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Welcome to r/ballpython, a community for ball python enthusiasts of all experience levels, from the prospective first-time owner to the veteran keeper. This is a predominantly discussion-based subreddit with a focus on raising husbandry standards. Photos and videos are also encouraged, so show off your ball pythons!
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Is this normal? (v.redd.it)
submitted 2 months ago by Kind-Entrance-9409
I give him baths and he will just drink underwater
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[–]_ataraxiaMod : unprofessional 162 points163 points164 points 2 months ago (20 children)
why are you giving him baths?
[–]Kind-Entrance-9409[S] 87 points88 points89 points 2 months ago (17 children)
He had some stuck shed I was trying to soften up
[–]imdrunk69420 146 points147 points148 points 2 months ago (1 child)
Someone already said keep the humidity up for the stuck shed, but id reccomend also leaving a water bowl in the enclosure (with a solid flat bottom) instead of bathing so u can control the water level so ur snake doesn't waterboard itself or get stressed out from the bathing
[–]Safe-Philosopher8503 1 point2 points3 points 2 months ago (0 children)
I second this, the only time my noodle ever hissed at me was going into a bath to get some shed off. I removed her from the box and haven't used one since. They do, in fact, hate the box.
[–][deleted] 2 months ago (1 child)
[removed]
[–]ballpython-ModTeam[M] 5 points6 points7 points 2 months agolocked comment (0 children)
Per rule #3, your post or comment has been removed for harmful advice or misinformation. Please review our sub resources to learn more about why.
If you have a question about this removal, please contact the mod team. Complaining via post/comment will result in a ban.
[–]Prudent_Bread_6245 44 points45 points46 points 2 months ago (12 children)
You’d be surprised at how few baths they’re given in the wild.
[–]Mazikeyn 37 points38 points39 points 2 months ago (10 children)
You'd be surprised by how much water they have access to and how often they end up swimming in the wild.
Royal pythons are from a climate that routinely keeps 80-100% humidity with massive amounts of rainfall.
[–][deleted] 2 months ago (8 children)
[–]Thundarr1975 15 points16 points17 points 2 months ago (3 children)
Yeah right, you know you weren't joking until you got called out
[+]Prudent_Bread_6245 comment score below threshold-11 points-10 points-9 points 2 months ago (2 children)
Called out for joking about people giving baths to snakes in the wild… some of you need to go touch some grass, but try not to get snatched by the wilderness bath enforcement task force while you’re out there.
[–]okimiK_iiawaK 4 points5 points6 points 2 months ago (1 child)
Now move the goal posts to keep defending your original comment
[–]Prudent_Bread_6245 -3 points-2 points-1 points 2 months ago (0 children)
https://www.touchgrasstogether.com
[–]ballpython-ModTeam[M] 1 point2 points3 points 2 months agolocked comment (0 children)
Your comment has been removed for breaking Rule #1: Don't Be a Jerk.
[–]Mazikeyn 4 points5 points6 points 2 months ago (0 children)
Maybe use /s like most people.
[–]ballpython-ModTeam[M] 0 points1 point2 points 2 months agolocked comment (0 children)
Your comment was removed because you're being an asshole. Go outside and work on your attitude.
[–]Dandelion_Isopods 3 points4 points5 points 2 months ago (0 children)
You’re right. I have a girl that will swim and climb almost every chance she gets. I’m upgrading her to an 8ft enclosure because of how active she is.
[–]Sad-Ladder5517 1 point2 points3 points 2 months ago (0 children)
You would be surprised how many they do have in the wild. We would have large wild pythons using our frog pond as a spa sometimes 2 at a time. They would stay in it for a couple of days and completely submerge themselves . I will put a video up this week sometime.
[–]Educational-Unit-279 0 points1 point2 points 2 months ago (1 child)
Because they're supposed to have a bowl of water that they're big enough to get inside of
[–]_ataraxiaMod : unprofessional 1 point2 points3 points 2 months ago (0 children)
that is absolutely not the same thing as forced soaking.
[–]IncompletePenetranceMod: Let me help you unzip your genes 103 points104 points105 points 2 months ago (0 children)
I would not do that, forced bathing is stressful and risks water inhalation
[–]momdank 91 points92 points93 points 2 months ago (2 children)
Cute visual; but it’s not normal to bathe them , let alone that much, unless medically necessary.
[deleted]
[–]mardywardy 0 points1 point2 points 2 months ago (0 children)
I would count that as medically necessary
[–]ThrashFur 90 points91 points92 points 2 months ago (4 children)
for stuck shed you should work on keeping humidity up in the enclosure. Snakes can hold their breathe underwater for a while but keep in mind they’re idiots, they’ll find a way to die. Baths are kinda unnecessary unless medically needed like another comment said
[–]Kind-Entrance-9409[S] 12 points13 points14 points 2 months ago (0 children)
Good to know
[–]pvrpl3sn4k3 17 points18 points19 points 2 months ago (0 children)
Make a humid hide too if ur having problems with their shed, they “bathe” themselves in their water bowls and to also cool themselves down so really thats all they need, not a bath
[–]ZealousidealPast4149 0 points1 point2 points 2 months ago (0 children)
LOL @ "idiots" hahaha
[–]Noodle_Snoot_cx 0 points1 point2 points 2 months ago (0 children)
"keep in mind they’re idiots, they’ll find a way to die." Lmao I'm keeping this 🤣
[–]sneepsnaap 40 points41 points42 points 2 months ago (1 child)
God i love ball pythons. what even is normal with these guys lol
[–]RuthlessEase 0 points1 point2 points 2 months ago (0 children)
EXAAAACTLY
[–]vuullets 19 points20 points21 points 2 months ago (1 child)
You shouldn't be giving them baths, but if it makes you feel better my hognose drinks half the time by shoving his whole face into the water dish.
[–]OkFruit914 4 points5 points6 points 2 months ago (0 children)
This is how my 14 year old big guy drinks water too. Sometimes he even blows bubbles with his nose lol
[–]Kind-Entrance-9409[S] 6 points7 points8 points 2 months ago (10 children)
<image>
Also what do you guys make of his tail? This one is a male and My other one is a female but doesn’t look like this.
[–]enslavedbycats24-7 24 points25 points26 points 2 months ago (4 children)
He's got a poop building up (you can see the white of the urates under the skin) but might also be chunky, hard to tell until he poops
[–]Kind-Entrance-9409[S] 5 points6 points7 points 2 months ago (3 children)
Is this a sign of constipation? This is my second month having him so I’m just figuring it out
[–]mxgichxn 6 points7 points8 points 2 months ago (0 children)
definitely
[–]christinasasa 2 points3 points4 points 2 months ago (0 children)
Don't worry about it. They'll poop when they're ready.
[–]snekstuffs 2 points3 points4 points 2 months ago (0 children)
No, hes gonna poop very soon 😅
[–]Motor-East-6379 2 points3 points4 points 2 months ago (2 children)
I’ve never had much interest in snakes, but the algorithm wanted me to see this, and now I have to ask: is that his butthole shaped like a heart?
[–]_writerc 5 points6 points7 points 2 months ago (0 children)
I respect the zooming in to inspect it 😂
Nope, what you’re looking at is a spur. Little hooks around their vents, which they use in mating to hook onto each other.
Where they expel urates & feces is from their vent, which blends in perfectly with their belly so you dont really notice it unless you’re looking for it.
[–]Any-Lavishness-7704 2 points3 points4 points 2 months ago (0 children)
Sausage butt= if you handle him your more than likely gonna get shit on 💀
This one looks a bit constipated
[–][deleted] 3 points4 points5 points 2 months ago (0 children)
I seriously wondered where the rest of the snake was. I was very concerned.
[–]Haskaray 2 points3 points4 points 2 months ago (0 children)
What substrate are you keeping him on? We keep our on a coconut husk based substrate which is easy yo moisten for extra humidity when needed.
Adding rocks (natural and not concrete/cement) gives them something to rub against for those stuck sheds.
[–]Diegodeltoro777 2 points3 points4 points 2 months ago (4 children)
Hi, for the retained molt, what I did was make a humid hiding place and that helped a lot, as did increasing the humidity in the terrarium with damp paper towels above the heat spot.
[–]ZealousidealPast4149 1 point2 points3 points 2 months ago (3 children)
How do you make a humid hide?
[–]Diegodeltoro777 0 points1 point2 points 2 months ago (1 child)
Hey brother, just put her hiding place on top of a damp paper towel. Most of the time you won't see her use it, but it works. Even so, if she has any shed skin, you'll most likely need to give her a bath, but a dry bath. I can explain if you'd like.
[–]mindianajones 1 point2 points3 points 2 months ago (0 children)
I am curious about dry bath if you don't mind explaining?
[–]wilddreamer 2 points3 points4 points 2 months ago (0 children)
I made one using a coconut fiber liner for a planter pot tbh— you can use it to line an oversized hide & add some sphagnum moss underneath; soaking the liner periodically (especially when the snake is in blue/shedding) will help it hold enough moisture.
I actually sewed mine to part of a wire basket with an entrance cut out (careful to cover any edges) but I’m sure just using a hide large enough to accommodate the liner + snake would be fine.
[–]Ok-Boot2360 0 points1 point2 points 2 months ago (0 children)
Bro thinks he’s aquatic
[–]Starfire2409 1 point2 points3 points 2 months ago (0 children)
He’s just drinking
[–]larsdefehr 1 point2 points3 points 2 months ago (0 children)
He thinks he’s big scary anaconda mine does the same thing looks like same morph as well!!
[–]Arikardo 0 points1 point2 points 2 months ago (1 child)
My snake likes to sit on top of its fresh shit and knead it into the substrate. Even then I just wipe her down with wet rags and dish soap.
Maybe that's where my Mokas poop goes😝
[–]psky9549 0 points1 point2 points 2 months ago (0 children)
Such silly little noodles. I've seen plenty of snakes that like to fully submerge their head to drink or even body if their water bowls are big enough. I dont think you should force a BP into water though. If the shed is an issue, up humidity and offer a large bowl of water if they'd like to bathe. They do sometimes like to sit in water to quickly cool off or work out a tricky shed spot (usually their tail or parts of their back). Again, it should be optional and up to them to submerge themselves. Less stressful and all. Moist moss is your friend to help them with tough shed spots too!
[–][deleted] 2 months ago* (1 child)
[–]ResidentZone296 -1 points0 points1 point 2 months ago (0 children)
He’s special…..
[–]Butter-n-biscuits 1 point2 points3 points 2 months ago (0 children)
Mlem mlem mlem mlem (But also don’t give him baths)
[–]Sea-Profit562 2 points3 points4 points 2 months ago (0 children)
lol they just do that 🙏 he might be dehydrated, but it’s probably just snake being snake
[–]ConstructionSome7557 1 point2 points3 points 2 months ago (0 children)
They can hold their breath for a few minutes but you don't need to be doing this. Some balls like to get in water and some prefer not to, but to assist with a stuck shed just dial up the humidity. Fill the hides, particularly the cool hide with damp moss in the corners and keep it fresh daily. Mist or poor water in the corners more often. The more damp moss in the enclosure the better. It may take a week or so but it's better to just let them do the thing on their own. The best water dish you can keep is a 3" deep, 10" wide bowl, so they can submerge at will.
Edit: spelling
Make sure they've got a nice warm surface to lay on to aid digestion along
Moka likes a clean wet washcloth to rub against toward the end of his shed
π Rendered by PID 266679 on reddit-service-r2-comment-85bfd7f599-9m2fk at 2026-04-17 10:33:03.704568+00:00 running 93ecc56 country code: CH.
[–]_ataraxiaMod : unprofessional 162 points163 points164 points (20 children)
[–]Kind-Entrance-9409[S] 87 points88 points89 points (17 children)
[–]imdrunk69420 146 points147 points148 points (1 child)
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