bathing balls!!!

[tikigator]

Wow I'm a little surprised there are so many responses to this thread questioning bathing....I actually was going to post a thread asking what people use to bathe their snakes. A few of my youngsters will get dried feces on them and I always try to rinse them off but often times its hard to get all of it off.....I didn't know if there was a mild dish soap or anything that was safe to use.....I don't want dried poo on my smelly snake! Anyone else have this issue or do I just have dirty babies?

[Generationshell]

I wouldn't suggest dish soap. Water should be just fine and is the most safe.
If you let the ball python soak for a few minutes then the hardness of the feces should soften up and come off more easily. Also you shouldn't bathe them too often.

Snakes were not meant to take baths regularly just to get them "clean".
Mainly it is for shedding purposes.

[Skittles1101]

Dawn dish soap is fine to use in the water, just a drop or two, but I'd add it once the snake is already in the bath since they usually like to drink for the first bit of it. I have had to bathe my snakes, especially after a messy feeding two days later and they have dried rat blood on them...it's gross and nothing a bath can't fix. Nothing wrong with baths, it's not necessary but certainly won't harm them. I try to as little as possible for my paranoid/shy snakes, but my other ones wouldn't even care even if I did it every day (which I don't...just sayin')

My 4 y/o son handles my snakes, so baths after a messy poo and messy feeding is best for me. He washes his hands after handling but still, I know I wouldn't want to smell like snake poo or dead rat...even if I was a snake lol.

[Aes_Sidhe]

I'm looking at this Topic few days now.... about batching balls.... and I have Really Really Inappropriate Comment on Tips on My Fingers

But i dont Know If Admin stuff have Big Enough sense of Humor to dont give me infraction for that so I just write nothing

[mark and marley]

Marley is disapointed,she wanted to see some good looking bps bathing like her and this is what she got!!!!!!!??????? a bunch of mammals typing letters!!!

[shelliebear]

oh ok lmao it looked like a toilet, I was like ._.

[Inknsteel]

So, as predicted, my big girl left me a nice painting this weekend. I cleaned it out without thinking to grab a pic of her masterpiece, but remembered this thread when I was cleaning her off.

Sorry for the crap pic. Not sure what those burn mark things are but they're on my cell phone camera lens and I can't clean them off...

[mark and marley]

seems like your bp doesnt mind the water.her masterpiece hahaha.that wouldve been funny to see,i hope mine doesnt start that..oh man

[Inknsteel]

Nah, she doesn't mind the water at all. It's pretty much routine for her anymore. Poop, paint, rinse, repeat...

[kitedemon]

Personally I see no problem with an occasional soak. They will hydrate through the skin and if there are humidity issues it will keep them hydrated. There are little to no down sides, just as long as the water is not too warm (88+) and it is not deeper than the 1/2 up the body of the snake.

mark and marley I have a small suggestion for the future rather than a sink buy a cheap 'dish pan' or any correctly sized flat bottomed container that way you don't get a deep spot the water can be an even depth.

Soaking before a shed however is not a great idea. It does not do what would be expected. The layer of liquid between the old and new skin is not water but a secretion and is slippery. It acts as a lubrication to the shedding skin a soak before the shed cycle washes away this lubrication and can lead to poor sheds. After an incomplete shed the secretion dries and a soak helps re-moisten the old skin and aids in removal. Snakes should not be soaked when 'blue'

r. Journal of Zoology, Alibardi, 246 pp 379-390