Bathing a BP

[ChunkyLoverYYZ]

Confirmed... One perfect shed. The skin was all balled up but I stretches it out to full length. I'm leaving him alone, but at quick glance his head looks fine too. That was the problem area for my first shed with him

Now he's all shiny and beautiful!
VERY happy :-)

[The Serpent Merchant]

prone to stress r u out of ur mind... they are snakes. THEY HAVE A PRIME DIRECTIVE.... EAT AND ESCAPE THE ENCLOSERS WE PUT THEM IN...

You oviously haven't delt will ball pythons too much as they will stop eating due to stress at the drop of a hat....

[Slim]

prone to stress r u out of ur mind... they are snakes. THEY HAVE A PRIME DIRECTIVE.... EAT AND ESCAPE THE ENCLOSERS WE PUT THEM IN...

TROLL ALERT...and I have a few guesses as to who, LOL

[Skittles1101]

The only time I've ever seen any of my snakes voluntarily soak was when I got a mite infestation with 3 new snakes. I also don't bathe them unless they have blood or poo on them, and even then I usually just run them through a wet paper towel. There is the occasional "freak" that soaks for no good reason, but more often than not, they'd much rather be nice and cozy in their hides rather than in a big wet thing

[cmack91]

prone to stress r u out of ur mind... they are snakes. THEY HAVE A PRIME DIRECTIVE.... EAT AND ESCAPE THE ENCLOSERS WE PUT THEM IN...

Think of it this way, your a ball python, your brain is only really capable of instinctual behaviors, most, if not all of which have to do with self preservation. Hunger and/ or thirst, mating, and fight or flight all come from that.

Now imagine, your comfortably balled up and sleeping in a nice, tight, warm space. All of a sudden, a giant thing 100 times your size, rips apart the nice hole that you found, pulls you out, and throws you in water, which is surrounded on all sides by walls, and you cannot possibly get out. How would you feel?

Remember, this is all against your will.

[rabernet]

To the OP's question - I never bathe my snakes. I will on occasion soak an animal who's had a bad shed, but bathing is not part of my husbandry repertoire.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

prone to stress r u out of ur mind... they are snakes. THEY HAVE A PRIME DIRECTIVE.... EAT AND ESCAPE THE ENCLOSERS WE PUT THEM IN...

Not sure how long or how many Ball Pythons you are currently of have been keeping in the past but this is a well know FACT, you might want to do some research on Ball Pythons and stress in Ball Pythons in particular as well as the issues that can result from said stress.

Who knows you might learn something new

[JohnNJ]

Lots of good responses to the OP on bathing.

One thing I did not see - never use water that has gone through the hot water heater for drinking. This goes for animals, reptiles, humans, everything.

Drinking water should only come from the COLD water side and let it run for a bit before using it. If you're worried about the cold temperature for a reptile, fill up a gallon jug and let it sit until it warms up before using it.

[Vypyrz]

I will only soak mine if they happen to have a bad shed, and on the one occasion that I had a mite outbreak. To clean them up after the occasional poo-fest, I will just wipe them down with unscented baby wipes, or let them crawl through a wet towel.

Sent from my Motorola ATRIX using Tapatalk.

[Mike41793]

Lots of good responses to the OP on bathing.

One thing I did not see - never use water that has gone through the hot water heater for drinking. This goes for animals, reptiles, humans, everything.

Drinking water should only come from the COLD water side and let it run for a bit before using it. If you're worried about the cold temperature for a reptile, fill up a gallon jug and let it sit until it warms up before using it.

What? Doesnt all the water in your house pass through the hot water heater? Like sink faucets and showers etc...