First Bath

[PitOnTheProwl]

I just believe in giving them the opportunity to soak if THEY decide to.

Yes, my 7 snakes are not an adequate number for a scientific study. But when you look at how much of their life is spent soaking and they ALL end up with perfect one piece sheds tells me there is definitely not any washing away oils.

This why I don't think a snake can soak too much. But I believe the owner soaking their snake can do it too much by way of stress on the snake, not the hydration itself.

Picking just a couple points of your post, the animals soak on their own choice.
Still doesn't change the fact that there are animals with continual shed problems that owners continue to soak and continue to have problems.
This makes me wonder if maybe those animals are not producing the needed oils due to some other continual problems with husbandry?
I was one that did bathe my first ball not knowing any different. Dry broken sheds tell me there was a problem doing this.
I posted a video of my yellow belly shedding while I was weighing him. A fresh shed skin has a really weird oil/slime feel to it.
My observations are my own.