Swimming? And Shedding?

[gwynhwyfar]

I am the queen of questions!

I've observed over the last two wees that Miss Snakey Snake is very enthusiastic about water. I actually change the water in the dish twice a day because within ~15 minutes of me putting in new water, she's in the dish hanging out. The bowl is big enough that she can fit her whole body in with room left over and she often does.

Given that she seems to be getting a bit more used to me handling her (when I removed her to feed her, she actually wound herself around my hand and seemed to want to stay there), would it be something that she might enjoy if I put some water in the tub and some objects for her to climb on and put her in there to swim around? Or would it just unnecessarily traumatize her?

BTW, I posted (bad!) pictures on the other thread. I'm going to see if she'll cooperate with me taking more pictures so I can get some better ones that are in focus.

As far as the shedding question ... She seems to have visibly grown since I got her. I haven't noticed any signs of cloudiness in her eyes, but her scales seem to be a bit duller than they used to be, though she's still acting normal (she's actually a lot more active and inquisitive than she was when I first got her). I wondered if that might have something to do with why she's hanging out in the water so much, as well. Help? I don't know if this is normal or how often a young garter sheds. I imagine it must be fairly often, since they grow so much ...

[salzar]

water does help in sheding and most will hang out in the water bowl to aid it!!
I have tooken my snake and put him in a shallow tub of warm water,and he loved it . got some excersize too!!!
bye
michelle

[Snaky]

Michelle is correct, some snakes lay in the water to aid their shedding process. But this is something individual, I have some snakes who do it and other don't although they are from the same species. But not a lot of my garters have the tendency to go into the water bowl. I've seen changes though in this behaviour when I put a large bowl in there and some plants on the edges to make it look more natural and easier to escape.

I've never take the snakes out for a swim and will probably never do so... In my eyes it's not necessary and can be stressfull: you take her to a completely different environment. If you decide to do it, make sure she has resting places. But maybe others can comment more on that.

[adamanteus]

I've never take the snakes out for a swim and will probably never do so... In my eyes it's not necessary and can be stressfull: you take her to a completely different environment. If you decide to do it, make sure she has resting places. But maybe others can comment more on that.

I agree with Hans. I don't see what is to be gained by this.