Hi all,
First time owner of a BP here. I've had the snake 3 weeks. He's been doing great, feeding normally etc. He has never shown any interest in his water bowl till last Thursday- since then I cannot get him to stay out of the bowl. He just soaks 24/7. Through my research I narrowed the reasons down to either shedding or mites. Upon inspecting his bowl, I could see approx. 3 little brown specks that I assumed were mites. I then removed everything from his enclosure, soaked him in a warm bath, and put down paper towels as bedding. I did not find many specks after his bath. The next day I received advice from several owners, and decided to again soak him but with a drop of dish soap- again, one or two dots but that's it. I also sprayed his enclosure with bedding spray and bleached all his stuff. After doing all of that, I put him back in the enclosure with just the water bowl and paper towels. I still am not finding much in the way of mite-evidence in his water bowl and I have found like one or two specks on the paper towels. As of last night, the snake is not only soaking but keeping his head under the water as well. I have gone ahead and ordered Provent-a-Mite but aside from that I don't know what to do and am going crazy. I have seen no evidence of mites on his body either, but then again I am a first time owner and I'm not sure if I'm just completely missing the obvious. His belly is showing no sign of turning pink and eyes are clear. He is approx. 3 feet long. I feel awful for the guy as something is clearly bothering him. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!