My ball python?

Question

i just fed my juvenile, i bought him from a breeder in june and he hatched shortly before, ball python a fresh killed mouse last night. since then he has been laying in his water bowl, is this a sign of mites? i hope not. i fed my cali king snake at the same time with a mouse from the same store and he just seems to be in his hide, so i'm not thinking it's mites. can i get a few opinions from people as to what might be the cause of my python soaking?

Answer 1

There could be MANY reasons for your pet to be laying in its water bowl.  1st, could very well be mites, the best thing to do, is check him / her thoroughly!!!! mites like to get around the sensitive tissues around the eye's, and if you have a light colored bowl, when you lift your pet out of its water bowl, you'll see black "flecks" also indicating mites (that have drowned)

He could also be visiting the water bowl because of excessive heat, check the cages temps via a thermometer to know its true temps, for a ball, youll need in the lower to mid 80's as an ambient temp with a basking spot NO WARMER then 94, that should be perfect conditions.

Another reason could be shedding. If your cage is slightly dryer then normal, it could be very easily nearing a shed phase and trying to raise its bodies moisture content, young snakes shed more frequently then older ones, so you may notice this behavior more often.  

If it is mites, remember, mites spread VERY EASILY to the rest of your collection (your california king) although you purchased your food items from the smae store meens nothing at all, and mites typically dont travel via rodents unless the rodents were in a cage with an ifected reptile previously.  Snakes get a different type of mite then mammal do, "snake mites" are known to just get on reptiles, snakes in particular, so good luck and hope this helps.  there are many many great products to safely get rid of mites, go to your local pet shop to check them out if need be.

Good luck and hope this helps

Answer 2

i dont have a snake but my skink goes into his water bowl when he is getting rid of his old skin after he has grown. and since your snake is so young hes gonna grow pretty fast and was probably soaking to get some excess skin off.

Answer 3

Snakes like to soak, and usually they do this alot when they're getting ready to go into blue (just before shedding.) Just keep an eye on him for the next day or two, and see if he makes his way out of the water dish. It's either that, or that is just the spot he chose to rest after finishing his meal.

Answer 4

Could be about to shed. (loosening skin by soaking)

Could be thermo-regulating (cooling down)

It's perfectly normal. They sometimes prefer to defecate in the water as well.

I'm really surprised that it ate. It usually takes from 2 weeks to a month for them to start eating after they hatch, and they sometimes require an assist feeding.

I've got no problem with people killing their own mice, I hate rodents anyways.

Answer 5

they soak for shedding...they soak if they are having problems making poo...they soak sometimes if they have mites...they soak sometimes just because.

you can check for mites a few ways...if the water bowl is light colored...white or yellow...if there are black dots in the water bowl take your fingernail and squish the balck dot...if it smears blood then its mites.  if your snake has mites email me and i will let you know what i did to get rid of them when we had a collection of 24 snakes...we brought them (mites) home from a pet shop after we handled snakes there.

Answer 6

Pythons commonly soak themselfs when they are goign to shed. I would say dont feed it live mice until its an adult though. Get pinkies( frozen, hairless baby mice that are dead) they like them but make sure you thaw them.