Bath time!

[Trollbie]

For Penelope. She hasn't shed yet, so I figured a bath can't hurt.

But, how do I do it? I assume using tap water is not good so I bought a gallon of purified drinking water at safeway. What do you guys do?

How long do I leave her there?

[youngster]

Why would tap water hurt her? Snakes have been around for many many years, I don't think a little tap water is going to do anything.

[Trollbie]

Because tap water has chlorine and crap. And the water here where I live is especially full of crap

[Trollbie]

I have no clue lol I just don't feel safe bathing her in something I wouldn't give her to drink, ya know?

[Brently]

Well I bathe my boa in tap water. There may be a lot of crap in the water but so long as your snake is not drinking it all the time I would say it should be fine. I don't offer tap water to drink but for a bath I think it is okay.

[Trollbie]

Oh I guess I read it on Pet-Snakes.com

There are a few things you should be careful to avoid when bathing a snake:

1. Water temperature overly hot or cold – Snakes are extremely sensitive to temperatures. Make the water temperature between 100 and 108 Fahrenheit
2. Chlorinated water – It will irritate a snakes skin which will lead to other problems.
3. Leaving the snake unsupervised while it is bathing – In the past I’ve left a snake unsupervised for all of 30 seconds in it’s bath only to find it crawling all over the shower rod. Still don’t know how it got up there but had I been any later it probably would have gotten into a vent.
4. Bathing them too often – While giving a snake a bath every now and then is good for them excessive bathing is bad. It can cause scale rot, respiratory infection, and even cause difficulty shedding due to it leeching the natural chemicals out of the snake which help the process.

[exwizard]

For Penelope. She hasn't shed yet, so I figured a bath can't hurt.

But, how do I do it? I assume using tap water is not good so I bought a gallon of purified drinking water at safeway. What do you guys do?

How long do I leave her there?I would soak her about an hour in about a 1" depth of warm water. This is where that extra empty tub comes in handy.

[Strutter769]

I've only given Lucy a bath. I usually fill the tub a good few inches, using tap water, just warm to the touch. Remember, your body temp is usually about 99°. So 100-108° should just feel slightly warm to you. Remember it's only supposed to be up to 10° higher than hour body temp.

I also use tap water for everything, but after having read this, my little ones will get only distilled moving forward. Learn somethin' new every day!

[Trollbie]

Good thing I bought 2 plastic tubs just for this purpose! :D

Well I guess I'm gonna put Penelope in tap... But I may end up boiling it first. I'll definitely feel more comfortable putting baby Zeus in purified though...

I guess if I get enough okays from experienced peoples, I'll stop worrying about it.

[Trollbie]

I would soak her about an hour in about a 1" depth of warm water. This is where that extra empty tub comes in handy.


Holy poopies though, an hour? The water is going to get cold in like 15-20 min :O_o:

[exwizard]

Im sorry, my extra tub is in a heated rack, housing some of my snakes. In the pic below, the second tub from the bottom is the empty spare I use for this purpose. Im just relating my experience with Ramón and what it took to get his stuck shed "helmet" off. An hour may not be necessary for you. Try 10-15 minutes and see if that works and if thats not long enough, reheat the water and go another 10-15 minutes and so on.

[Trollbie]

Im sorry, my extra tub is in a heated rack, housing some of my snakes. In the pic below, the second tub from the bottom is the empty spare I use for this purpose. Im just relating my experience with Ramón and what it took to get his stuck shed "helmet" off. An hour may not be necessary for you. Try 10-15 minutes and see if that works and if thats not long enough, reheat the water and go another 10-15 minutes and so on.

How will I know if it's enough or not?

[exwizard]

For Penelope. She hasn't shed yet, so I figured a bath can't hurt.

But, how do I do it? I assume using tap water is not good so I bought a gallon of purified drinking water at safeway. What do you guys do?

How long do I leave her there?

Ok, I just went back and reread this. Youre not trying to get rid of stuck shed. You just want to give her a good soaking. If thats all you want to do then I would go with 10-15 minutes or until the water is too cold to continue. Sorry for the misread.

[Trollbie]

Ok, I just went back and reread this. Youre not trying to get rid of stuck shed. You just want to give her a good soaking. If thats all you want to do then I would go with 10-15 minutes or until the water is too cold to continue. Sorry for the misread.

lol it's all good! For a sec I thought that I'm supposed to expect her to shed in the bath haha

[exwizard]

Yeah like I said, sorry about that. Youll be fine with a good 10-15 minute soaking in warm water. Like you said, "I figured a bath can't hurt". Go with it. :)

[Trollbie]

Ok now I'm not sure if I should give her one just yet. She finally came out of her hide. She's been there for a week and a half, and only came out like once to explore for a minute after the car ride from spring break.

She's now in her hot spot hide so she could just be cold, but should I wait and see till tomorrow before I bathe her?

[Gungirl]

Just leave her be and let her do her thing. Messing with her and fussing over her will only stress her out.

[Trollbie]

Just leave her be and let her do her thing. Messing with her and fussing over her will only stress her out.


Ok. I just wasn't sure about the humidity since there was such a huge difference between the 2 hygros I had in there. I thought a bath wouldn't hurt just in case the humidity wasn't high enough. The lowest reading was 50%, which for her is perfect when she's not in a shed, but it doesn't give her the extra humidity to help with the shed.

I guess I will see.

[Aaron_S]

Why does a bath matter? They aren't dogs.

Raise the humidity in the enclosure. Mist it, larger water dish, dump some water out of the water dish, humid hide. Whatever works for you. She'll do better in a consistent higher humidity enclosure than just a simple bath.

[Trollbie]

Why does a bath matter? They aren't dogs.

Raise the humidity in the enclosure. Mist it, larger water dish, dump some water out of the water dish, humid hide. Whatever works for you. She'll do better in a consistent higher humidity enclosure than just a simple bath.

Well I'm not sure what the humidity is since my hygros are reading 20% different from each other so I'm currently salt testing them. And I have been misting twice a day.

[Lankyrob]

I have never bathed any of my snakes, even those needing high humidity, mainly they just need proper husbandry and peace and quiet in order to shed successfully.

[shaunyboy]

if she hasn't attempted to shed on her own,i would leave her to do it in her own time

imo,bathing is only used for retained sheds

re baths
i use tap water

i also check the snakes body temperature with a lazer temperature gun

i then make the bath water the exact SAME temperature as the snake

cheers shaun

[geckodog]

Just don't go over 20 min, or he might get frightened and feel enclosed

[Trollbie]

She shed during the night! :D In one piece and no stuck sheds :)