Who doesn't use a water bowl?

Strictly speaking, ball pythons only, does anyone NOT use a water bowl or use one during only certain times of the year?

I'm asking this for a couple of reasons...

1. Most of mine ALWAYS tip their bowls and flood their tubs. If they can't flip them they must plunge their bodies into them so the water just archimedes itself right out of the bowl. Now, this usually isn't a problem because i usually can change them the same day. Now that i'm up into the double digits though, sometimes i have to skip a day and i feel bad leaving them on the wet paper. I know a lot of BIG breeders only clean once a week so i know the snake is gunna be fine, but still, they're my pets and i like to keep them happy.

2. I rarely see my snakes drink. Year round the room stays between 70-80 degrees. The last time i saw one drink was when i pulled my cinny off her eggs and put her into a fresh tub. I had kept the tub really humid for her too to lay the eggs. I'm assuming laying just took a lot out of her.

3. I feed f/t. For god knows what reason some of them love to drag their rats into their water bowls. Sometimes after they do this they just don't wanna eat it afterwards. That leaves me with a nasty mess to clean up and a wasted rat. Also, if they happen to flood their tubs on feeding day, some of them won't eat if their tub is all wet, which means another wasted rat.

4. I've seen people on here before mention that balls get most of the moisture they need from their food. This makes sense because people are also always saying they spend a majority of their time in rodent burrows/termite mounds and moving to new ones to look for food. So for a majority of the time, when in the burrows, they wouldn't have access to any water, correct?

I was thinking what if you only kept a water dish in their tub while they were going through a shed cycle? That's really the main time when higher humidity is most important to them. Semi-recently i've expanded into the world of tarantulas and learned a lot. Like balls, T's get a lot of their moisture from their prey. With that said, some species still need additional moisture so I provide them with a water dish. But on the flip side, some species don't need any water dish and get all the moisture they need from their food. Comparing that to bps, i'm just thinking maybe they're a species of snake that doesn't need a water dish. Does anyone know of other species of snake that are commonly kept without a water dish because the snakes simply don't need it?

I'd like to also add that i'm NOT asking this because i'm trying to cut corners or be lazy or neglect my snakes in any way. (Notice i posted this in the ADVANCED husbandry section lol). I just wanna know if anyones tried keeping their balls without water dishes and how it's worked out for them.

I don't have an answer for you mike because the only Bp I have that makes a mess with his water is the cinnamon I got from you.

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One quick trick we use sometimes is to cut a small segment of 4" PVC pipe(about 3" in length). Then use all natural rubber caulk or aquarium sealer(no chemical or silicone based caulk) and go around the inside and outside of the PVC ring, place firmly on bottom of tub, and let dry for 24 hours. After that place water bowl or deli cup inside and no more tipping over. Works great every time. Good luck!

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Originally Posted by toyota89

I don't have an answer for you mike because the only Bp I have that makes a mess with his water is the cinnamon I got from you.

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:rofl::rofl:

It's all your fault, Mike. You have defective water-tipping snakes.

If I get thirsty I get a drink of water. If they get thirsty they have the option. Just because you didn't see me drink doesn't mean I didn't. :D

My snakes are well behaved Mike. Maybe you should send yours to finishing school to learn some manners.

I use ceramic bowls and have never had one tipped or overflow. Maybe you should put less water in them.

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Originally Posted by toyota89

I don't have an answer for you mike because the only Bp I have that makes a mess with his water is the cinnamon I got from you.

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Well my fire does it too and he's one of the pains in the ass who drops his rats into the water bowl sometimes. So have fun with him too lol.

I can't do the pvc idea because i use newspaper as substrate.

I usually only fill them halfway. I'm telling you, i've watched them do it even with the ceramic bowls. They push on the front of the tub with their face and the water bowl with their neck at the same and tip them so water spills out. A few times i've seen them do this and then go right back into their hides. They aren't out actively hunting or have a messy tub, they just do it for fun it seems...

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Originally Posted by ARamos8

If I get thirsty I get a drink of water. If they get thirsty they have the option. Just because you didn't see me drink doesn't mean I didn't. :D

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Yep i get that. But if we hung out for like 5+ years everyday i'd see you get a drink of water. A lot of drinks probably. In my experience of keeping them i can probably count on one hand the number of times i've seen them get a drink. I'll stretch it and say MAYBE 10 times total. Thats overestimating though.

Oh perfect here we go. Tonites feeding nite and my fire is cooperating.

The fire boy proving my point! He's been like this for an hour now.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/08/03/uvequ5e9.jpg

Well, I'm certainly no expert, but here goes...
I don't know about the tipping thing, but how about taking the water bowl out before feeding? That way at least you won't have a wasted rat.

Mine don't tip it but sometimes my pastel finds away to drag all her paper towels and shmush them into her water bowl... I have no idea why or how.

I use bowls: some are well mannered enough to have plastic crock bowls and the ones that are bad about tipping have the heavier ceramic ones. I just feel better with them having access to fresh water :oops:

My adults have ceramic bowls that are 5-6" wide and 2 1/2" tall. The babies have ~4" ceramic bowls with rubber non-slip bases. They're all on aspen about 1/2" with bare tub floor under the water bowl and the tubs have flat bottoms. I've never seen mine move their bowls more than an inch to squeeze around it. Honestly I think I manage to spill more aspen bits into their water bowl than they do.

I've seen mine drink, and I can't predict when they may happen to want a drink, so they always have fresh water.

Ella loves to drop her rat in her water. So what I do now is,I take the bowl out before I feed her. Then I put it back in once she's done eating. She's never knocked it over so I leave it in there unless it's time to feed her.

All that water dish spilling seems super weird to me. I use ceramic dishes, also, and very, very rarely have spills. I literally can't think of the last time one of my snake has managed to spill a correctly sized dish. When someone does have some kind of water dish problem, it's usually piling substrate into it.

But as far as drinking goes, I see them drink all the time. Usually right after I change everyone's water. The bold snakes come out and start drinking before I'm done, the shier critters creep out to drink as soon as I back away. Water dishes get cleaned and changed at least twice a week and my animals definitely seem to anticipate it. FWIW, I'm on a well. The dishes get filled straight from the fridge (which is filtered, unlike the tap) and comes out at a pretty chilly 54-56 degrees. The snakes drink it immediately and have yet to a have a problem as a result.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

4. I've seen people on here before mention that balls get most of the moisture they need from their food. This makes sense because people are also always saying they spend a majority of their time in rodent burrows/termite mounds and moving to new ones to look for food. So for a majority of the time, when in the burrows, they wouldn't have access to any water, correct?
.

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For some reason, I really, really wanted to address this, because I'm curious about something. How many radio telemetry studies have been done on ball pythons? What were and where are the results? I tried Googling it and nothing :(

I think they're in burrows most of their time, too. At least, during the time humans are awake and looking for them. . . . They're certainly found most often in burrows. But they're not there constantly. I would be surprised if they didn't move around more and hunted primarily as ambush predators, like most (all?) other species of python and leave their favorite burrows when they felt hungry or thirsty. They definitely wait in a classic python ambush position to be fed. So, I dunno. Just a thought, tossing it out there.

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I was thinking what if you only kept a water dish in their tub while they were going through a shed cycle? That's really the main time when higher humidity is most important to them. Semi-recently i've expanded into the world of tarantulas and learned a lot. Like balls, T's get a lot of their moisture from their prey. With that said, some species still need additional moisture so I provide them with a water dish. But on the flip side, some species don't need any water dish and get all the moisture they need from their food. Comparing that to bps, i'm just thinking maybe they're a species of snake that doesn't need a water dish. Does anyone know of other species of snake that are commonly kept without a water dish because the snakes simply don't need it?

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For me, I wouldn't make a habit of it, just because they're not a desert species. I have a rosy boa, who does not always have access to water, but they're a very different animal. Ball Pythons (mine, anyway, who are very well behaved) drink a lot and pee regularly -- more often as youngsters, about one or twice a week for the adults. That tells me it's natural to them to have access to liquid water and like snakes of all kind,s, really love fresh water especially. Offering a smaller amount of water and changing it more frequently, maybe, might help with the spillage?

*knocks on wood* I don't have any bowl tippers. Occasionally they will push their towels around and get them in their bowl like a sponge. But I could count that on one hand. Mine all have water dishes. I have caught all of mine drinking. Usually after eating is when I catch them drinking. I feed live. Dont know if that makes any difference. But maybe since the rat isnt wet they need to "wash it down"?

I recently cracked a few of my ceramic bowls so had to make a trip to the dollar store. They only had a few so I had to pick up a new one. Apparently these are harder to flip and I have one in my big girl's cage. She is 26 lbs and I have seen her push it around especially around dinner time. She has yet to flip it thank goodness. Maybe could try those? I've seen all my snakes drink, including the ball pythons, although some more than others.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/08/03/4a9a7una.jpg

This is her with the bowl. I have another one with her body on it. She was actually trying to hold onto it as I was pulling her out to clean. That one has poop though and no one wants to see that.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/08/03/e9e3eje7.jpg

I have two regular "tippers" in my BP rack. They get these water dishes for now: http://www.petco.com/product/119462/...oodWaterDishes - and they don't tip. Even my BCI's, which are much bigger and stronger than my BP's, don't dump them.

I use large bowls that when tipped hit the ceiling of the bin before they spill. I also only put an inch or so of water in them so if they soak very little, or no, water is spilled.

Yea, I've never had bowl tippers either but then again I use the ceramic bowls. They seem to do the trick for me at least.

I use the heavy ceramic bowls, and they're too tall to tip in a tub anyways. Works like a charm so far! My big pin is also a rat dunker, which disgusts me to no end, but what can ya do? Lol he's also one that appreciates a fresh bowl of water. Whenever I take out his bowl, he pops his head out of his hide like "Hey, whatcha doing with that?" Then when the fresh water comes in, he beelines it to the dish for a sip. He's quite the character :)

I think the bowl tipping could be because they're hungry. I'm gunna up everyones feeding schedule and see if that fixes it.

I still wanna know if anyone doesn't use bowls though lol....

Viperkeeper on Youtube doesn't use water bowls for most of his snakes. He uses one of these:
http://www.e-cats.com/chemistry/phot...ter_bottle.gif to offer water to his snakes. He offers it to their heads and sometimes they drink, and sometimes he sprays their backs and they drink off of that. Worth a try.

Dollar tree has some water bowls that are shape like a star and almost impossible to tip over, at least from a snake. They only cost a dollar. They were meant to hold potpourri but work great as water dish!

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Originally Posted by Poseidon

Viperkeeper on Youtube doesn't use water bowls for most of his snakes. He uses one of these:
http://www.e-cats.com/chemistry/phot...ter_bottle.gif to offer water to his snakes. He offers it to their heads and sometimes they drink, and sometimes he sprays their backs and they drink off of that. Worth a try.

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I just looked that guy up, he's nuts lol

Yea a dollar tree just opened up in the town next to mine, i'll have to check it out!

I just came home from work to this.
Allllll part of the fun. I can't imagine how frustrating it would be if I had my babes on any sort of mulchy substrate lol.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/08/04/7azuza2e.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/08/04/6avupe6a.jpg


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Originally Posted by M&NSnakeDen

I just came home from work to this.
Allllll part of the fun. I can't imagine how frustrating it would be if I had my babes on any sort of mulchy substrate lol.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/08/04/7azuza2e.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/08/04/6avupe6a.jpg


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Lmao, i love his snake-made hide!

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

I just looked that guy up, he's nuts lol

Yea a dollar tree just opened up in the town next to mine, i'll have to check it out!

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Here is a link to what I was talking about. Cheap, sturdy, and perfect!

http://www.dollartree.com/assets/pro...rge/913771.jpg

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Originally Posted by cory9oh4

Lmao, i love his snake-made hide!

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HER, actually, and she's a 400g terror.
She consistently makes a mess of the place. Her go-to is poopin right after deep cleans. *grumble grumble* LOL


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Originally Posted by M&NSnakeDen

HER, actually, and she's a 400g terror.
She consistently makes a mess of the place. Her go-to is poopin right after deep cleans. *grumble grumble* LOL


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haha I HATE when that happens! What gets me is when they tip the water and poop within the same time frame. Then were left with chocolate milk to clean up! :colbert:

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Originally Posted by cory9oh4

haha I HATE when that happens! What gets me is when they tip the water and poop within the same time frame. Then were left with chocolate milk to clean up! :colbert:

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I think they enjoy it. :rolleye2:
This particular girl of mine is quite the hissy one & was especially unimpressed when I took her out last night. I think this was her protest against me.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

Oh perfect here we go. Tonites feeding nite and my fire is cooperating.

The fire boy proving my point! He's been like this for an hour now.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/08/03/uvequ5e9.jpg

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LOL I thought you took that pic from my tubs! I get that one a lot with the same water bowls.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

Well my fire does it too and he's one of the pains in the ass who drops his rats into the water bowl sometimes. So have fun with him too lol.

I can't do the pvc idea because i use newspaper as substrate.

I usually only fill them halfway. I'm telling you, i've watched them do it even with the ceramic bowls. They push on the front of the tub with their face and the water bowl with their neck at the same and tip them so water spills out. A few times i've seen them do this and then go right back into their hides. They aren't out actively hunting or have a messy tub, they just do it for fun it seems...

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you might consider the PVC coupler route, despite using newspaper. in my experience it hasn't made a difference with any substrate. I've had exactly one spilled water cup in about a year and a half.

Never heard of anyone doing it, but if it works for you and your animals are healthy, why not?

I use pvc couplers and deli cups. Lately, I've been doing as a friend of mine does, and using a bead of silicone to attach couplers to a cheapo ceramic tile. No more tipping, even for my hardcore mess makers.

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Originally Posted by cory9oh4

Here is a link to what I was talking about. Cheap, sturdy, and perfect!

http://www.dollartree.com/assets/pro...rge/913771.jpg

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Thanks, I think I'll pick some up. Some may even be used for something other than snake water dishes. :D

BTW I know a local breeder who uses these tealight candle holders for hatchlings - he swears the babies can't dump them. http://www.quickcandles.com/Clear-Gl...-p/1120_72.htm They're not very big so you have to top them off daily, and even if one did get dumped it wouldn't make a huge mess. They're also cheap enough that if one does get dirtied, it's easy to keep clean spares on hand.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

Oh perfect here we go. Tonites feeding nite and my fire is cooperating.

The fire boy proving my point! He's been like this for an hour now.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/08/03/uvequ5e9.jpg

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Awesome mike! Kind of makes me not want your fire male if he's going to drown his food while he eats it.

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Originally Posted by toyota89

Awesome mike! Kind of makes me not want your fire male if he's going to drown his food while he eats it.

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I was fully expecting a mess when i got home from work but the rat was gone. That scumbag let it soak for a few hours before eating it!

Thanks for the suggestions guys. What size pvc pipe would i buy? and does anyone have a link to the plastic cups that i'd have to buy off of amazon or something? I'm curious about them now lol. Probably wouldn't glue them down but the idea of them being virtually untipable sounds good to me lol

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

I was fully expecting a mess when i got home from work but the rat was gone. That scumbag let it soak for a few hours before eating it!

Thanks for the suggestions guys. What size pvc pipe would i buy? and does anyone have a link to the plastic cups that i'd have to buy off of amazon or something? I'm curious about them now lol. Probably wouldn't glue them down but the idea of them being virtually untipable sounds good to me lol

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I use The Snake Keeper for the deli cups. I believe I use the 12oz. size. just make sure you're not inadvertently buying the 'punched' deli cups. day ruiner right there.

you can buy 4'' PVC couplers at any hardware store. I change water bowls twice a week, but I only replace the deli cups about every third or fourth time. there are a few threads on the subject floating around.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

I was fully expecting a mess when i got home from work but the rat was gone. That scumbag let it soak for a few hours before eating it! Thanks for the suggestions guys. What size pvc pipe would i buy? and does anyone have a link to the plastic cups that i'd have to buy off of amazon or something? I'm curious about them now lol. Probably wouldn't glue them down but the idea of them being virtually untipable sounds good to me lol

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Home depot has the 4" couplings for $2.00 http://www.homedepot.com/p/NIBCO-4-i...0#.Uf261JLrw1w

Superior enterprises has the deli cups that fit http://www.superiorshippingsupplies....s/portion-cups
I forget what portion is the exact fit, but im sure someone will chime in and let ya know!

What's "the snake keeper" :confused:

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

What's "the snake keeper" :confused:

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the snake keeper aka TSK. http://www.tsksupply.com/.

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Originally Posted by toyota89

I don't have an answer for you mike because the only Bp I have that makes a mess with his water is the cinnamon I got from you.

Sent from my Droid RAZR M using Tapatalk 2

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Originally Posted by Anya

:rofl::rofl:

It's all your fault, Mike. You have defective water-tipping snakes.

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To funny, thanks for the laugh. :rofl:

The 16 ounce unpunched cups are the ones that fit 4" couplers.
http://www.tsksupply.com/pro-kal-16-oz-not-punched/

My olympic bowl tippers quit when I put the bowl between the wall and the warm hide.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

I think the bowl tipping could be because they're hungry. I'm gunna up everyones feeding schedule and see if that fixes it.

I still wanna know if anyone doesn't use bowls though lol....

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Turn the heat down they are too hot, has nothing to do with hunger. Yes, I use bowls. I see mine drink all the time especially when I give them fresh water.

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Originally Posted by Kodieh

My olympic bowl tippers quit when I put the bowl between the wall and the warm hide.

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That'd keep my tubs too humid

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Originally Posted by joebad976

Turn the heat down they are too hot, has nothing to do with hunger. Yes, I use bowls. I see mine drink all the time especially when I give them fresh water.

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I keep my hot sides at 87-88

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

I keep my hot sides at 87-88

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Drop them to 85 for a couple of weeks see if that helps any, it won't physically hurt them. Mine are not in an air conditioned room and I have them on ambient temps during the summer months.

I have the same problem some love to soak or tip their bowl. I attribute it to the heat since during the cooler months I don't have problems with tipping or soaking.

Do you have plenty of holes in your tubs for ventilation? Making some more holes in the tubs could help as well.

I wanna try upping the feeding schedule first bc the room they're in IS air conditioned. Its not all of them, probably about half.

Sorry for the crummy pic, my flash didnt come on. Gave everyone fresh water, then caught my bee getting a drink. I unno, mine drink.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/08/05/e2azaja8.jpg