Soaking

[Mel]

Hi all,

Can anyone give me suggestions as to why an apparently healthy costal carpet python would spend most of the time soaking in his water bowl? He is not overweight, hasn't eaten recently and we can find no trace of mites either in the water or on the animal. His cage is only at 28 degrees so I can't imagine he would be getting too hot. He is only a recent acquisition and has come from Kempsey NSW to Gold Coast QLD.

Can anyone offer any ideas?

Mel x

 

[westhamsc]

getting ready to shed? but my moneys on mites

 

[Mel]

Yeah...my money is on mites too...but I'll be damned if I can see any of the little buggers. He's quarantined in a single cage in a different room to the rest of my collection...but I was just wondering if there is any other reason he may be doing it.

Mel x

 

[womas4me]

Mel, we have stimi's and bhp's that soak for no apparent reason. They are mite free and not due to shed but just seem to enjoy lying around in the water. Worried us at first but having no ill effects on snakes so we just leave them to it. Ours are at around 28-30 degrees too so I don't think they are uncomfortable with the temperature. I think they used to be sea snakes in their former lives!

 

[sxereturn]

Yep, some coastals really love a swim...

 

[Farkurnell]

Can anyone give me suggestions as to why an apparently healthy costal carpet python would spend most of the time soaking in his water bowl?

Because he likes to.

 

[lutzd]

Interesting point, Mel. My olive also likes to soak, which worried me too, as I thought they like higher temps, coming from uip north. He had his whole body immersed, with only his nostrils above water! Same thing - I couldn't spot any sign of mites either, although not altogether familiar with what to look for! Those in the know : what should we see in the water bowl if there are mites? I'm assuming little black dots???

I removed the water bowl and sprayed the enclosure with Top Of Descent and replaced the water bowl the next morning. So far, he hasn't returned to soaking, but I'm keeping an eye on him all the same.

 

[africancichlidau]

Some snakes will do it just for the hell of it, there doesn't HAVE to be something wrong. The only other thing I can think of is that it's a file snake in disguise

 

[Slateman]

My olive did same think 4 days ago. spent 2 days mainly in water. Today morning he have milky eyes and I am glad to see that. Mabe your coastal will shed soon.

 

[Guest]

my diamonds love a good swim

 

[Fuscus]

Contray to their name, my water pythons rarely soak, I've only seen one immerssion and evidence of one other.

 

[cwarren72]

Same here Mel, Two of my Coastals ( One From Sxereturn and my boy) often will soak for hours on end for no reason what so ever. Now when I say Hours on end I am talking sometims up to 12 hours. I know they don't have mites and they do it before and sometimes after sloughing and the tep in cages is fine. As Sxeretur can tell you as well that my snakes are in good nic especially my sexy sexy boy, So it just seems to be a thing they like to do. I had a breeder tell me years ago that he believed that is was because they are like us in that they just get tired sometimes and soak to relax and take a load off, As the saying goes. Lol don't know if he had any scientific proof but it is a nice thought that they are like us.

 

[Robert]

My coastel will do the same Mel he is 5ft and loves to curl up in the water bowl especially the last month or so.
If there is no sign of mites or shed I'm sure he is just loving a good old bath.Might be a bit warmer up here maybe.
Probably a good idea to keep an eye on him for a while just for peice of mind though.

 

[Adam]

Don't worry. Mites look like fleas lutzd,once I came out to see all these little red dots on my coastal,so I got her out and ran my hand down her body and it turned red with blood,the little buggers were like a mozzie that has feasted all night!! This was my first case of mites about a year ago and thankfully I haven't seen any since I cleaned up my whole collection.The best spot to look is in the fold of skin under the chin(say out loud and it ryhmes).Like I said they look alot like fleas.Back to the soaking, I haven't had any mites in my collection for nearly a year but some of my snakes ie. childrens,Diamonds,Olives and Coastals will sometimes spend 2 or 3 days in the water (Striker especially female Caostal) but like Fuscus said about waters,mine have only soaked once or twice for a couple of hours and I've had them for a year.So just have a close look under the chin to alleviate any worry and just let him or her kick back in the water,maybe light a candle and put on some soft music they really like that.

 

[lutzd]

Thanks Adam! The imagery of the candles and soft music is funny! Especially as my other half loves a soak in the tub in that environment! I'll have to start calling her "my little python!".

So.... anyway, back to the thread..... I'd imagine that you would see some dead mites in the bottom of the water bowl?? What colour are they? I'd imagine black??

 

[Adam]

No actually they float and are usually black.Depends how bad the infestation is sometimes if there is only a few mites they will migrate to the tip of the snakes nose while it is in the water so none of them get drowned,so get a torch and have a close look at the snakes nose when it is soaking(this is hard to do without scaring the snake into the water so approach slow and don't just shine the torch straight at the snakes head,we don't like it neither do they,so bring it up slowly from the bottom of the water dish) also look in the snakes heat pits as this is a good hidey hole that actually holds an air bubble when the snake is under water and the mite can breath there for quite a while sneaky little buggers.

 

[Ricko]

i got my pair of diamonds off jake on saturday and soaked them and sprayed them before they went into tank and there were no signs of mite's anywhere yet i go in there tonight after dropping off my coastal to stockeh he was soaking and has been for 2 hours now. but no mite to be found. guess he wanted a swim lol.

rick