Reptile & Amphibian Forums

how long should I let my female ball soak before it becomes dangerous and i need to remove the bowl? shes been in there for a day and a half already. what a weird snake!

If they have a place to get out and dry, then they will do that before anything bad happens. One thing you might look at is if he/she has mites. I know they will soak a long time if they have mites. If not mites are your temps too high? The soaking itself I wouldn't worry about, I would wonder WHY he/she is soaking so long.

Jason

Is she getting close to shed time? This does it occasionally, as do mites. Has she got a nice secure hide? Check these things plus the temp. If all is OK and she's not nearing shed she'll probably come out shortly. My male has laid in his water bowl for a week at a time for no apparent reason with no ill effects. Sometimes I think they just want a little soak.

Quig

only had her a couple months, no idea about shedding! its warm, not as warm as it should be, and theres no hot or cool side, just warm all over (around 75). i just put a different kind of bowl in there, its bigger and shallower than the old ones. maybe shes just a swimmin kind of snake and didnt get a chance to with the old kind of bowl? i hadnt even set the new bowl down hardly before she was all up in it and checkin it out. and she hasent moved since! this is day two

No mites. No hides, but the entire container is a hide, as its in the dark most of the time. they are definitely not pestered or stressed, ever

Sounds like maybe shes just gonna shed. does the desire to soak come before or after she turns blue? cuz shes not blue yet!

Still think you need to put a hide in there just to see if she'll take to it. And your temps need to come up. Are you using anything at all for heat? A constant 75 degrees across the board may possibly cause digestion problems.

Quig

It could very well be that she is using her water dish as a hide - they like being squished into their hides unless you have her in a very small tub where she is touching on all sides she may not feel comfortable. Also it may be warmer inside the hide 75 really isn't a good ambient temperature see if you can bump it up a bit to 80-85. What is your humidity level? Try bumping that up a bit too see if she leaves the waterdish with a higher humidity. Inoticed that all the snakes I got from Florida spent their first week with me in and out of the water dishes - they were just used to a higher humidity I guess.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

10.35.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.1 Lizard rescued from feline
0.0.0 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

this might be hard to hear, but you are going to kill your snake(s) at this pace. the best thing to do is to buy the new Complete Ball Python book from any number of sellers on the classifieds. if you can't afford that, at least get the Ball Python manual for $12.

your cage setup is terrible, temps are terrible, having no hide spots is terrible, and your "interpretation" of the animal's behavior is terrible.

"they" are indeed stressed through the roof. and cold. freezing cold. and scared.

start at square one, read one of those books, browse the sites of the forum sponsers for more husbandry details, get your ambient temps to the mid 80's, hot spot to low 90's, provide multiple dark tight hide spots, and get your snake(s) on the right path. otherwise your neglect and ignorance (lack of knowledge) is going to kill your snake. and that is NOT cool.

best of luck.
a quick link to the best Ball Python book to date

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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles