why is he bathing for so long?

my BP has been in his water bowl for the past 2 days now. i fed him yesterday. he gets out for a few minutes then he goes back in

Mites or incorrect temperatures...

Ball Pythons dont soak for other reasons.

First check those temps. 82-84 on the cool, 92-94 on the hot. If all is right there, check for mites. Change his substrate to white paper towel. They wont be hard to see. red or black tiny bugs.

ball pythons also soak sometimes because they've had a big meal. i guess its a way of relieving pressure from their stomachs when they float. was his meal yesterday nice and big?

A big meal? Or an excessively large meal? My BPs eat appropriate size meals weekly and NEVER soak.

his temps should be correct, on his warm hide its usually 93F, humid is 50%, and the cool side is about 80F(during the day) i dont have any other way of heating the cool side during the night, i only have a day lamp. when he pooped i didnt see any kind of bugs in it, but i might change to paper towels just in case and ill have to get a night bulb too!

his meals wasnt big, i don think i fed him something a little bigger then a hopper and he ate is really easily. the hopper was about the same width as my BP's mid section

i just remember reading on this site that alexrls said the only time monty ever soaked was when it had a big meal and Adam said that was another reason they soak.

Temps sound ok. Does he have hides on both sides? You should be able to see the mites pretty easily.

ball pythons will also curl up in their water bowl if inappropriate hides are provided....what kinda hides do you have in the enclosure?

Sorry forgot that one Daniel. That is the direction I was heading in with the last post. :)

i think it might be mites!
well he is out of his water bowl and back into his hide. but in his water bowl there are about 6 little black spots, they werent theere before so could they be mites? i didnt get a good look but i think they were mites

here is a picture of what it looked like before, now i have the bowl in the middle and another hide on the left side, ill try to get a pic of him inside his hide
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1.../snaketank.jpg

Sounds like mites to me! Get some provent-a-mite. Also there is a product called Reptile Relief at pet stores that sometimes works. I use drugstore brand lice treatment. I can give more details if you need.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jglass38

Sorry forgot that one Daniel. That is the direction I was heading in with the last post. :)

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ya....we posted that at the same exact time...one of my female bps did that when I changed out her hides....I guess she did not like the new ones...I put the old ones back in...no more climbing in the water bowl ;)...ha ha...now she wears them like a hat :P

What are you using for supstrate? When I had reptibark the thing was filled with mites but since i switched and treated the snakes I havent had them since.Mine use to soak alot when she had mites but when they were gone no more soaking unless he was in shed he would for a couple minutes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by daniel1983

ya....we posted that at the same exact time...one of my female bps did that when I changed out her hides....I guess she did not like the new ones...I put the old ones back in...no more climbing in the water bowl ;)...ha ha...now she wears them like a hat :P

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Only one of my BPs that is in a rack has a hide. He has always had it. For the rest, the security of the rack is plenty for them. The back is pitch black.


I just bought a bunch of dollar store plastic dog bowls for the babies. They are being upgraded to new sterilites this week.

Anyway, I digress..As usual...

You can order Provent-a-mite online however follow the directions exactly or ask here first...it's effective but like all things....used wrong it's harmful too. Check the husbandry forum here for threads re mites.



~~Jo~~

Also you might want to get a digital thermometer in there. those analog ones are not accurite. Go to a walmart by the outdoor thermometer section and pick up an accurit digital thermometer. they are around 12 dollars. they messure humidity, and 2 temps. they work wonders.

yeah i think it is mites.. do they sell prevent-o-mite at stores like petsmart, petco or wet pets? i dont have any way of ordering anything online =(

edit- yeah, i brought a digi thermo when some1 here suggested it, that pic was of hte tank a couple weeks ago i got a couple more things in there including an acu-rite =D

maybe try the lice thing that jamie was talking about.

This is the Acu-Rite sold by WalMart (other brand names sold at both Lowe's and Home Depot). The analogs stick on things are notoriously unreliable.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../Accu-Rite.jpg

Also a link to the VPI site and info on mite treatment there as well.

http://www.vpi.com/9VPITipsAndTechs/...SnakeMites.htm

~~Jo~~

yeah if i cant get the prevent-o-mite at the petstores, whats that lice treatment you were talkinga bout and how do i use it?

Why can't you order ProventAMite online? You can just call the vendor and give them your credit card information and they will process it for you if you can't do online ordering.

Not everyone has a credit card Robin, especially our members under 18 (not sure if that's the case here of course).



~~Jo~~

Ah, that thought didn't occur to me! Thanks, Jo!

I hate to even give out the instructions because if something happens to your snake I don't want to be responsible for it. You are prob best going to a local pet store and finding Reptile Relief.

im 18 just dont have a credit card =( parents dont like the internet lol... im gonna go to a petstore today and try to get some and get a night bulb.. i think they should have something

Actually just a bit of information about online ordering and credit cards. There's a number of pre-paid cards out there that you can get if you are over 18 (even under...not sure on that rule though). Mike and I have one specifically for online ordering as you only put on it what you wish to spend (plus a small monthly user fee). That way no one can get into your personal line of credit and clean you out. We get ours from a local drugstore and it's really convenient.


This the one that we bought locally (Rite-Aid) but there's tons of choices out there (just be careful of the fine print LOL)

https://www.greendotonline.com/contents/login.aspx


~~Jo~~

Petco carries Reptile Relief. The only pet store we've seen carry Provent-a-mite in stock is LLL Reptile (but then they would).

Why don't you contact Matt at MG Reptiles? matt@mgreptiles.com I bet he'd take a money order or maybe Western Union. And I know he's got PAM and night bulbs, and anything else you'd need. In the mean time, get some Repti Relief, tear your tank down and wash it out with bleach solution, then use paper towels for substrata, and don't forget to bake any of the wood furniture in the oven at 300 degrees for about an hour.