Switching to disposable deli cup water dishes

I was thinking of switching over to disposable water dishes. A part of me doesn't want to because of the extra cost and waste generated, but it seems like the work and possibilities for cross-contamination with cleaning water bowls is becoming pretty significant.

I was thinking of going with the 8/12/16 ounce dishes made by Twin-Pack and purchasing from www.superiorenterprise.com

They list these dishes to be used for shipping, but I assume they are food-grade so can be used for water dishes as well? Anyone else have an suggestions or other things I should consider?

I just stumbled upon http://www.foodservicedirect.com/ind...s_and_Lids.htm
which has some pretty reasonably priced containers made by Reynolds.

Any thoughts??

Thanks!

JonV

Think Green! Don't we have enough waste already? Mark bottom of dish's with a marker so you don't place them in the wrong tank. Just a thought.

:) I use 'color coded' ceramic pet dishes. Each snake has a slightly different color or pattern so I know exactly which dish belongs to which snake.

Of course, this only works well when you don't have dozens of snakes...;)

it's not worth the cost/waste to go disposable. You can color code or mark dishes to keep them with the right snake, and a bleach water bath or dishwasher on super-hot works great as a sterilizer.

I've used disposable for over a year now.. I love it and I'll never go back. The time savings and cleanliness is worth it. I get mine from foodservicedirect.com. Give them a try.. if you have multiple snakes, I'm sure you'll love it.

Hmm...I'm kinda torn between the green argument and the cleanliness of disposable. We're probably talking 60 BP's or so in 3 years....I guess I'll have to think about how much time I want to spend scrubbing dishes.

Does anyone know any online places to get those ceramic crocks? Or any stores that carry them? My local Wal-Mart (yes, I'm evil for shopping there, I know) only has fancy schmancy crocks anymore. I just want those basic ones like the Barkers use.

JonV

Check and see if you have a restaurant supply store anywhere near you. Gordon Food Services aka GFS is the one I use here (you don't have to be a restaurant to shop there) and they stock a lot of that stuff way below department store prices.

Most of the bigger breeders use disposable. My concern is more about the health of my animals than green.

Adam uses PVC couplers and just plops a new deli cup with water into them.

Also, if you want to stick to ceramic bowls:

http://www.reptiletubs.com/

Without a controlled study that provides evidence that snakes who drink from disposable cups are spared a significant risk in comparison with those who drink from ceramic bowls, i will continue to think of people who use disposable as incredibly selfish, and will favor the less wasteful breeders.

If you're referring to the big breeders that i know, you're also talking about people who feed their snakes live prey. While i have no problem with that, there is a risk associated with it, which they are happy to take. I don't think it's a matter of risk mitigation with the waterbowls so much as convenience. A dishwasher makes the risk a non-issue anyway, and it's cheap and easy to use, so there really is no excuse for all the waste.

Hopefully they at least recycle. :taz: :salute: :( :please:

My question is how do you keep your snakes from knocking over the deli cups? Ive seen some of BHBs videos where they have like a built in cup holder and some of the new tubs even come with plastic water holders built right in... Does anyone use the deli cups without a holder to put them in? I use to use a ceramic bowl that I picked up from petco or someplace but I found out that it seems like a slimy film would form over the bottom of the bowl... I switched all my bowls to plastic dog bowls I got from Target and I have yet to run into the slimy film issue with these. I'm just curious as to how people who use deli cups with out a holder keep their snakes from spilling the water all over the tub.

I use the disposable deli cups for my baby tubs. I pop riveted a deli cup to the bottom of the tub on one end and then I just pop in a fresh one every other week. Its great they can't knock them over and I don't have to worry about keeping water bowls cause they are attached to the tub. :D

So, maybe I am ignorant on this but, if the dishes are being cleaned, what does it matter what snake they go back to?

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Originally Posted by MasonC2K

So, maybe I am ignorant on this but, if the dishes are being cleaned, what does it matter what snake they go back to?

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Better safe than sorry.

I use 4" PVC couplers to hold the disposable cups...this way the snakes don't knock them over they just slide them around. When it is time to change their water just pop in a new cup...no mess no fuss.

The cost of the cups new is only about 5 cents in bulk which is cheaper than the soap and time combined to clean them (and there is no risk of soap or bleach not being rinsed away well enough and the snake ingesting it).

I recycle the used ones as well.

For adults I like to use large dog dishes. They add more surface area for higher humidity (very nice in ARS racks), they provide a place for the adults to soak, and they also provide a nice "hide" spot behind the water bowl. That and they are bigger and easier to clean. :)

For hatchlings/juvies I have converted over to the disposable 8oz deli cups from superior enterprises (I hear ARS has them fairly cheap as well ). With alot of hatchlings it is easier and saves time yet also provides the same soaking area and humidity.

So I guess I'm semi-green :D

My 2 cents

Thanks,

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Originally Posted by Morphie

Without a controlled study that provides evidence that snakes who drink from disposable cups are spared a significant risk in comparison with those who drink from ceramic bowls, i will continue to think of people who use disposable as incredibly selfish, and will favor the less wasteful breeders.

If you're referring to the big breeders that i know, you're also talking about people who feed their snakes live prey. While i have no problem with that, there is a risk associated with it, which they are happy to take. I don't think it's a matter of risk mitigation with the waterbowls so much as convenience. A dishwasher makes the risk a non-issue anyway, and it's cheap and easy to use, so there really is no excuse for all the waste.

Hopefully they at least recycle. :taz: :salute: :( :please:

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Do you have a dishwasher that will wash 1000 water dishes a week or the time to hand wash 1000? I don't and won't judge those that don't either. And where does all the soapy water go that's required to clean that many? How green is that?

I personally will be moving to the disposable deli cups soon myself, and I have a very modest collection.

I'm also not sure your point on live prey - I also feed live, always have. I haven't seen any risk in feeding live - over 3000 live prey fed off and not one injury - pretty low risk in my sampling.

I have two waterdishes for each snake, One that is in the tank, and one that is cleaned. When it's cleaning day I just take out the dirty dish, and put the clean one in. Than I clean the dirty one when i have more time. That way i can clean the cages fast and get the snakes in without having to wait for a water dish. I color cordinate too..

but than, i only have a few snakes.

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Without a controlled study that provides evidence that snakes who drink from disposable cups are spared a significant risk in comparison with those who drink from ceramic bowls, i will continue to think of people who use disposable as incredibly selfish, and will favor the less wasteful breeders.

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Most larger breeders go disposable for business reasons they are paying someone or are logging their time when it comes to cleaning.
Now I can store 5000 disposable deli cups in the same foot print that I can 1000 non-disposable bowls then disposable is the way to go. Also if it takes an employee or me 30 seconds to 1 minute to clean and refill one non-disposable but I can toss and fill 30 deli cups in one minute then for the payroll overhead budget its cheaper for the business to go disposable that cost saving is then reflected in the price I have to charge for that animal. Which is better for my customer.

Now if you have the a small collection or the time hey go with crocks or dog bowls all my bigger animals have them but for baby's its much easier to use the deli cups based on the size tub I use instead of trying to find a bowl that will fit.

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Originally Posted by lord jackel

I use 4" PVC couplers to hold the disposable cups...this way the snakes don't knock them over they just slide them around. When it is time to change their water just pop in a new cup...no mess no fuss.

The cost of the cups new is only about 5 cents in bulk which is cheaper than the soap and time combined to clean them (and there is no risk of soap or bleach not being rinsed away well enough and the snake ingesting it).

I recycle the used ones as well.

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oooh...looks like I spurred a debate! I like it.

I did some experimenting with the disposables. I have them in two racks right now just to see how it goes. I went to Lowe's and got the 4" PVC couplers. Of the 4" PVC couplers there are two sizes for different thickness pipes. Both seem to work, but the cup sits better in the thinner coupler. However, it seems like this coupler would be easier to tip over although it hasn't happened yet. Do you use the thick or thin couplers?

Both of the couplers seem too high. They are about 4" tall, and I'm not sure the exact dimensions of the 32 quart tub, but it seems like the snake then only has 2" of clearance to come over the top and drink. Seems like kind of a tight squeeze to me. Anyone else have any thoughts on this??

Does anyone cut these couplers in half? Or use them as is?

I like the green debate on washing/electricity/water vs creation of dishes/landfill waste etc...keep it going!

JonV

We use the PVC couplers for our disposables. We also have run ours through the dishwasher, they came out perfect. Not only are we saving a lot of money rather than buying a bunch of ceramic dishes, we have the option to just quickly run through the dishwasher.

Either way its a win win for us, quick easy changes, option to wash and save money and the environment.

I cut the 4 inch couplers in 1/2. Makes them just barely deeper than the 8oz cups and you get 2 for the price of one! :)

Backup dishes is also a great idea....then you wash when you have time.....same with hides :)

right now we use ceramic bowls.. with 10 animals its worked well for us. our condo does recycle so if it ever came about that we "needed" to use plastic we at least have recycling at our finger tips.. the condo at large recycles anyway which is great... its the sole provider for our newspaper! :gj: so were not having to buy newspaper and its basically recycling someone elses garbage too, shockingly at least 70% of the time the newspapers arent even open!

I bought some deli cups that were #5 plastic, which to the best of my knowledge is not recyclable, at least here in Iowa.

jpman, do you cut them yourself or have them do it at Lowe's? I don't have a band saw.

JonV

There is a nifty and inexpensive tool called a PVC cable saw that works really fast & easy. It is a hand tool, so I wouldn't recommend it for a big breeder who wants to change over all the water dishes all at once. But for a smaller operation or someone who is willing to do the switch gradually, it might be great.

My personal experience with a PVC cable saw is only in cutting smaller pipes, not big 4" ones and not in cutting fittings. However, it is supposed to be good for all those applications as well.

I cut them in 1/2 myself....they might be able to do it at lowes, homedepot, menards, or whereever.

If not you can use a hacksaw or a dremel. I use a dremel but would really like to use something a little faster and less freehand. Hacksaw might be the better way.....if you are up for the exercise :)

I use the bandsaw for the newspaper rolls.......might not be a bad idea to use it on the pvc...hadn't thought of that :)

If you really wanted to be efficient and they cut it for you, you could just get X feet of 4 inch PVC and have them cut 2.5 inch pieces off of it. I might be doing that for the next batch I'm using for the upcoming 08 hatchlings.

I might be able to cut some extra.....just let me know what you need and I can see if I can cut them for you. If it's not very many it wouldn't be a big deal.

Thanks,

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Originally Posted by jpman78

I might be able to cut some extra.....just let me know what you need and I can see if I can cut them for you. If it's not very many it wouldn't be a big deal.

Thanks,

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Cool, do me up 2000 of the 2.5" ones. :-) I like the idea of cutting down a PVC pipe, I'll try that next time I go to Lowes.

JonV

Heres another twist...There is food (and liquid) safe plastic made now that is biodegradable. At a conference the other day, I drank out out a cup that stated right on it that you could compost it.
I've had take-out food containers that said that too.
Pretty cool. :D

The price is probably higher now than the non-biodegradable plastic. But it should come down when more people start using it.

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Originally Posted by nevohraalnavnoj

Cool, do me up 2000 of the 2.5" ones. :-) I like the idea of cutting down a PVC pipe, I'll try that next time I go to Lowes.

JonV

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What size deli cup are you using to put in the 4" pipe?

Justin

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Originally Posted by jkobylka

What size deli cup are you using to put in the 4" pipe?

Justin

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I haven't bought a bunch yet...but I tried 16oz. Maybe a 12oz would be sufficient. What do you use?

JonV

The 4 inch couplers I cut in 1/2 are used for 8 oz deli cups....(about 2-2.5 inches high)

For a 16oz you use the full coupler or could just trim it down a bit if your tub isn't very high......it should probably be more than 2.5 inches :)

The rend to use the disposable cups increasing day by day,.
I thinks its best idea,.

I like them quite a bit.

Most clear disposable deli cups that would be used for water bowls, are (in 2011) polypropylene (PP), which is one of the most recyclable, and recycled plastics currently in use.

So long as the water bowls are consciously recycled, I'd say this is less wasteful on a large scale than running several batches in a dishwasher.
Use plastic cups (just recycle them)!

With a little digging, I'm certain you would be able to find polylactic acid (PLA) AKA corn plastic, deli cups, which are biodegradable. Natureworks is a large producer of PLA. Keep in mind, that some research has shown that during breakdown of PLA, methane gas is released.

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Originally Posted by JoshJP7

My question is how do you keep your snakes from knocking over the deli cups? Ive seen some of BHBs videos where they have like a built in cup holder and some of the new tubs even come with plastic water holders built right in... Does anyone use the deli cups without a holder to put them in? I use to use a ceramic bowl that I picked up from petco or someplace but I found out that it seems like a slimy film would form over the bottom of the bowl... I switched all my bowls to plastic dog bowls I got from Target and I have yet to run into the slimy film issue with these. I'm just curious as to how people who use deli cups with out a holder keep their snakes from spilling the water all over the tub.

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The slimy film is bacteria, which is the reason you need to keep your bowls clean. I found that spring water doesn't funk up so quickly, but I also change the water daily and wash the bowls every 2 days. But then again I can do that because I only have 4 snakes.

The PLA cups are cost effective:

8 oz PLA - $0.109 each, free shipping
12 oz PLA - $0.063 each, free shipping
16 oz PLA - $0.137 each, free shipping

I made the switch over to deli cups a while ago. Now I don't have a large collection whatsoever, but I work a lot and it has saved me a lot of time and worry. Now all I have to do is toss the old and fill the new every week.

I use 4" couplers and 16oz deli cups for my adults and yearlings, 2" coupler and 3oz deli cups (thinking of switching to 2oz deli cups because of tipping issues - but it seems small) for hatchlings. I never have tipping problems with the 16oz cups.

I've found the snake have no problem with 1-2" of space to drink. I actually had a 2300 gram female lodge herself in the dish once when she was new and felt insecure. They have plenty of room!

I use 9 oz solo cups in my 3" couplers and wash them until they wear out.

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk

Healthy Stock, shouldn't be a problem if a bowl from one is washed and put into anothers tub.

I use cholorohexidine on my bowls each time I refill them. Unless you have mites and RIs then you need to do those bowls individually and what not.

But healthy collections shouldnt worry about bowls being swapped around.

I make sure I keep the same bowls in anyway just in case. Never know!

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Originally Posted by Jessica Loesch

I make sure I keep the same bowls in anyway just in case. Never know!

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That states your not 100% sure your collection is healthy. Its just not needed to use same bowls in same tub if your collection is healthy.

I swap bowls all the time once wiped out with cholorohexidine. Nothing will come of it unless your collection is Sick.

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

That states your not 100% sure your collection is healthy. Its just not needed to use same bowls in same tub if your collection is healthy.

I swap bowls all the time once wiped out with cholorohexidine. Nothing will come of it unless your collection is Sick.

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LOL no Rich, I'm just saying. Better be safe than sorry. I don't know how all those diseases pop up and work, and if I had a new snake in QT, I wouldn't want to just wash all the bowls together. Or even now. Because what if a random case of ... RI pops up? I don't know if that happens, so I just play safe.

I clean the cages individually is all, I don't go out of my way to wash them separately. I just clean when needed.

Isn't it funny how a three year old thread can be a topic of debate once someone dredges it up?

I use 4 inch couplers with deli cups. I found a Janitorial supply store that is very inexpensive when I buy in bulk. :).

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Originally Posted by Don

Isn't it funny how a three year old thread can be a topic of debate once someone dredges it up?

I use 4 inch couplers with deli cups. I found a Janitorial supply store that is very inexpensive when I buy in bulk. :).

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I just made the trip to home depot for some 4-inch couplers. i'm looking at superiorshippingsupplies.com for the deli cups, but the 8-oz cups just seem to shallow. do you use the 8-oz or 12-oz size?

Switched about a year ago and haven't looked back. I've tried it all and found these to be the best and most sanitary. I'm all for going green, but I'll go green in other areas of my life if it means my bps have the cleanest conditions and my life is easier.

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Originally Posted by wwmjkd

I just made the trip to home depot for some 4-inch couplers. i'm looking at superiorshippingsupplies.com for the deli cups, but the 8-oz cups just seem to shallow. do you use the 8-oz or 12-oz size?

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I use 16oz containers from Superior in the 4" couplers.

I don't know why you would be cutting down the couplers. The idea is that the coupler is almost as tall as the tub. This allows the snake to drink, however if they were to tip it over it would hit the top of the tub instead of tipping over. If you cut down the height of the coupler then the snake can tip it over and spill the water.

At least that's how it was explained to me.

I personally use these for my smaller snakes: http://www.amazon.com/Dosckocil-Petm...ghtweight+dish and I'm considering buying the bigger ones for my bigger snakes. They have small holes on each side and double as a hide for my smaller snakes. I'm not sure if the bigger ones have a big enough opening but they're super easy to clean. For me, even easier because I put them all in the dishwasher on cleaning day. My dishwasher has a sanitize option and I can fit probably 20 or more of these dishes in there at once. They don't tip over very often but once your snakes start to get bigger they do tend to lean and let some water out. By that time it's probably best to give them a new hide or a bigger water dish. I don't see the need to use disposable if using something else is really just as easy.

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Originally Posted by LizardPants

The PLA cups are cost effective:

8 oz PLA - $0.109 each, free shipping
12 oz PLA - $0.063 each, free shipping
16 oz PLA - $0.137 each, free shipping

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Who's the person doing the math here?

Wow, this thread has been brought back from the dead twice now...

- - - Updated - - -

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Originally Posted by grcforce327

Who's the person doing the math here?

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Considering the math was done almost 2 years ago the prices might have changed since then.