New Odd Behavior for my BP

[DarknessToGold]

My BP is eating well and on time, typically hides all day like she is supposed to, and is in healthy weight and body condition. She does a nightly exploration of her tank and then goes back to hide. However, in the last 3 days she has been soaking a lot. Concerned, I triple checked my temps with a heat gun (everything was spot on). After that, I became concerned about mites. I did a deep clean of her tank, removing and sanitizing everything and dumping all of the substrate. I had just done this a couple of days before she started soaking as well. I'm rather obsessive about keeping the snake habitats clean and healthy. She is on paper towels at the moment so that I could see if any mites appeared (none so far). We took a magnifier and looked over her entire body, investigated any flecks in the water (all little flecks of substrate), and put down paper towels to see if there were any that we missed. We saw absolutely no evidence of any mites on her, in her water bowl, or anywhere in her habitat or the paper towels. I’ve messaged several people with a lot of BP experience and have gotten various responses ranging from checking her heat (done), checking for mites (done and so far no signs but we keep watching), and that some soak when getting ready to shed and some don’t. It has been about 5 weeks since she last shed. So, one of the awesome people helping me recommended this forum and here I am. Is there anything that I am missing here? Her behavior change has me quite concerned.

Husbandry information:

1. Temps: Ambient: 82, Hot spot: 92, Cool Spot: 80
2. Humidity: 60 (it was 65-70 until I changed substrate), humid hide 75
3. Enclosure: modified 40g breeder, 3 sides blacked out with foam board and top modified to maintain heat and humidity quite successfully
4. Heat source: under tank heaters regulated by Herpstat themostat
5. Temps measured using probed thermometers: 1 beside the hot side thermostat probe to double check temps, one beside the cool side thermostat probes to double check temps, two to check ambient temps. Humidity measured by digital hydrometer with probe. All cords are hidden under hanging plants to minimize her contact with the cords.
6. Normally 2 (one warm side, one cool side), an extra one during a shed, and lots of clutter (fake plants). She seems content with her hides and clutter.
7. I usually use coconut fiber but she is currently on paper towels
8. Food: 1 medium rat every 14 days as recommended by her breeder

[sattva]

Wow! Sounds like your doing everything right... I will let the experts pick it apart... You can take comfort in the fact that there maybe no reason; except that maybe she just feels like a soak!

[macandchz]

all i can think of she could possibly be dehydrated. did you spritz her on a regular basis when she was on the coconut fiber?

[Tsubaki]

Does she have a hide that's around the same temperature as the waterbowl? She might find the temperature of the bowl appealing and use it as a hide. Try putting the waterbowl in a vastly different temperature zone and add some hides.

[Aaron_S]

You're doing a great job thus far.

I would chalk it up to the snake having a preference to the water bowl. Just happens sometimes. Maybe it's going through another shed cycle.

It is closing in on breeding season so if it's an adult female there's a chance she's cooling herself. No need to worry. She'll just be like this for a bit.

[Albert Clark]

Sounds like you have covered the bases. Congrats! They all have their own temperaments and personalities so at any given moment they may prefer one zone over the other. Part for the course in thermoregulating. Good that you have her/ him on paper towels. What I would do if you're still suspicious of a mite outbreak is to examine the animal closeup with a flashlight paying special attention to the areas of the eyes, head, upper and lower jaws. The mites hide in between scales so they are easy to miss. Especially if it's the early stage of an outbreak. Also another strategy is to moisten a white or light colored towel and allow the snake to crawl through the towel. Sometimes mites will adhere to and be caught in the towel. Just be very observant. Good luck.

[DarknessToGold]

Thank you so much for your responses, everyone! I was so concerned with the issue and detailing my husbandry that I neglected to share that she is a 3-year-old female. I purchased her as an adult from a breeder at Repticon. He was getting out of BPs and her temperament is fantastic.

I did not spritz her on the cocoa fiber as I had been told it wasn't something that I needed to do as long as she was drinking and her humidity was good. If I need to in the future I will. She is a large female and if I need to add another hide I will have to downsize her water bowl. As she is still in soaking mode is that advisable to do at the moment? I have extra hides if I need to add another and a smaller water bowl.

When I get home I will examine her more closely with the flashlight. She is a curious snake so I have no doubt that I can get her to crawl through the towel as well. When I have her out she is quite fond of checking places out.

[DarknessToGold]

Flashlight and towell = still no mites seen.

However, for the very first time she struck at my husband because she wasn't fond of the flashlight experience. She's back in her home relaxing after her stressful experience.

[Albert Clark]

Oh! Yes. That can happen with the light directly into their eyes. I should have clarified that you use the flashlight as a closeup but avoid shining the light directly into her eyes. My fault, and you're not alone with that happening. Sorry!

[SerpentineDream]

Once you have determined that she definitely doesn't have mites, I think you can chalk it up to shedding, thermoregulation (though your numbers are great and I'm not concerned that she's overheated) and / or just a particular fondness for her water bowl. If she ignores her humid hide in favor of the water bowl, it's probably one of the latter two.

Aaron's idea that she could be cooling herself in preparation for breeding season is something I wouldn't have thought of, but that's an intriguing possibility. At 3 she is a young adult.

A couple of my snakes--one of my Russians and one of my black milks--just loooooove their water bowls. After initially worrying and ruling out more sinister causes, I finally decided it one of their individual quirks.

[DarknessToGold]

She's making herself a nice, cozy spa experience. She's managed to get some of her hanging foliage to drape into the water. I'm half-wondering if I need to start playing her spa music and having some essential oils in the room. Kidding about that, obviously, but all of your comments are putting me a little at ease. When I called the vet they didn't seem concerned. I'll keep a close eye on her and watch for any changes for sure. She is scheduled to eat on Sunday so I'll see how her appetite is. I'm glad I posted here. If anyone else has any thoughts I would be glad to hear them. Thank you so much!

[DarknessToGold]

Originally Posted by Albert Clark

Oh! Yes. That can happen with the light directly into their eyes. I should have clarified that you use the flashlight as a closeup but avoid shining the light directly into her eyes. My fault, and you're not alone with that happening. Sorry!

No worries. I didn't think about it either, to be honest. She simply informed us of her opinion on the situation so we'll know for the future.

[DarknessToGold]

Guess whose eyes are going cloudy and her skin dull? It looks like we are in the shedding process.

[Albert Clark]

Originally Posted by DarknessToGold

Guess whose eyes are going cloudy and her skin dull? It looks like we are in the shedding process.

Nice! What a relief.

[DarknessToGold]

Yes, very much so! I can't tell you how stressed this situation was making me. I appreciate all of the help and suggestions that I got here. I do believe I'll stick around this forum as it is helpful and a nice community.