Ball python likes to soak

Hello I am new to the forum but have found a lot of info here so I figures I would ask :)
My wife and I have a 6 month old ball python (Zed) and he seems to like soaking himself a lot lately. Done a lot of research on the subject and we have found no mites in his dish or on him. Measure temps with an infrared thermometer 90s hot side 75-80 cool side and humidity generally between 55-65. He eats fine and just shed in one piece a couple of weeks ago. We use cypress for substrate. He does use both his hides and seems to be comfortable and stress free. He is very active and friendly and will crawl right up your arm when you reach in the his tank. My question is does he just like to soak? It seems to me that he does but I just would like to hear other opinions! Thanks!

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What are the actual readings inside the hide and on the substrate around the hide?

What are you heating with?

What is the ambient temp?

I know you said you haven't found any mites, but I'd really double check that. They can get deep under the scales and heat pits.


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Originally Posted by KMG

What are the actual readings inside the hide and on the substrate around the hide?

What are you heating with?

What is the ambient temp?

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91 in hot side hide and 77 in cool hide. 85 on substrate around hide on hot side. we use and udertank heating pad and have an red bulb overhead light for days it gets cold. the ambient temp in the tank is generally 82

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Originally Posted by Rob

I know you said you haven't found any mites, but I'd really double check that. They can get deep under the scales and heat pits.


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I just soaked him in a separate tub for about 20 mins and I did find a mite :( I have been searching him for them for a couple weeks now and this is the first I have seen. we finally found a vet around us that can see him too. so my next question is what is the best way (from experience) to deal with this. seems to be a lot of controversy on the web about this subject. we plan on getting some betadine tomorrow and getting a desperate tank to hold him in while we scour his tank.
thanks for the responses!

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I have gone through 3 mite infestations over the last 5 years. I found the quickest and most effective way to deal with them is PAM. I've used NIX and it took 3 treatments to see real results, and they came. PAM kills them, and they stay dead. The problem people have with PAM is that people use it incorrectly.. It is a pesticide, it is a poison - I give the enclosure 10 minutes or so to air out after a treatment before I put the animal back.

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Originally Posted by decensored

I have gone through 3 mite infestations over the last 5 years. I found the quickest and most effective way to deal with them is PAM. I've used NIX and it took 3 treatments to see real results, and they came. PAM kills them, and they stay dead. The problem people have with PAM is that people use it incorrectly.. It is a pesticide, it is a poison - I give the enclosure 10 minutes or so to air out after a treatment before I put the animal back.

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thank you for the response!
what would be the best way to get all of the mites/larva and all off of him? I have read a betadine water bath then to gently go over places like heat pits and crevice under the jaw with a small amount of mineral oil with a qtip. have also read that that can be bad because of scale rot and such .
thanks for helping a couple newbies out with this everyone!

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No worries! This might sound like I do it for the wrong reasons, but all the other options IMO are tedious and time consuming. PAM takes virtually no time in comparison and is very effective. Last year I brought home a fire female, and my quarantine crapped out on me so I ended up putting her in one of my racks pre-maturely. within weeks I had thousands of mites... And days after the treatment I had none. The infestation was substantial and it literally only took one treatment of PAM to solve the issue.

Would you say a betadine water solution and mineral oil would be good for getting the mites off of him? PAM being a pesticide can be used to clear the enclosure only right? We can't say thanks enough for all the quick responses!

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I wouldn't. Moisture re-activates the pesticide. The mites will come off of him on their own. Mite's don't actually live on the animal. They live, nest and breed in the bedding. They only go on the snake to bite/feed. You'd want to keep the water dish out of the enclosure for the following 4 or 5 days afterwards as well. I'd run him through a dry towel a couple of times to try and pull off as many as you can, but you'll be surprised at how well the PAM works. After 4 or 5 days if you want to give him a bath or run him through a damp towel to pull off any lingering dead ones, that's cool. But I've never betadined them for mites. Just my experience.

Ordering some tomorrow, thank you so much for the input! Can we bake you a cake? Lol

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I'm not sure what country you're in, I am assuming the states; but here's a link to PAM so you know what you're looking for - http://pro-products.com/provent-a-mite/

hahaha - no worries, I love sharing my experience. I had no idea what I was doing when I got my first BP and made all the mistakes in the book. Goodluck!

I had mites once and used Reptile Spray from Petco. It worked in one treatment and it is safe to use on the snake. You can pick up a small bottle at Petco for about $8. I would pick some up and go ahead and start killing the mites. I had them on three snakes and treated the cages, snakes, bowls, hides, and even the carpet around them with it and it worked great.

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Originally Posted by decensored

I have gone through 3 mite infestations over the last 5 years. I found the quickest and most effective way to deal with them is PAM. I've used NIX and it took 3 treatments to see real results, and they came. PAM kills them, and they stay dead. The problem people have with PAM is that people use it incorrectly.. It is a pesticide, it is a poison - I give the enclosure 10 minutes or so to air out after a treatment before I put the animal back.

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It was used incorrectly then. PAM and NIX solution is pretty much identical. Just look at the ingredients. And the only one that matters is Permethrin. Its just a different base, from Water to Aresol.


With NIX if you can get it make sure your substrate is always treated. Always Use paper and treat a few extra sheets for when you change, it All instructions are the same, Liberally put on snake. Better part of nix is it can go on there head/vents, Aswell keep water bowl out for 24hours to let it dry so snake doesn't drink any. If you notice snake soaking leave water dish out till mites are gone.

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Originally Posted by CORBIN911

It was used incorrectly then. PAM and NIX solution is pretty much identical. Just look at the ingredients. And the only one that matters is Permethrin. Its just a different base, from Water to Aresol.


With NIX if you can get it make sure your substrate is always treated. Always Use paper and treat a few extra sheets for when you change, it All instructions are the same, Liberally put on snake. Better part of nix is it can go on there head/vents, Aswell keep water bowl out for 24hours to let it dry so snake doesn't drink any. If you notice snake soaking leave water dish out till mites are gone.

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I used it correctly, just didn't see the same results. I don't know what to say - perhaps the magical aerosol base is actually the breath of angels? :evileye: All I know is that in my experience over the past 5 years, and the advice I received from my buddies who have been in the hobby for 20+ years was to use PAM because it's easier and more effective. Just my 0.02

So over the past few weeks we have used paper towels for substrate and for the first week crumpled newspaper for his hides which he did not seem to mind. We have been treating his tank with reptile spray and him with zoo med mite off. We changed his water dish to one he could not soak in and j have been giving him baths with and without a slight betadine solution for his bites. He seems to be much less stressed out and he has not been constantly trying to soak in the larger water dish that we just reintroduced, but there are still mites though diminished. Our next step ( after extensive research) is to get predator mites because we don't want to use heavy pesticides that we would not use in other animal or our own environment. Thanks again for all the replies as it helped with my research and I will post further progress (hopefully lol) for anyone who has this problem in the future who like us want to use more natural methods of dealing with this problem. Any reply from someone who has used predator mites will be appreciated as well! :)