Boa thinks he's a fish

[TrpnBils]

I'm at a loss to explain this, and it's not really a problem, I'm just more curious than anything. My ~2ft central american BCI will spend literally weeks at a time in his water dish soaking.

He does not have mites. He had them when I first got him (this is the pawn shop rescue), and ever since I soaked him for a few days to get him rehydrated after I got him (3 or 4 months ago), he spends almost all his time in his water bowl. Even though I haven't seen any mites since about a week after I got him, I've treated the cage and everything in it twice now just to be sure...and he's still soaking.

Last weekend, my parents were over and my dad had him out. After he dried off, his face and part of his back turned almost white and he felt really rough and dry. Other than that, everything is normal. He was so malnourished when I first got him that he's been shedding after every 1 or 2 meals (seriously...but if he goes into shed after just 1 meal I'll hold off on feeding until he actually sheds). So I'm wondering if he's maybe just soaking because he's basically always in or near a shed cycle.

Any ideas?

	Boa Constrictor Imperator Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor imperator). Most common is the Colombian Boa.

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[JuliusSqueezer]

He either still has mites or his cage is way too hot.

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[Pythons_N_Boas]

well, if he is sheding that often, then maby. What kinda of substrate are you useing? You might still have mights hiding in the bedding. Does he look like he is about to shed? what the humidity?

[bcfos1]

The only time my boa's soak is right after a meal (haven't figured that one out yet) and when in "blue". Now the male will roam around the enclosure and go through the water a couple of times but they never "shack up" in the water dish. Also do you have a proper hide in there for the snake? Sometimes if they don't have a hide they will "hide in the water dish".

[TrpnBils]

The temp in the cage is from 80 on the cool side to 85 on the warm side, and the humidity stays around 50% usually because I keep the water dish over the UTH. I use a single sheet of newspaper for bedding and I change it out at least once a week whether it needs it or not, and completely disinfect the aquarium about every 2-3 weeks with nolvasan.

He's got warm and cool hides, and like I said before, I've treated everything in the cage for mites twice after the initial treatment a few months ago. Even at that, I've changed out the hides a couple of times as well. Every so often I'll take the water dish out for a couple of hours so that he has to climb around the cage, and then I'll run a damp, white paper towel over him and check it. He does not have mites, and fecals always come back negative.

As far as shedding, I haven't seen his eyes go blue yet this time, but the past three times he's shed, it's been fast and his eyes cleared within a day or two. I could've missed it this time because I've been busy with school and work and haven't had much time to get him out in the past week or so.

	Under Tank Heater Under Tank Heater

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[Pythons_N_Boas]

I would drop the temp about 2 degrees, but it sounds like your dooing everything right. thats a hard call. Do you think he is spending a unhealthy amount of time in the water? If so, i would remove it a few times a day, for a hour or so at a time. and take him out and dry him off, and set him on the other side of the tank.

hope someone has some better advise. Good luck to you

[TrpnBils]

Originally Posted by Pythons_N_Boas

I would drop the temp about 2 degrees, but it sounds like your dooing everything right. thats a hard call. Do you think he is spending a unhealthy amount of time in the water? If so, i would remove it a few times a day, for a hour or so at a time. and take him out and dry him off, and set him on the other side of the tank.
hope someone has some better advise. Good luck to you

I don't think it's an unhealthy amount of time because he's showing no ill effects from it, I just think it's odd. I've heard from a few people that CAs tend to spend more time in the water than Colombians (my colombian rarely goes in her water except right before shedding), but this is a little much maybe. For all I know, he could be out all night long when I'm asleep. I have no idea.

Another thought I had:
I've been having trouble keeping the tank warm enough (my apartment is a little drafty - a calendar blew off my wall the other day). I got it basically under control, and all my snakes tend to spend more time on the cool end of their respective cages anyway. But for his cage, I have the water dish over top of the UTH and a towel covering about 75% of the lid because he's near a window (only open outlet I had to plug his UTH into). So I'm wondering if maybe he likes the water (which is warm) because it's essentially "whole body" heat rather than just belly heat. But with the temps where they are, I'm still a little surprised that he'd be looking for that much heat...since he almost always avoids either his warm or cool hide.

	Under Tank Heater Under Tank Heater

[Pythons_N_Boas]

i would try and put the bowl on the cool side then, and see if this continues...
good luck

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

Scratch that

[unluckyseventeen]

You should do a few things... move his bowl to somewhere other than his UTH. He's drinking warm water.

You should also try dropping your low end to about 77-78, and upping your hot side to 87-88.

Giving him a good gradient and giving him cool, fresh water should help.

	Under Tank Heater Under Tank Heater

[TrpnBils]

Well I finally got this figured out. I think the hide boxes were too big, even though he fit in them as well as the ones my corn uses. I moved the water bowl to the cool side, but that didn't deter him, so I put another hide in...one that I didn't think there was any possible way he could fit into. Now, he's in and out of it all the time and a whole lot more active. I guess you learn something new every day.