I met someone today who told me he has an exstensive collection of reptiles. Snakes and gators mostly. After learning that he has many years of experience dealing with these animals, I started asking some basic questions concerning snakes. He asked how often I bathed my ball. Since I am a new owner of a ball python, my answer was......I didn't know I had to bath him. He stated that unless you soak your snake in a water/benodine solution and "pop him" bacteria gets under his scales and can lead to a unhealthy, smelly snake. He stated that this process should be done every 3 months or so. I don't have a problem taking care of my snake but "poping" him (as he described- grabbing the snakes head and running your other hand down the length of the snakes body poping his spine which supposed to open the scales) doesn't sound like a healthy practice. I don't think this is necessary and I am not going to play chiropractor on my new beloved pet. Just wondering what you guys think and if anyone has ever heard of this.