Reptile & Amphibian Forums

......JUST OUTTA NOWHERE DECIDE TO HANG OUT IN THE WATER BOWL FOR DAYS AT A TIME??? I HAVE HAD MINE FOR OVER 4 YEARS & NOW, SHE DECIDES TO GO IN THE WATER BOWL & JUST STAY THERE... I PULLED HER OUT YESTERDAY & CHANGED THE WATER & SHE WAS RIGHT BACK IN THERE IN 15 MINUTES & HAS STAYED THERE... SHE HAS BEEN IN THE WATER FOR A LITTLE LESS THAN A WEEK & AM WONDERING ABOUT THIS BEHAVIOR??

SEAN

couple things to think about
listing them

*could be goin into shed
*could be usin water bowl as a hide if there are no other places for it to go to for security
*could be a possiable paracite infestation ie mites/ticks(introducing another speciman with proper quartine time)
*could be its trying to hydrate itself

those are just a few of the most common factors that come to mind. but there are a few more that can be overlooked that i havent listed.

exactly could you give us a detailed discription of your setup?

My male did the same thing once, and it turned out he had mites!
Yuck...nasty little buggers. You might try cleaning the cage out well with a small part bleach to water solution, and getting a mite spray for your snake. Make sure you do a bit of research on which brand to use....some are better than others.

As for my snake...I was unfortunetly at school at the time and the petstores did not sell any "mite killer". I looked online and found a solution using vegetable oil (supposedly suffocates the mites). I covered most of my snake in a thin layer of oil and let him sit in my hands for about 15 minutes (I was concerned about the oil getting in his eyes and nose so I avoided covering his head with oil). I than bathed him in lukewarm water. I made sure all of the oil was gone and put him back in his freshly cleaned enclosure. I took all of the wood out and put cardboard in its place for the time being (again I was in hicksville I had few resources until I went home to the city on the weekend lol). This is a very unconventional method, but my snake had been submerged in water for 2 weeks straight and I talked to the vet who I worked with about my situation and we both agreed it was worth a try. A year later I've had no reoccurence of the mites...and the only time Cosi is in the water bowl is to get a quick drink!
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*Amy*
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