Snakes and soaking for rehydration.

[Weda737]

Okay, So you all know I got this big awesome dumerils boa. He's got one more dose of baytril by the way then a recheck. Anyway, when I first got him he would soak all the time. After the vet visit he soaked even more for about a day, now he's not soaking at all. His body condition is good, not dehydrated at all, in fact, he frequently leaves me some lovely little urates to clean up. Point is, when I took him out of the water, I noticed water beading out from underneath his belly scales, I have yet to see him actually drink. Do you suppose maybe he can purposely lift those scales to let water in? Does any get absorbed? Does soaking serve any other function other than loosening a shed or cooling the snake? I saw this with my ball pythons too, though they wouldn't soak on their own, only when I had to soak them for a difficult shed. Can it rehydrate them internally is really what I'm asking.

 

[StudentoftheReptile]

From what I understood, a reptile's skin is essentially a raincoat in reverse; it's waterproof. The only points they can absorb fluids is orally or rectally. So to answer your question, no, a snake cannot hydrate itself by absorbing water from between its belly scutes. What you're seeing is just water collecting there after a bath, nothing beyond that.

 

[Weda737]

I thought that may be what it was. The only thing it could really do for hydration maybe is keep them from losing much more moisture. I just worry about my big boy being on such strong medication. I know he really has to stay hydrated. I still can't figure out why he would soak so much though, he's totally quit now, and he took his last dose today. Time to set up a recheck.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

From what I understood, a reptile's skin is essentially a raincoat in reverse; it's waterproof. The only points they can absorb fluids is orally or rectally. So to answer your question, no, a snake cannot hydrate itself by absorbing water from between its belly scutes. What you're seeing is just water collecting there after a bath, nothing beyond that.

 

[Tom]

Often they will soak when they have a mite infestation. Are you familiar with snake mites? They are visible with the naked eye, but very small. Look around the eyes, head, vent, and especially the fold of skin along their lower jaw. These are common places for mites to accumulate. Tiny moving specks. Usually black, but sometimes reddish.

You can still soak a snake, just like a tortoise but with a lid on the container, to insure good hydration.

 

[Weda737]

Very familiar with mites, I've never had them, but a friend of mine did on her ball python and the dumbtard didn't even act like she cared. But Yes. I'm absolutely sure he doesn't have mites, I mentioned his soaking to her and she checked him out, even checked that chin fold you mentioned. Like I said, he stopped soaking now, hasn't soaked for days. He's acting more like a normal snake and not being so ocd.