What does it mean when a python soaks?

[Lirenn]

Just caught my Lucy soaking in her water dish for the first time since we got her. Super cute!

But ... as a paranoid new snommy I worry it means that something is wrong. My hope is that she's learned that it helps with that bit of stuck shed.

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[redshepherd]

Usually either humidity is too low, the temps are too hot, or the snake has mites.

Most likely in your case it's that humidity is too low, so you might want to find ways to bump it up permanently so you guys don't have to deal with stuck shed or other potential health issues.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Can be a few things


Low humidity

Using the water dish as hide because the hides are not secure enough

Mites

Meal too big, soaking to relief the pressure

Pre-lay soak (breeding females)

BP will rarely soak so investigating the possible cause is important, plus if the behavior persist it's something you want to address.

[Lirenn]

I just started using moss in her hides, hopefully that will help. She is only soaking her neck, if that means anything.

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[cchardwick]

If you have a morph with a wobble be sure to keep your water dishes really small as they can drown (Spider / Champagne / Woma, etc..). I use 16 oz Dixie cups and I have yet to have a ball python even try to soak in the water dish. Sometimes they will have their head over the water when I open the tub and they do actually take a drink every now and then. The only time I had ball pythons really trying to soak is when I had a major mite infestation.

[Lirenn]

Geez, I hope it's not mites. I don't know how they pick them up. I should specify that her water dish is pretty small. Here is her soaking when I got home from work. I walked back in later and nearly had a heart attack when I saw she had submerged her whole chin.

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[Zincubus]

You can check in the bottom of the dish for small black specks .

Also wipe the snake down with some white paper towel and any black mites will easily show on the paper ..

If you find one or two just crush one with your finger nail and hope it's not full of blood .. dead giveaway for mites


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[Craiga 01453]

Everything else has been said, but a bigger water dish will help your humidity a ton.

[Lirenn]

I have considered getting a bigger one. My worry is that it will crowd the tank, give her too much stuff she has to climb over to get between hides. But maybe she will like that? We do plan to upgrade to a new tank.

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[Lirenn]

Day 3 that I've found her in her water, happens once a day. Always just her neck and chin. I am going to try and check for mites tomorrow when we give her a shot. I am getting worried but we have a vet appointment coming up.

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