who uses water bowls and who dont

On this note........ how many people have had a t-stat fail and the snake uses its water source to try and stay cool?

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

On this note........ how many people have had a t-stat fail and the snake uses its water source to try and stay cool?

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ME!

I came home and found the t-stat on the space heater keeping ambient temperatures in the room up failed when we had an unusually warm day. It wasn't even a hot/cool side issue; there was no cool side because the whole room was 102 degrees. Found Atlas submerged in her water bowl. Scared the PEE out of me, but she was okay. I'm sure I caught it fast since I'm in and out of there quite a bit, but I'm glad the bowl was there, too.

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Originally Posted by MarkS

. It's quite possible that they go long periods of time without drinking in the wild, but your cage is NOT in the wild.

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This is actually a good point. There are regular sources of water in the wild that aren't standing water, and they're present every day - especially in a humid environment.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

On this note........ how many people have had a t-stat fail and the snake uses its water source to try and stay cool?

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Fortunately my only t-stat failure caused it to turn off rather than run wide open... but you have a good point.

Also, just because I rarely see my BP's drinking doesn't mean that they never do, because I don't watch them 24/7/365.

I wasn't going to touch this thread but this is getting ridiculous... I think it's animal abuse and very irresponsible behavior not to provide your BP with water. Whether you see your snakes drink or not, they do. This isn't something that's up for discussion. And none of the animals in the wild have a water bowl. This doesn't mean that people who have these animals as pets deny them water. Stop abusing your animals and provide them with water.

There is only one occasion when my snakes do not have a water dish and that is when a male and a female are being paired (and that's a total of 2 days)

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Originally Posted by Mr. Misha

I wasn't going to touch this thread but this is getting ridiculous... I think it's animal abuse and very irresponsible behavior not to provide your BP with water. Whether you see your snakes drink or not, they do. This isn't something that's up for discussion. And none of the animals in the wild have a water bowl. This doesn't mean that people who have these animals as pets deny them water. Stop abusing your animals and provide them with water.

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Personally I think this leans more towards neglect than abuse. The OP (who appears to be a newb) seems to think he knows more than all of those with years of experience, and to prove he knows better, he's basically conducting a long term experiment (at the expense of his snakes). Just because they haven't keeled over in 4 months doesn't mean there won't be long term ill effects. I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I still can't help but think this experiment is being carried out due to laziness as I have yet to hear of 1 good reason why you wouldn't provide a water bowl...and forcing the snakes to lick water droplets off the side of the tub does not qualify as a substitute to having a water bowl...:rolleyes:

I use water bowls for all my snakes, why wouldn't I? This is hilarious. Well not really, it would be hilarious if there weren't live animals involved in the 'experiment'. On this note, why doesn't someone 'experiment' with turning the heat off, or putting the snakes in the fridge? Then you would't have to feed them either! I mean, come on, how hard is it to change water every 1 or 2 days? Even if you have a big collection, there's no excuse. You made your bed when you decided to keep snakes, now lie in it and provide proper husbandry for your animals. Peace :snake:

I cringe to think what is taking place in the 6 pages of discussion here. This is not worthy of a poll or discussion. (EDIT: I read the 6 pages... there's one person saying they don't use bowls and the rest arguing the same point to each other - that they are required)

Food, Water, Shelter - these are basic rights of anything living. I have had my water bowls out for a day or two because I got distracted while cleaning or other reasons - when I put the bowls back in I have at least 50% of my snakes come directly out of their hide and stick their face in the water to drink.

You're a despicable person if you keep an animal in a cage and don't offer it basic rights. On the scale of maintenance, these are easily in the bottom 5% for time required for care. If you can't provide and switch water you just should not own pets.

Ya know, I've read this thread, and since everyone else has essentially said what I've been thinking for me, I wasn't going to post. But, and I apologize if someone else posted this, and I missed it . . .

Years ago, on another forum, a guy who works a lot with blackheaded pythons made an observation tying chronic dehydration to egg binding. I believe the fellow was Derek Roddy, though I don't have notes in front of me on it. I don't want to butcher his findings trying to paraphrase, but it makes perfect sense. That is definitely something to keep in mind breeding snakes that are more than likely not at their ideal level of internal hydration.