Soaking before shed?

[Areed]

Hi all, I’ve had my male BP for about 3 months. He’s approximately a year and a half old. It seems like he’s really gotten settled in. He’s been eating f/t small rats well, he handles well, he’ll occasionally explore at night, he’s on the smaller side still so he’s in a 36*19*12” pvc wilbanks enclosure with a RHP, he has belly heat supplement that is on a thermostat… it’s low and covered in 4” of substrate… I check the temp regularly. His enclosure features live snake plants, blue grama grass, magnolia leaves and Wilbanks coco husk substrate and some reptisoil mixed in around the plants. He has sphagnum moss and aspen in his hides. There is an active white springtail colony in the enclosure. All his husbandry numbers are in tolerance. Typically 88 degrees and 65% humidity hot side, 78 degrees and 75% humidity cool side. I use two thermostats/hydrometers on both sides… Govee and INKBIRD, so I’m confident in the numbers.
He had a good shed three weeks after we got him. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to see the lead up to the shed. We had a family emergency and had to go out of town for 6 days. Came back and there was a shed in the enclosure. We didn’t see any signs of him needing to shed before that… but he was petty shy and secretive the first month we had him.

Two nights ago I saw him soaking in his water dish. He was in there about an hour. I didn’t disturb him and let him do his thing. Last night I got him out and checked him all over. No mites on him or in the water dish. His belly is slightly pinkish uniformly. I’ve read that’s a sign of preshed. I use an instant read heat gun, and there has been no temp in his enclosure that should be able to cause a burn, so I’m thinking the pink is due to preshed. No other scale abnormalities and he’s not wrinkly. He always has water and I see him drink from time to time. I didn’t get to see him last shed, so I’m not sure if soaking is normal for him or not. After I got him out last night he went back into his hide for a bit then went into his water dish again for another hour or so. Checked the dish again this morning, and again no snake mites. I can’t imagine the springtails would be bothering him to the point he’d need to soak… they shouldn’t be bothering him at all. I did bump his humidity up to 75% warm side and 80% cool side. I pour water in the corners of the enclosure on the plants so the top layer of substrate is never damp. I think I’ll add a temporary humid hide with damp sphagnum moss.

Questions:
Given all that info, what do you think about the soaking? Preshed activity or something else?
Does anyone else’s BP do this? If so, how long until they blue up and shed?
I was planning on feeding him tomorrow night, but I may skip a week… it depends on how long preshed usually goes for. What would you do?

[Bogertophis]

Sounds to me like you're very well-informed & doing a great job with this snake, so

Because snake mites are stealthy & it takes a while for them to multiply (which ultimately they do exponentially) I'd recommend staying vigilant just "in case". Mites can hide under snake scales, & it only takes a couple to make a colony. I know how anxious we keepers are to immediately put our new snakes into the beautiful home we just created for them, but the only thing I'd suggest is that in the future, don't do that until you're positive there's no snake mites- keep them in a bare bones set-up (warm & cool side hides, water bowl, & preferable white paper towels for substrate) for a 2-4 weeks. Not only can you more easily find mites, but if a new snake has GI (gastrointestinal) symptoms such as runny or funky stools, blood, mucus, very malodorous, etc.), you can easily miss seeing them in all those plants & substrates, & the sooner issues get treated, the better.

You might be going a bit overboard on the humidity- 80% is too drastic.

Some snakes like to soak now & then for no reason (ie. nothing wrong) so don't automatically lose sleep over this, ok? It's often a pre-shed indication.

The pink belly does normally indicate an impending shed, so I'd skip the upcoming meal, & wait for him to shed. They don't all "blue up & shed" in the same amount of time...& if nothing else, snake-keeping teaches us how to be patient. He won't starve in a week+, trust me, & there's good reasons to wait. That's what I'd do.

---Snakes appear to feel an oncoming shed before we even see any symptoms. You might offer him a meal only to have him turn it down, wasting it. Best not to re-freeze- any time that f/t prey spends at warmer temperatures, it allows bacterial growth that's not killed by freezing. It's not like meat that we thaw to eat...remember that whole prey animals have a gut-full of bacteria waiting for the right temps. to grow...yuck.

---The fact that your snake is soaking tells you that he feels the need for more hydration (thru no apparent fault of your humidity level). Again, snakes are not identical in this, any more than other animals or humans. So watch & trust your snake to know what he needs.

---And most of all, understand that both shedding & digestion requires & uses the water in a snake's body to accomplish. Some snakes can do both simultaneously with apparent ease; some manage to do both some of the time, while other times they have have trouble & either regurge the meal after eating it, or they have a bad shed from which they may also need some help to "undress". There's nothing more miserable than a snake that's literally stuck in a bad shed. Best avoided. So hold off feeding until after he sheds. Even longer than a week. Snakes do things on "snake time", not ours.

And btw, yours was an excellent post: you were very clear about all the details we need to give the best answer. If this is your first snake, I'm impressed- welcome & don't be a stranger here.

[Homebody]

Questions:
Given all that info, what do you think about the soaking? Preshed activity or something else?
Does anyone else’s BP do this? If so, how long until they blue up and shed?
I was planning on feeding him tomorrow night, but I may skip a week… it depends on how long preshed usually goes for. What would you do?

I vote pre-shed activity. I wouldn't worry about it. I would also hold off on feeding until after he sheds.

[Areed]

@Bogertophis Thank you so much for answering all my questions and more! It’s great to get confirmation as a newbie.
Yes, first snake! I had a couple leopard geckos when I was a kid that lived into my early twenties (but that was definitely luck), and I hadn’t been caretaker of a reptile for 15 years until we picked up our BP a few months ago. I’m definitely trying to “do it right” and make sure he has a good life. I felt like I did a relatively good amount of research before getting him, but somehow one of the things I found out after the fact (D’oh!) was to have a quarantine type setup even if it’s the only reptile in a collection. That makes a lot of sense for all the reasons you mentioned!

Good to know about the mites starting out just one or two at a time. We’re pretty lucky in my area (around Denver) that we have a lot of reptile and invertebrate shows. My family and I do go to some, but I’m pretty paranoid about sanitizing at the show and not touching all the things. We change clothes right away and shower off immediately after getting home. Although we’re careful I know that mites are always a possibility. We’ll remain vigilant!

As far as the current situation goes I’ll continue to monitor our BP and watch for mites anywhere. I’ll let his humidity go back into its normal range. And I’ll refrain from feeding him!

I’m glad experienced folks like yourself are on here and willing to answer questions for us new guys! It’s nice to hear some of my thoughts were on the right track. Thanks for the kind words and taking the time to write out all that info!
I’ll be around, and hopefully I’ll be reporting back soon!

All the Best

[Areed]

I vote pre-shed activity. I wouldn't worry about it. I would also hold off on feeding until after he sheds.

Thank you!

[Bogertophis]

....
I’m glad experienced folks like yourself are on here and willing to answer questions for us new guys! It’s nice to hear some of my thoughts were on the right track. Thanks for the kind words and taking the time to write out all that info!
I’ll be around, and hopefully I’ll be reporting back soon!

All the Best

All too often, people just expect a short answer to their question rather than all that reading. But I prefer to offer the reason behind what we do, because when you understand the "why" it's easier to know what to do, & to build on your knowledge as new information & new methods become known. You obviously did more good research than many do on their first time out- I love to see that, since keepers such as yourself are the future, & besides that, we hope others can learn by reading all that's posted on forums like this, even if they never get brave enough to ask, & only lurk & read the answers given to others.

And I truly hope you don't have any mites to deal with- that's a huge health set-back for a new snake, due to the stress & disruption of their home & feeding behavior. All the best...