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A Few Other ?'s About Corn Baths

COerriccaRN

COerriccaRN

New member
I was reading another thread on here and I have a few...or more...questions of my own about bathing corn snakes...I thought I would post a new thread to have them answered instead of taking over the other one :)

My questions are
1. How deep should the water be?
2. What temperature should the water be? Hot? Lukewarm? Cold?
3. How big should a "bathing" container be?
4. Should I have something for my snake to rest on?
5. How long should baths last?
6. Do baths help to remove dirt ect from the snake?
7. Do snakes ennjoy baths or is something that will scar Erricca for life?

I know thats more than a few, but I don't want to make any mistakes in giving Erricca her first bath. She is a notorious bad shedder and I think a bath could help her...
 
Why do you think you need to bathe your snake?
If she is a bad shedder, a putting her in a wet pillowcase for 20 minutes should do the trick.

IF you REALLY need to do this, you need to use a thermometer and get the temps right. If it feels lukewarm to you, it will burn your snake. If it is too cold it can cause illness.

When my girl Sangria was eggbound 2 years ago, I had her swim in the tub. It helped her move the eggs. I would leave her in for about a half an hour. She HATED it, but it worked. I used an aquarium thermometer to check the temps before I put her in.

Other than that, I would not reccomend bathing a snake...at all....
 
COerriccaRN said:
I was reading another thread on here and I have a few...or more...questions of my own about bathing corn snakes...I thought I would post a new thread to have them answered instead of taking over the other one :)

My questions are
1. How deep should the water be?
2. What temperature should the water be? Hot? Lukewarm? Cold?
3. How big should a "bathing" container be?
4. Should I have something for my snake to rest on?
5. How long should baths last?
6. Do baths help to remove dirt ect from the snake?
7. Do snakes ennjoy baths or is something that will scar Erricca for life?

I know thats more than a few, but I don't want to make any mistakes in giving Erricca her first bath. She is a notorious bad shedder and I think a bath could help her...
Click to expand...

Hi Emily,

You don't really 'need' to bathe your corn. I will, however, put my adults in a bath for exercise as they don't get as much in their bins as they would in the wild and I don't want fatties. So, I'll answer based upon bathing as exercise.

1. Deep enough so the snake can't rest on the bottom.
2. Temp should be neither hot, warm nor cold. Tepid.
3. As big as you need to exercise - I use my tub for adult snakes.
4. Not if you're exercising them.
5. This depends upon the snake and their stress level. I watch. Typically 10 - 15 minutes or so. I'll hold them and then do another 10 minutes or so.
6. Nahhh.. bathing to clean is really not necessary.
7. From my experience, neither. If they're rather fit, I typically won't bathe them.

Hope this helps!

Tonya
 
Okay, well I just put her in a shallow bowl of 75 degree water...she really liked it. She crawled out at first but then turned around and crawled back in. She layed there for about ten minutes. I just put the bowl (with her still in it) into her viv, and she is just sitting half in/half out. I would like her to start bathing because she gets really nervous in the pillow case and I worry about her. I just put a two wet dishrags over the top of the cage, so that will help her shed. But I'm glad she liked the warm water :)
 
I usually bath my snakes when they are ready to shed sometimes they will bath themselves if you give them a water bowl big enough.

Since shes small I would say keep the water about and high as she is. maybe a slight bit more. give her something small to rest her head on. lukewarm is fine about 80-87 degrees.

If you have dirt or coconut fiber in her tank you will see it come off her scales. If not there should be no visible discoloration of the water.

let her soak in there for 10 -15 mins. she might poo in her water. thats normal. change it out or just say ok enough bath time, and pat her dry with a towel. She wont be sure what to think of that.

When I bring rescues in I bath them within a few days. it soothes there skin and calms them down. Don't worry about her drowning they are very good swimmers and can hold there breathe for a long while. one of my snakes hides in his water n brings his head up to the surface ever 5 mins or so to breathe. hes a funny boy. that ones not a corn though, hes a milksnake.

Since she seems to be a bad shedder. you should probably do this ever couple of days till she sheds when you notice the shedding cycle begins. and give her something rough to rub on to help her shedding. a cleaned rock from the garden should do. just make sure to wash it with dial or some other such safe soap first.

Hope that helps. :) GL~!~
 
Ok well to add to that im not an expert prolly should listen to the other but thats just what I do...
 
Okay thanks! I have a half of a brick in there. Its really rough and I "baked" it before putting it in. She usually uses that.

I have tried the sweat box, but she NEVER goes in there. I'm not sure why...

I have found that putting wet wash rags over her viv lid helps alot though.
 
I'm with Beth, I don't know why all the newbs want to bathe their snakes. It's just odd to me that people want to throw a snake in a tub or container filled with water just for fun. I can see if it's a really bad shed, to maybe loosen them up, but really? There are better ways, like a damp cloth they can wiggle through, or a humid hide. They aren't water snakes. I think it's dangerous. What feels warm to us is very hot for them. It's too easy to stress them out raising their body temps that high, that quick. Or it may be too cold, then we'll have threads popping up on what to do when their snake "looks ill", got lost down the drain through that little air vent, etc. If they want a bath they'll soak in their water bowl...
 
Well I was just thinking the water is pretty cold...and she has always had bed sheds even with the wet towels and things...plus I didn't make her swim. She just sat in the water. She didn't try to escape, she went back in.

Also its not just "newbs" who want to bath their snakes...I have seen a few post where seasoned herp keepers bathe their snakes for various reasons that are helpful to them.
 
Continuous bad sheds can be two things- husbandry issues, or illness/dehydration. Is you home super dry? If so keep a humid hide as a general cage staple to avoid partial shedding and make sure you have a water bowl or two that are large so she has an option to soak and rehydrate when she needs too:)
 
I have one large water bowl that she never gets in...but she seemed to like the soak I gave her. I just read in Phillip Pursers book that baths are good for corn snakes and that some enjoy bath time...So I don't think that its hurtful or wrong to bath a snake. Erricca seemed to enjoy it alot more than the cool water in her bowl.

Also, its not a humidity issue (we are from Texas where humidity is always present) so it stays about 70. She just has issues. I just started putting the rags over her lid and that helps alot and I think the baths will just be another good way to relax her and help her shed. I just put a fresh bowl of warm water in her viv and she is swimming around right now...So whoever says baths and snakes don't mix, I have proof that they do :)
 
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