Do they need to soak?

[Shelby]

Ok, so I was reading another thread on using deli cups as disposable water dishes. I REALLY like this idea for time saving and cleanliness. Adam tells me that it is fine that the ball pythons can't soak in them, but can anyone tell me if other boids actually need to be able to soak? I do raise humidity for shed time, so they don't need to soak to get their skin off (and if they did, I would soak them out of the cage.)

Thanks for any insight.

[elevatethis]

Seeing that ball pythons live in holes in the ground, I'd wonder how often they'd get a chance to soak, and considering that, doubting that soaking would be a neccesity for survival. Just going through the logic I guess...

Then again, soaking can be a sign of stress, and perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to give them the opportunity to communicate that to us she they ever feel the need to. I don't know, i use huge shallow waterbowls in my setup and never see them soaking.

[Shelby]

I'm talking more about other species of boid.. like red tail boas, dumerils, blood pythons.. etc.

[iceman25]

I guess if you take a species out of its natural habitat ur gonna have to provide one that is suitable for its needs. If they are less than adequate(Humidity wise)then I suppose they will need "soaking." These are just general and untested statements on my part of course.

[Shelby]

I would think that a humid hide put in during shedding time would be fine. I normally don't see my snakes in their dishes (except the anacondas, they are an exception though) but even the condas don't spend much time in the water.

[iceman25]

Interesting. I thought Condas basically live and hunt in the water. At least that's what I've gathered from watching the discovery channel

[Shelby]

Well, when I first put my granite conda in his new house, he immediately curled up in the water dish for an hour or so. I haven't seen him back in it since.. he's just curled up in the hide. Rusalka, the female, is never in her dish when I open the cage. She seems to like it well enough if I set her in it though.

[Schlyne]

I don't know if bloods and short tails acutally NEED to be able to soak, but they seem to enjoy it.

Both of my short tails can soak in their water dishes if they want to. They also tend to hang out in them when they're getting ready to go into shed as well.

I'm keeping an eye on it though, I don't want them to develop any problems from doing that. They don't have mites either.