Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone! My apalachicola kingsnake is behaving a little unusually and I wanted to see if the behavior sounds familiar or worrisome to anyone.

Normally when I go to turn on his heat lamp in the morning, he's inside his hide rock, except for a few instances when he's already been out and moving about a while because he's (apparently) hungry. The past two mornings, however, I've found him soaking in his water bowl. Yesterday morning he was almost completely submerged, with only the very tip of his nose above water to allow breathing. I actually panicked a bit and pulled him out, but he seemed fine and after warming up in my hands for a few minutes he seemed as alert and healthy as ever. This morning I found him there again, though this time his head was well out of the water. His pupils look to be narrowed a bit more than usual, but he's still responsive to my presence nearby, though he's a bit sluggish about turning his head to follow if I move to another side.

Possibly relevant details:
-He is about 9 months old.
-He eats weekly, presently consuming 2-3 fuzzies each time, though he has consumed one small-ish adult mouse but had great difficulty doing so.
-His terrarium has a temperature gradient of about 85 degrees on a shelf near the heat lamp and cools down to about 75 degrees at the opposite end, possibly cooler under his hide rock.
-He is not exhibiting any signs of imminent shedding.
-No external signs of any illness, just this unusual behavior.
-When his light goes on in the morning and when I've been finding him like this is about 6:45am. The room he's in has minimal natural light and keeps a relatively steady temperature, but can cool down to as low as 65 degrees at night.

I may be showing great concern over nothing, but this is my first snake and in these six months or so that I've had him I've never seen this behavior. Thanks in advance for any advice anyone can offer!

Update: Thinking back, he's actually probably older than 9 months, though I can't be certain. I don't actually remember being told how old he was when I got him 7 months ago, but considering his rate of growth I think I should probably place his age closer to 1 year.

several possible reasons to soak in the water bowl:
-it is too hot in the enclosure. do not rely exclusively on pet store stick up thermometers.
-it is too dry for him in there. make a little humidity box out of a disposable deli cup or disposable food storage tub. soak peat/sphagnum moss in water, then wring it out. fluff it up and put on the cool side of the enclosure. be sure to change out the material regularly.
-it does not have enough hide spots. try a number of different things. be sure there are enough hide spots in the cool, middle and warm areas.
- check for parasites. any animal can have them. he might be trying to soak his cloaca for relief (something internal) or he may have mites.

just a few ideas to approach.
best of luck
daveb

The garter snake I used to have did that same thing for a while after his 1st shed with me. Every morning I woke up and found him in the water and I was a little worried, but then I stopped and didn't take him out of the water anymore because if I wasn't there, he would have to get out the water himself. He must know what he is doing.

Check for parasites but I wouldn't be too worried unless he stops feeding.

Clean his substrate, I have a neonate that soaks if I haven't been as attentive to her substrate as she thinks I should be.
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3.6 L. getula californiae
1.1 L. getula nigrita
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus
1.0 Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi
1.0 Boa constrictor constrictor (suriname, fostering/rescue)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata

Many snakes soak just because they like the water.

If he doesn't have mites and the rest of the cage is set up with the correct temps and hides this is perfectly normal.

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone!

When I got home last night I found that he'd just recently done his business, so I went ahead and changed out his substrate and rearranged where his favorite hide rock and water basin are while I was at it. This morning it looks like he's back to spending the nights in the hide rock. If he ends up back in the water basin, I'll see about checking him for parasites. Thanks again!