Gatorade & A Dehydraded Ball

I read somewere that if you have dehydraded ball and soak him in gatorade it helps alot? Anybody know if this is true or just a urban legend..

If I haven't welcomed you already, maniac - -good to have you aboard. Never heard of that before, I'm afraid. I'd be way to wary of all the chemicals, etc. Gatorade won't work topically, not on humans and I can't imagine it would do much more for a python. The glycerines and other sugars (rochambeaux me for it biology types - I am on thin ice . . and don't speak French either) that would "thicken" it for any sort of effect in that direction would also leave you with a sticky ball. Is the snake's skin dry to the touch or is it visibly suffering dehydration from lack of ingested water?

Where'd you hear it?

(PS i was also this skeptical about the "soak 'em in Scope!" mite treatment so . . )

i heard the gatorade thing too. but if it is true, what flavor would you use? lol

I have had to do this but i used non flavored pedialyte or similar product. The generic brand costs around $2.50 for a large bottle. You can also mix it with the drinking water and they will get rehydrated when they drink or soak. Lots of times when you soak a ball python they will also drink. I have used a half and half mixture of water and pedialyte. And be warned that they will often pee in the water too.

The theory behind it is that the electrolytes in gatorade would be good for them, but our metabolism is COMPLETELY different from that of a reptile so I don't think that it would work any better than just water. Also, if I'm not mistaken, reptiles' skin is not porous(sp?) like an amphibian's skin is, and this wouldn't "absorb" anything by just soaking in it.

Snakes operate on instinct and know what they need when they need it. Make sure the humidity is up to par and there is always fresh water in its bowl. Try soaking in water too, as it might entice them to get themselves hydrated.

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If I haven't welcomed you already, maniac - -good to have you aboard.

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Thanks :) .. Its good to know my presence is reconized :mrgreen:

If your snake is seriously dehydrated, the vet will give it booster electrolytes -- mine did when I got a sick snake in December. As long as you're taking care of your snake and this isn't a rescue case (as yours looked fine), there should be no need for any added substances in its soaking water, but if I added anything it would be up to a tablespoon of Pedialyte because I suspect it has less unnecessary gunk than Gatorade.

I just read an article today that you can use Gatorade and Pedialite to rehydrate a Ball Python. Actually it was in an old version of the 'Ball Python Manual'. However, it says to administer it by means of a gastric tube. I would NOT recommend doing this unless you are an experienced handler (I certainly wouldn't do it). A lot of the information is outdated though.

So simply soaking in a solution won't do anything more than normal water would unless they choose to drink it?

A snake will not let themselves get dehydrated. Jojo will only drink from his bowl if there is fresh water in there. Its strange to see a snake come out of its hide when you put the water bowl down and get a drink right away. I think he has been learning from the cats.

Brad, according to my vet there IS some absorption of fluids through the skin (which is why she had me soaking the dehydrated ball for an hour a day), so yes, adding Pedialyte or Gatorade to the water could cause absorption of some of the electrolytes as well. However, as Damien points out, a well-tended snake will not normally get dehydrated -- that pretty much requires prolonged neglect, illness, parasites (which can take both water and nutrients from the host), or similar and does not happen in a matter of hours or days as it can with humans. Because of that, there's no need to add anything to the drinking or soaking water of a healthy snake, and it may even be detrimental by throwing electrolytes out of balance.

Thanks for the clarification Marla, I had read contradicting articles on treatment for dehydration; perhaps the one I was looking at was in the context more severe cases when a direct fluid injection was required and that soaking would not be sufficient on its own.

Most likely that's exactly what you were seeing. It really should be made clear as possible at what point intervention is really called for and what kind of action should be taken at that point. On the one hand, I was angry that Snyder was so neglected that she needed intensive care when I got her, on the other hand, I'm glad I got her and was able to bring her back to health and learn some valuable lessons in the process.

Its really unfortunate that people let their pets get to that point. I mean, I don't feel like bps are difficult to care for AT ALL. Just mist when humidity is needed, clean the cage every few weeks, keep water in the bowl; its like an average of less than 5 mins of my time per day. SIMPLE. As far as keeping hydrated, Amber does that on her own, I've been catching her drinking a lot more recently, mostly right after meals. I'm guess thats because fur going down their throat (or whatever u may call it) probably drys things out in there a little bit.

ive never had a snake that didn't drink water after a meal.

It is unfortunate that they let animals get to that point, but to be fair, she was a pet store snake, not somebody else's pet. My ex roommate gave her to me for my birthday and didn't know enough to recognize the condition she was in before buying her.

You read the gatorade thing here. Gatorade and pedialyte are for more efficient at treating dehydration via soaking then water alone.