# Ball Pythons > BP Husbandry >  Can ball pythons drowned?

## chinchillachic18

I know it sounds like a stupid question..but hey im a noob  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):  lol

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## JLC

Yes, they can.  Bathing/soaking should always be done carefully.  Don't use deep water that the snake has to swim in order to keep its head above water...and don't ever leave your snake in a closed container of water without _direct, constant_ supervision.

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## chinchillachic18

ok cool :] good to know thanks! I was just thinking about it when i saw my BP stick her whole head into her water dish for alittle while.. I heard some bubbling noises and was like wat the heck is that? I looked over at the tank and there she is with her whole head in the dish. Its not deep its just the right size but i was still curious. My friend has a golden retriever thats kinda stupid and will stick her head underwater until she finds the ball when we play fetch with her at the lake lol So i was just wondering if that was something a ball python might do.

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## FatBoy

Did you throw a ball in her water bowl?  :Very Happy:

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## STORMS

> did you throw a ball in her water bowl? :d


 :sploosh:  :sploosh:  :sploosh:  :sploosh:  :sploosh:

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## 771subliminal

i do know they can hold their breath forever tho. when mine had mites i placed a 6qt tub filled with water in her tank (it had the lid off so she could come and go in and out as she pleased) and she balled up in the bottom under the water for ever with out comming up. i pulled her out a couple times thinking she was gonna drown but after thinking she could come up for air at anytime she wanted.

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## norm

I would not worry about drowing as long as he can "touch bottom" so to speak.

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## fattielumpkin

I think the answer is in the question...... Can they breathe under water?

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## Morphie

some people use water bowls with lids on them and holes cut into the lids (water hides are usually designed this way).  THis is handy for preventing spills, but it also poses a problem when folks don't account for the fluid displacement caused by the snake's body when they crawl in there (which makes a half full bowl suddenly completely full), or the fact that snakes are likely to search the edges of the bowl for an escape point with their nose instead of the middle of the lid where the hole is cut.  This has claimed the life of more than one snake that i've heard of - so everyone please be careful.

Someone (was it Kevin McCurley?) was talking about a snake (an expensive one, too) flipping his bowl over on top of himself and it forming a seal, drowning the little guy.  Very sad business, but sounds like something of a freak accident.  Just think, yanno, before you leave things in your snakes' enclosures, and everything should be fine.

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## claybird

how long can they breath under water

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## JLC

> I think the answer is in the question...... Can they breathe under water?


That would be a "no".  :Razz:   However, they CAN stay under water for a relatively long time without it doing any harm.  Not that I would ever force the issue, but I also wouldn't freak out if my BP dunked its head under the water for a little while.  They don't have the same sorts of oxygen exchange that mammals have and have a much slower respiration when at rest or at least calm.  So yeah...they can hang out under the water for several minutes.  The key is to make sure they can't ever get trapped in the water.

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## FatBoy

:sploosh:  :sploosh:  :sploosh:  :sploosh:  :sploosh: 


> how long can they breath under water


 :sploosh:  :sploosh:  :sploosh:  :sploosh:  :sploosh:

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## Slim

> how long can they breath under water


Well, they can *breath* out for as long as they have air in their lung.....it the *breathing* in when the trouble starts.

Anything with lungs (including fish, by the way) can drown.

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## TimmyG

Um..Fish don't have lungs...they have gills

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## Slim

> Um..Fish don't have lungs...they have gills


Yes they have gills, that's how they pull the Oxygen from the water, but If you've ever gutted shark, you'd clearly see that they have lungs as part of their swim bladers.  While it's not mentioned in many high school texts, there are actually many modern species of fish (not mammals, but real fish) which have lungs as well as gills. For instance, among the so-called higher bony fish (the teleosts) many species of electric fish have them. Of the chondrostei, the so-called primitive bony fish, the Polypterus is so dependent on its paired lungs that this fish can drown if prevented from surfacing.

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## Melicious

I think that any animal CAN DROWN.  The possibility of it happening with the proper husbandry, though, is another matter.

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## simplechamp

> Um..Fish don't have lungs...they have gills


From Wikipedia:

Many fish can breathe air. The mechanisms for doing so are varied. The skin of anguillid eels may be used to absorb oxygen. The buccal cavity of the electric eel may be used to breathe air. Catfishes of the families Loricariidae, Callichthyidae, and Scoloplacidae are able to absorb air through their digestive tracts.[14] Lungfish and bichirs have paired lungs similar to those of tetrapods and must rise to the surface of the water to gulp fresh air in through the mouth and pass spent air out through the gills. Gar and bowfin have a vascularised swim bladder that is used in the same way. Loaches, trahiras, and many catfish breathe by passing air through the gut. Mudskippers breathe by absorbing oxygen across the skin (similar to what frogs do). A number of fishes have evolved so-called accessory breathing organs that are used to extract oxygen from the air. Labyrinth fish (such as gouramis and bettas) have a labyrinth organ above the gills that performs this function. A few other fish have structures more or less resembling labyrinth organs in form and function, most notably snakeheads, pikeheads, and the Clariidae family of catfish.

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## fattielumpkin

> That would be a "no".   However, they CAN stay under water for a relatively long time without it doing any harm.  Not that I would ever force the issue, but I also wouldn't freak out if my BP dunked its head under the water for a little while.  They don't have the same sorts of oxygen exchange that mammals have and have a much slower respiration when at rest or at least calm.  So yeah...they can hang out under the water for several minutes.  The key is to make sure they can't ever get trapped in the water.



yes well aware.  It is hard to convey sarcasm via internet forum.

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## TimmyG

I stand corrected

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## Slim

> I stand corrected


It's all good Bro.  That's the best part of these Forums...I *know* I learn something new at least once a day here.

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## Melicious

> It's all good Bro.  That's the best part of these Forums...I *know* I learn something new at least once a day here.


Isn't that the truth?

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