dehydration, i can say. however, i sure do wish he'd eat.

Eddie,
Wizill told me the same thing when I was concerned about not seeing Ozzy drink and he is 100% right. If you have fresh clean water they drink we just don't see it.
I have seen Ozzy drink twice since Dec. and the Vet said he was plenty healthy.
If temps and humidity are good I wouldn't worry.

My bp hates water even tho the vet said it was good to soak them once a week I don't. 90-95 degree water sounds a tad warm try it a little cooler.
If you are truly concern there is always the vet visit :)

Thanks all!!

Jotay, I just keep the water at 90 or so because that is the ambient temp of her warm side in her tank so i figured it made sense. Still, thank you all for your advice & you're all probably right. I know that she was pretty dehydrated when i got her which was about a month & a half ago so maybe i am just seeing some of the last remaining symptoms go away now. Like i said, her last shed was absolutely perfect so she is probably just fine!

90 is probably high for the water dish....think about it....bps need a "snake-warm" bath. The means the water will feel slightly cool to us, being at 98.6 degrees, but to the snake, thats got to be really hot. That may be why it doesn't soak as much as it should.

Oh no no no, I don't keep her water dish at 90, i just make the water 90 when i soak her in the sink. Her water bowl is room temperature. Sorry if I wasn't clear on that.

If your temps are good and your humidity is good, and you bump humidity up when its shed time, I highly doubt your snake needs to be soaked for dehydration. Although if he likes it thats a different story. :P

Also Ive heard that the water temp for soaking shouldnt be too warm to YOUR touch. If its real warm to you, its probably realy hot for your buddy.

I have often thought that too "why do I never see them drink?" But just today I saw Bob drinking it was pretty cool actually he just tipped the front of his snout into the water bowl and then didn't move but you could see his throat moving up and down as he was drinking.

Up the humidity ASAP Eddie.

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btw, my biggest bp was dehydrated like HELL when i got him. he looked like a fake snake. dry and cracked up, his scales were folding in the opposite direction, and his skin just didn't look right. i kept his humidity around 80% and provided fresh water daily for about 2 weeks, then slowly dropped the humidity. he is over his dehydration, i can say. however, i sure do wish he'd eat.

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That's basically the way my new addition was. I refer to it as if you were running your hand along a dry corn cob. It felt horrible to me so I know how Cheetah felt.
I have seen my other bp drink several times since i've had him, but then I am home pretty much 24/7 and up at all hours of the day and night.