Soaking for a week

[joebagadohnut]

Hey all,

For 8 days now, my ball has been soaking every night. At about 10 pm, he comes out of his hides and goes into his water dish. When I wake up in the morning, I find him there still. I am not sure if he stays soaking all night,
but it would appear that way.

I have only had him for for a few months, and he is about 4 years old. I have not had him during one of his sheds, so I don't know if this is normal for him or anything.

I check him every day, and he has not had signs of a pink belly or blue eyes or anything...it's very bizarre.
Also, he is refusing to eat.

I have checked him for mites and everything, but I don't think that is a posibility.

Long story short, is it normal for a ball to soak for over a week without showing signs of an upcoming shed like
the belly or eyes?

thanks.

Jeremy.

[joebagadohnut]

Sorry, I forgot to add that my husbandry is almost ideal, and I have increased the humidity to around 75% because I think he is going to shed.

Also, he has NEVER been in his water dish in the last few months I have had him, and now he is in it every night!
Jeremy.

[Vengeance]

Check the water for mites once he gets out of his water dish. You may not be able to see them on your Ball but the mites drown when your snake is soaking. So at the bottom of the dish you will see black little specs, if you push on one it will break and blood will come out. That will mean you have mites and will need to treat it accordingly.

[joebagadohnut]

Are mites even a possibility if he has never shown signs, I have no other reptiles, and I have not come in contact with any other reptiles in months.?

How do snakes GET mites in the first place?
Jeremy

[pinoiballer01]

You might also want to check for some ticks that u might have miss on your bp. They are hard to see because they look like regular scales. By the way what kind of thermometer are you using? stick on thermometers dont work because thats what i used to have and they suck. it would say 80 but its really over 100 so u might want to check that.

[Vengeance]

But he IS showing signs of mites, soaking for 8 days straight is an indicator that he has mites. It isn't 100% correct all the time but one of the indicators that a snake has mites is constant soaking. It relives the itching as well as kills the mites on him.

Where did he get mites? My assumption would be he has had them since you got him and only now has it become so irritating that he is soaking.

I'm not saying 100% for sure that you have mites, maybe he just likes to soak but when I got my Ball Python he was soaking, I checked him over and was positive he didn't have mites. I checked his water and assumed the stuff in his water was substrate but apon closer inspection I found out it was mites. So I sprayed him down with NIX, sprayed the entire cage with nix, and all the area around the cage. After his treatment he never soaked again.

[Jeff_Favelle]

What's the EXACT temperatures of your cage?

[joebagadohnut]

Using TWO digital thermometers, the hot side ranges from 89-92, and the cold side is around 79-81.

When he isn't soaking at night, he is usually at the warm end. When he is done soaking, he goes usually to the cold end.


How long would a snake soak if he was just shedding soon?

[mykee]

You say your husbandry is "ideal" and you also say that there is no way that your snake has mites/ticks. My guess is that either one or the other is incorrect. Can you describe your husbandry, temps, size of enclosure, etc. so that we might be able to troubleshoot your snakes conditions.

[BoidKeeper]

They don't always soak when it's shedding time anyway. If you've had him for a long time in the same cage and you are sure of your temps then I would continue to expect mites. You can very easily take them home from a pet shop on your hands of clothing or even on your shows. Check the bowel for mites when he's not in there.
Cheers,
Trevor

[joebagadohnut]

With UTHs, Hot side is 89-92; cold side is 79-82; Humidity is usually around 50-60 and no lower.
It is a 40 gallon with a screen top that I have covered partially to keep moisture in.
I have had him for a few months, and his feeding has been great as well as his activity levels and poop.
Like I said, he has never been in his water dish before this.
He doesn't soak during the day, just as of nighttime.

I haven't come in contact with other reptiles in months.
I clean the tank once every 2 weeks and change his water every day.
Oh, and I use outdoor carpeting as substrate

Other than that, let me know if you need any more info

[Jayson]

You dont need to be in contact with other reptiles to bring home mites. If you are in a place that has mites you could pick them up off of anything. Reptile store which deal with alot of wc animals are very bad for this.
A couple of years ago i stopped buying anything from my local reptile shop and i have never had mites since. Before that they were reoccuring atleast a couple times a year.

[marisa]

When he comes out of his water dish, simply look in the water for dead mites. They will be black/reddish specks. Pretty easy to see off the snake if you are specifically looking for them. It's harder to see them on snakes, especially balls since they have lots of black and speckles anyway.

He may just be shedding but mine never soak that much.


Marisa

[Jeff_Favelle]

Temps are good. Could be either mites, or lack of a "proper" hide. That is, Ball Pythons will choose an ideal hide over an ideal temperature. Almost ALWAYS.

[joebagadohnut]

I FOUND MITES!
thanx for all the information guys. I came home from work and saw some in my water....Then upon closer examination, I saw one on his head.
I just did the NIX treatment found on the kingsnake forum and am hoping that will solve the problem!
Jeremy.

[nita]

As for wondering how he got them, I had 3 snakes that I had for over a year and never showed any signs of mites, I noticed that my male was starting to soak regularly and then one of the females had a bad shed wich had not happened before, sure enough they had mites, so did the other female when I checked her!! Never found any on my other snakes but I treated everyone and now as a precaution every snake coming into my house is treated with nix and if I take any of them out to a show or reptile meeting etc where they will be exposed to other animals I will spray them with nix solution when we get home, do not want to end up with all 15 of my snakes with mites and none of mine seemed at all stressed by being treated with nix, none stopped eating or anything so I'll take nixing to parasites any day!

[joebagadohnut]

That is definately good to know!

I'm gonna keep my spray bottle on hand and use it as a precaution whenever necessary.

thanx.
Jeremy.