Over soaking?

[B.P.'s 4me]

I'm fairly new to the hobby, after an absence of 20 years+.
I started out with a few hatchlings which are doing well but just recently acquired my first adult ball python. She's aprox. 4 years old and JUST shy of 2400 grms. Her temperament is awesome, she's eating well, but I do have a couple of questions. I currently have her in a 2' x 2' x 12" pvc enclosure, is this adequate?
In the last week, she appears to be pre shed, skin is dull, belly a bit pink, but eyes not blue yet. I've never seen any of my youngsters soaking, so it was intriguing to notice her trying to soak in her water dish (which is a good size, but not as big as she needs apparenty). A week ago, I found a container that she can get into, although it takes up half of her floor space. The plan was that I'd give her soaking time every day, and then remove the container, but she was in the container within 5 minutes of me putting it in the first day and has NEVER left on her own!! Seriously, I suspect she'd soak all day if I let her!
I normally don't let her soak longer than 5 or 6 hours or so, but am concerned that there might be a risk that she's over soaking. Her temps. are 87 F. at the back of her enclosure and about 78 F. at the front. She usually hangs out in the middle.(if she's not soaking) Humidity in the enclosure is about 65 %, but of course goes way up when she's soaking, as the soaking container is quite large and some water splashes onto the paper.
I have her on unprinted newspaper right now and I change it daily in case she has mites... which I've checked and see no sign of (and because I normally have to change the paper after she soaks anyhow because it's often wet.) She's good to handle, so I've checked her thoroughly for mites, and always check the paper before i discard it and see absolutely no sign of mites.
Previous owner mentioned she MIGHT be gravid so am researching everything I can on that, but aside from the excessive soaking I haven't seen anything that would confirm that.
Are there any health risks in her over soaking or is this likely related to imminent shedding and stop once she's shed? How long should I leave her in her soaking tub. IF she wants to be in it 24/7 should I let her? I've experimented in placing the tub at the warm end or the cold end or in the middle, and it doesn't seem to matter to her, although she felt cool when I removed her when she was at the cooler end, so I've made sure since then that she's warm.

[Zincubus]

Hi..

In my experience Royals rarely if ever soak but I've tad I'd occasions when they have but SADLY the reason was they had the dreaded MITES !!!

Hopefully yours hasn't but it's worth bearing in mind .

I'd tip the bowl out through some white kitchen roll to see if it catches any black specks ( mites possibly)

Also wipe the snake down well with some damp wipe kitchen paper and again check for black specs .

If you find any , crush with your fingernail or a knife edge and see if they're filled with blood .

Good luck !


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[Sonny1318]

My personal experience says if your husbandry is on, and a snake wants to soak, there gonna soak. Not all do, but some will. Now if there’s a negative reason they’re soaking that’s a whole other ball game. I seen plenty of boas and balls take a soak, in tanks and in dedicated enclosers. Not all will, but some will seasonally. And some seem to like it more. Also, it’s hard to see a snake soak when a large enough container is not provided. In other words, tiny water dishes are kinda hard to soak in. Just my opinion.

[Reinz]

What the pic doesn’t show is Lizzy’s soaking bowl just to left.



And then there’s Sundance soaking from two sources at once.



Sometimes there is just no figuring these guys out.

[Lord Sorril]

I've had a male ball python that appears to be soaking for the last 3 weeks. I pull him out every few days and check his belly scales. If his scales turn RED not PINK, he gets a big downgrade to his water bowl size. As far as I know: he could be sleeping in the water bowl during the day and out cruising the enclosure at night.

Gravid females can be pretty uncomfortable, if she is: I would just leave her to her own best judgement and check her belly scales periodically for redness.

[Scherf]

I have a female that does nothing but soak, and then I have some that do not go anywhere near the bowl, I honestly feel as though they do what they like, now when they are in it for more than a day I always pull her out to check water and scales

[B.P.'s 4me]

Hi..

In my experience Royals rarely if ever soak but I've tad I'd occasions when they have but SADLY the reason was they had the dreaded MITES !!!

Hopefully yours hasn't but it's worth bearing in mind .

I'd tip the bowl out through some white kitchen roll to see if it catches any black specks ( mites possibly)

Also wipe the snake down well with some damp wipe kitchen paper and again check for black specs .

If you find any , crush with your fingernail or a knife edge and see if they're filled with blood .

Good luck !


Yes, that was my first thought too, which is why I have her on unprinted news paper (white) and her soaking container is transparent and I check closely before and after I dump the water out. I have wiped her down with a paper towel after and haven't seen any at all. Should I treat her anyhow? If she is gravid is there higher risk in treating her?

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[B.P.'s 4me]

My personal experience says if your husbandry is on, and a snake wants to soak, there gonna soak. Not all do, but some will. Now if there’s a negative reason they’re soaking that’s a whole other ball game. I seen plenty of boas and balls take a soak, in tanks and in dedicated enclosers. Not all will, but some will seasonally. And some seem to like it more. Also, it’s hard to see a snake soak when a large enough container is not provided. In other words, tiny water dishes are kinda hard to soak in. Just my opinion.

Thank you, that thought had occurred to me as well, most large snakes , esp. those in tubs probably wouldn't have the opportunity to soak, I'm just somewhat surprised by the fact that she does so much of it and wondering if there's something I'm overlooking. The only reason I've heard/read that would explain excessive soaking is mites, but I'm pretty sure they're not an issue as I've checked pretty closely, and will continue to do so.
Maybe she was an anaconda in her past life.

[B.P.'s 4me]

Thank you Reinz, and I would agree, they keep us wondering. Obviously your girl is pretty clever though if she's figured out how to soak using two different water dishes. LOL

[B.P.'s 4me]

I've had a male ball python that appears to be soaking for the last 3 weeks. I pull him out every few days and check his belly scales. If his scales turn RED not PINK, he gets a big downgrade to his water bowl size. As far as I know: he could be sleeping in the water bowl during the day and out cruising the enclosure at night.

Gravid females can be pretty uncomfortable, if she is: I would just leave her to her own best judgement and check her belly scales periodically for redness.

Good suggestions and good to hear someone else has a b.p. that's an avid soaker. I do take her out after several hours so she does get good and dry, but replace her big water bin the next day and she's back in it within minutes, can't really leave it in with her because it takes up a lot of her floor space. As I mentioned, I'm pretty sure she's pre shed so I'm curious to know if this behavior will continue after she's shed.