Soaking Temperature

[Kane]

What temperature should the water be when soaking a ball? How long as well? I just soaked mine for the first time today. She didn't seem to like it very much... kept as much of her body out of the water as she could. Had the water at 82 degrees.

Thanks

[Wizill]

thats probably a little warm. make it so it feels just a little cool to you.

[Wizill]

also, i think everyone should keep this in mind before putting your snake through the stress of soaking. if you provide a big enough water dish, and the snake feels too dry, it will soak. i have 2 bp's sitting in their water right now to prove it, and the humidity is a consistent 70% in both enclosures (same exact setups).

[steelsack]

Well put, Will

[RPlank]

High 70's to low 80's is usually a comfortable temp for them to soak in, although some just don't like to soak.

[Kane]

Thanks. I've never seen my ball soak before and it didn't appear that he liked it when I made him. However, he has a little less than a centimeter on his tail where it didn't shed. Humidity is 55-60%. I'm going to make a humidifier today for shedding purposes.

Is that tail a reason to soak him?

[RPlank]

It needs to come off, but I probably wouldn't soak him just for his tail. I have just wet it, and then helped pull it off before.

[gozetec02]

I agree with randy if a ball python cant get the tail section off it could restrict the circulation. I always soak Jojo in warm water the way i guage it if it feels too hot it probably is. I make the water cool enough to where i can put my hand in it and it doesnt feel hot. Usually tap water is around 78 degrees. But when i do soak Jojo i always put a branch in the sterilite container i use that way he can climb out and soak up the humidity if he wants sometimes he will lay right in the water and just stay there. He will also drink if he is thirsty and 80% of the time he will leave behind a little yellow surprize. I sometimes put a heat pad under the sterilite set on low to increase the water temp to make the water evaporate faster and create more relative humidity.

But i agree with Will if a ball python wants to soak then it will just be sure to provide a big enough bowl. I use a small cat litter pan (its cheap and easy to clean) for jojo since he is 36" long and for Coco i use a 6" plastic pot base and both of them take advantage of it. Also periodic misting could help greatly with shedding.

[Smulkin]

In soaking Sesh for mites (and those are LONG soaks) she's good at 83 - left the temp probe in there last time and the tupperwareadjacent to a heat lamp so the water wouldn't cool off too much. Again in agreement with Will - you should be upgrading the size of the water dish in synch with hide and enclosure sizes - they should always be able to comfortably get all the way in their water for a soak should they be so inclined.