Excessive soaking ball

I have a ten year old albino female ball. She has been soaking in her water tub for the last three days during the day. She goes back into her hide around six in the evening. Her feeding has been irregular for a while. She last ate 8/1 and 6/21 prior to that. The temp under her hide is 89-90 and 84-86 where her water is at. She doesn't have mites or any other visual parasites. She last shed 7/6 and is housed alone. Please provide any ideas. http://ball-pythons.net/forums/webki...7b95/imagejpeg

What is the humidity at, what are you feeding her, what is your heat source and how is it controlled, and what are you using to measure heat and humidity?

From what I have learned here, feeding problems are usually related to husbandry issues, and soaking is either mites (try bedding her on paper towels for a few days), or there is a chance she is dehydrated.

I'm not sure on The humidity but she is on newspaper. I tried to include a photo but I didn't know how to. I have belly heat on a third of the button under her hide. She can and has taken large rats but I have been offering mediums. I have a temp gun that I use for the temp, zoo med. thanks for the insight.http://ball-pythons.net/forums/webki...2156/imagejpeg

White paper towels would really help rule out mites.

Humidity is important - too low, and the environment can suck hydration right out of them. I usually aim for 50-55% on a regular basis, and like right now when Malfoy is deep into shed, I aim for 70-75%.

Sounds like hudmidty issue. Crazy question could have mites entered your collection through bedding or new animal nearby.

I have a BP that soaks all the time and my humidity is 55 - 60 so I checked for mites none so I took him to the herp vet in town he said everything was fine he just loves to soak.

You should be able to see mites in the bottom of the water as little black spots like flakes of pepper. When all my snakes had mites they all soaked all the time, now none of them ever soak. It's almost impossible to see them on the snake since they burrow under the scales. I actually won the war on mites after battling them for a month. Then I got a new snake and guess what, I wiped her down with reptile spray and two mites came out of her! The breeder I got her from was shocked that she had mites.

I'm going to buy something that can measure humidity today. You all have been very helpful, thanks. I have ten corn snakes that feed on frozen thawed and are housed on newspaper. They all are mite free. Thanks again.

http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermometers/TH-100/ would suggest getting this maybe even 2 there cheap also. if u dont wanna wait a week for shipping amazon has them on prime free 2 day shipping

Mites


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There are a few reason that can cause ball pythons to soak:

1) mites: If you're seeing black specks in your snakes water dish, then he/she has mites. As mentioned above, white paper towels will help rule this out. If it is mites, do a search on this forum. There are many threads on mite treatment on here.

2) excessive heat/ inadequate humidify. If your snake is soaking and it's not mites, it could be an ambient heat & inadequate humidity issue. Both can be monitored carefully monitored with a proper thermometer/hydrometer combo. They are inexpensive and are a must have. I use a temp gun in conjunction with the thermometer.

2) too large of a meal: depending on the size of prey you're offering, some snakes so soak after a meal. Solution, feed a smaller, more suitable prey item.

Ball pythons are not a species that would soak normally (unlike an anaconda). So I'm really suspicious when I see a ball python soaking excessively.


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