Quote Originally Posted by kitedemon View Post
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
I now have a rack....but for the past year or so I have only had tanks and my male BP (who was my first snake) would go into shed and shed in a bazillion pieces...it looked like it snowed in his tank. I read this was due to low humidity....and it was hard to keep the humidity high in a tank....so I would put a small plastic tank (like the kind a kid would keep a hermit crab in) inside his large tank (40 breeder) and leave a warm soaked hand towel inside the small plastic tank. And he will get in there and "steam" (as I call it, like a little sauna!) and he will stay in there for hours....and the next day I find his shed all in one piece in his tank. So....I dont know if this is not a good thing to do or not...it has always worked for me and I'm assuming if he didn't like it he wouldn't go in there to 'soak'....granted the hand towel is soaked with water then rung out (so its wet but not a pool of water either).

I did this with a couple other snakes I have and they all get in the smaller tank to hang out while in shed and they all shed nicely in one piece with no problems and no shed left over (no retained eyecaps, etc)