Is it good to give my ball a bath?

[shooter bc420]

And if so what temps should it be

[iCandiBallPythons]

There's really no reason to give them baths, unless they poo all over them.

[seclark]

If you are having humidity issues it's not a bad idea to soak them when they go into shed

[Big Gunns]

In BG's opinion....no.... unless it looks like it needs to take a huge one. Leaving a Ball in water for a while may give you feeding issues. Balls are weird like that, it's best not to mess with them too much...especially in the winter.

[sarahlovesmiike]

One of the really bad parts about feeding live is the rat usually messes on my snakes. I give them baths if I can't get rid of the smell just using a wet cloth.

[rabernet]

The ONLY time I bathe my snakes is after a female has laid eggs, and that's to remove the smell of the eggs from her in attempt to have her get settled and feeding again more quickly.

Any other time is un-necessary (for me).

[JeffD]

I will soak them just before a shed for a few minutes, and just periodically it seems to help them get their bowels moving. Ocassionally, I put em in the water and just let em play in it for a few minutes. As far as temp, I use as a rule of thumb, just SLIGHTLY warmer than they are, and don't let it cool too much.

[4theSNAKElady]

The title sorta confused me......and then I realized it was in the General BPs section...

[BPelizabeth]

well I didn't vote....just as it really depends to me. If there is a problem shed...then yes I will soak them. But the only time this has happened is our first shed with our first snake and another that I got from a store. That is about the only time. Unless of course they have ick on them.....I had one the other day that had blood from the mouse on her...(must of been a hard squeeze)...I just wiped her off with a wet cloth and she was fine.

Since getting racks and using papertowels...we pretty much know as soon as the poo or pee so it is changed immed. Therefore they really don't get a chance to roam around in it. Or they just go when they get their exercise outside of their enclosure.

[WingedWolfPsion]

A soak in warm water won't do them any harm, will probably encourage them to drink and eliminate. It depends on the individual snake's temperament--if they really hate it, and they're shy, then don't do it unless you need to in order to remove dirt or a bad shed.

Don't use soap, of course.

A lot of balls kept in captivity are kept at a humidity lower than what they really need. These snakes are usually dehydrated (which is what causes a bad shed--you shouldn't just raise the humidity when they're opaque, they need it over 60% all the time). So, some extra drinking water isn't a bad thing.