Pueblan soaking for over 24 hours after feed?

[(James)]

Hey all,

I recently got a new Pueblan Milksnake, a tad older than a year. I got her from the breeder/pet shop where I get all of my feeders from. I gave her about 5 days to settle in and decided to see if she would take a fuzzy yesterday, which she did with no problem.

I recognize the species is pretty flighty, especially when young and she has definitely ran from me when I enter the room and when I removed her from the aquarium to move her furniture for feeding. Completely normal behavior.

After she ate her mouse I came home to find her soaking in her water bowl. I thought it was a little weird since she had just eaten and I keep her water on the cool side, but I don't have much colubrid experience and just shrugged and went about my business. She also made no attempt to run outside of tucking her head under water.

It's now been around 24 hours and she hasn't moved from the water bowl as far as I can tell. It seems extremely weird to me after a meal to be soaking in cool water.

I have her in a 10 gallon aquarium, UTH covering about 1/4 the tank maybe (small one) and a lamp in the middle of the tank that I turn off at night. Both are hooked up to a dimmer and I manually monitor and control the temps. I keep her hides on both ends. Under her warm hide it fluctuates between 85-90 as I change it a bit when the lamp is on. Cool side is usually around 73, maybe less at night. Middle of the aquarium is usually 77-80 when the lamp is on, drops to room temp at night. Humidity is room humidity, which I read was correct for the species since they are from arid climates.

I realize this could be a mite issue, especially with her being new, but if that is the case I truthfully don't know how to spot mites on an animal with a black head like her. So if any of you think that may be the issue advice on how to spot them on a Pueblan would be appreciated. I may just be overreacting but I wanted to make sure it's not a symptom of an underlying problem.

Thanks for your time and advice everyone.

[blushingball419]

My bloodred corn did this several times when he was younger as well, always after eating. It could have something to do with prey size, or maybe it's just the preference of the snake. I don't believe it's extremely abnormal though. If you do want to check for mites just to be safe, they will normally be around the eyes and also around the vent area. You should also be able to see them as tiny black specks floating in the water.

[RichsBallPythons]

colubrids for some odd reason love to soak after meals and when ever as well.

Nothing to worry about too much right now unless its for days straight

[(James)]

She was in there for 2 straight days but got out last night and went under her warm hide, so I was able to change her water and what not. I didn't see any flecks in the water to suggest mites, and I examined her head the best I could but of course her head is black.

I will give it a few days and chalk it up to weird digestive technique before I pursue it any further. She seems fine, just convinced she has a hot tub I suppose. She's back to her cool side hide now.