Help there's a snake in my sink!!

[SCWood]

A cute one that is Boots is taking a bath before he sheds!

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[DVirginiana]

Just a heads up since you're probably going to get a lot of replies to this effect.... but there's no reason to ever soak BPs. They don't particularly enjoy it (if you're curious as to whether they want to soak or not, give them a large water dish. My bet is you'll never see them soaking) but before a shed it can actually be detrimental as it affects the oils that build up on/under the skin to help with the shed.

The best thing to help a snake shed is increasing overall humidity a bit or introducing a humid hide; basically a hide stuffed with wet sphagnum moss or a box with wet paper towels inside if you can't get the moss.

Just an additional bit of advice; this comes from having to be extra-paranoid about stuff like this for my frogs, but anything like a sink or tub that has ever had chemicals (soap, detergent, ect) in it can be potentially harmful to an animal even if it's been awhile or you've washed it out.

[midgard]

I never soak mine. He just goes in his water dish.

[SCWood]

Just a heads up since you're probably going to get a lot of replies to this effect.... but there's no reason to ever soak BPs. They don't particularly enjoy it (if you're curious as to whether they want to soak or not, give them a large water dish. My bet is you'll never see them soaking) but before a shed it can actually be detrimental as it affects the oils that build up on/under the skin to help with the shed.

The best thing to help a snake shed is increasing overall humidity a bit or introducing a humid hide; basically a hide stuffed with wet sphagnum moss or a box with wet paper towels inside if you can't get the moss.

Just an additional bit of advice; this comes from having to be extra-paranoid about stuff like this for my frogs, but anything like a sink or tub that has ever had chemicals (soap, detergent, ect) in it can be potentially harmful to an animal even if it's been awhile or you've washed it out.

Mm, thanks we have always soaked them after their eyes go back to normal. Every time we get a full shed. I guess we just do what works for us, because we've always done it that way.(not to be rude) Thank you for the advice though! And just so you know, I usually use a plastic tub for soaking, but it's currently in use so I had to make do with the sink 😞
Here is the shed!


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[DVirginiana]

Just saying, there aren't many pools of water in termite mounds in Ghana. They're perfectly capable of shedding without a soak and all it does is add extra stress for them.

[Sonny1318]

I wonder how many people make that blank statement about never seeing their snakes interacting with their water dish, also have racks. I have all my snakes where I can see them through out the day. While that not exacactly display animals, they do come out a lot more than I think people realize. I agree about the dangers of soap residue, I still think there is a lot of ways people can have healthy results. Peace. And we are aware now that all ball pythons do not live in termite mounds. Some of the young males have been found to be quite arboreal.

[DVirginiana]

Not sure about how others house their BPs but mine is in a large plastic tub. Of course, she's usually being abnormal and sitting out in the open under her plants despite having perfectly adequate hides, so I'm sure the occasional BP probably enjoys soaking. Who knows. My garters (which are often found in and around bodies of water in the wild) love soaking and swimming so I try to give them the option. My BP could care less about a giant bowl of water so I figured there was no reason to waste space with it.

Whether or not they like it, the fact that soaks have the potential to mess up a shed if you do it at the wrong time pre-shed remains true. Of course, it's not a huge deal. Shed issues are pretty easily fixed.

[Sonny1318]

I think there are so many ways to go about keeping your snakes healthy and happy. And the thing I like about this form, my first form. Is that you can learn a lot off your follow keepers, even if it's something not to do. And I do know that soaking at the wrong time can do more bad then good.😀

[SCWood]

He has no room for a big dish. Like I said we do this when the eyes clear at the end of their sheds and they come clean every time. Oh, and he decided to use ME to start his shed lol

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[DVirginiana]

Eh, just telling you that it's not recommended and the reasons why. If you want to keep doing something that serves no purpose that's your call.