Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, I've just moved all of my snakes (3 a pair of brooksi and an albino black ratsnake) over to my home made rack. All of the tubs have alot of holes and ventalation is good, and temps are 81.4 degrees on the warm side, and 72.3 on the cool side. Well ever since I moved them over the brooksi have been soaking all the time. The ratsnake is acting the same IE spilling his water bowl every chance he gets lol. They are all eating still, but the thing was is they were soaking a few days after I put them in because they were in blue, and now that they've already shed, I've found the skin and all eye caps were good and stuff. They keep on soaking, I'm not sure what this could be caused by and if I should be worried. Thanks guys.
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-J.Hill

-You can find some plastic storage boxes in the grocery store that are “Zip Lock” brand and also “Glad” like the baggies brands that are great for cheap nest boxes and things. They are cheap. I would set a couple of them up with a hole cut in the lid, (I would just cut one corner off the lid of the square types) with damp sphagnum and one with just a small water bowl and see what the snake likes better. You could try one on the warm side and one on the cooler side perhaps. I think it’s somewhat normal behavior though. Could be just came out of brumation and smells your mice, or another potential breeder, or just normal “buttheadedness” phase. Ah, if only they could talk...

Well, they are only 06's and I did'nt brumate them this year, they are very well fed, and growing like crazy. Both the male and female are soaking, BTW the females out now and moving around. I think I'll just try and add a humidity chamber. I am planning on breeding them but they are still little but like I said growing like weeds.
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-J.Hill

Thought I would mention that I'm not breeding them this year lol in case there might have been a misunderstanding there.
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-J.Hill

Excesive soaking usually means one of two things. They are too hot or they have mites. I would check carefully for mites and make sure whatever thermometer you are using is functioning properly.

Very rarely have I seen snakes soak in place of a humid hide. Humididty is important to snakes because in dryer settings they loose a lot of moisture as they breath. Since they still breathe the smae dry air while soaking it doesn't help that problem at all.

Not to say you shouldn't give a humid hide, you should. But I don't think that it is your direct problem.

Well, no mites, and I have a new ranco thermostat and I'm using a temp gun and the temps are spot on. I can't think of anything else. The female is out as of a few hours ago, and the male is now too, I'm not sure what it was, I'll see if they are back in tomorrow, but they were soaking for like 2 days straight and I thought I'd ask.
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-J.Hill

I'm not so sure with the snakes, but I know with lizards soaking is a sign of stress and they're trying to calm down... You did mention you'd just moved them, so it could be they're just adjusting... Spot tends to do this when I've had company that wants to handle him more then he's used too... give them a couple days to settle down and don't bug them much, they'll be ok...

I agree with what the others have said also. Many times a heated room will make the air very dry, and they can tend to seek out a "wetter" environment,eg waterbowl. But if all the husbandry items previously mentioned are met, I wouldn't worry if they soaked once in a while. I they do this continuously, they can develop a fungus underneath the scales which looks like a raised whitish pimple, and underneath in between the caudal scales(belly scales) in can look brownish....this of course is not a good thing, but you find a snake in the waterbowl once in a while, just make sure it isn't excessive...............Doug
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Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!

I had quite a few snakes soak in their water bowl after eating large meals, that might be the case if you just fed them and their bellys are tight from not eating while in brumation.????
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R.Bichlers Colubrids
http://www.webspawner.com/users/rbichler/index.html

Well, like I said they've not been brumated. But I have just moved them up to fuzzies so I guess this could be it? But they are both out now, I was just worried cause like I said they were in it for about 2 days (at least when I looked, so maybe they were out at night.) Thanks for the quick replies.
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-J.Hill

I think you worrying way prematurly from the sounds of it. They soak every once in awhile. No biggie, if you notice them soaking the majority of the week over a week or two span there might be cause to start looking into it. 4 or 5 hours for a few days straight isnt really a big deal ...

Just make sure it isnt excessive but a few days isnt anything to worry about ..

You could remove the water bowls for a few days, they don't have to have them 24-7, but it doesn't sound unusual,some of my young snakes soak for days sometimes, others never do.
Todd Hughes