Who doesn't use a water bowl?

[DestinyLynette]

Thankfully, none of mine are bowl-tippers. Hoping it stays that way! My big girl has the jumbo ceramic dish from Reptile Basics, and the little ones have small crock bowls- theirs aren't big enough to totally soak it, but I don't think that's necessary. I mostly use my bowls for humidity, but I see them drink fairly often. My bee does it a lot, I'll try to take a snap of him. My nephew caught him in the act once and he thought it was the coolest thing

If your bowls are heavy, maybe try oddly shaped bowls, or what someone on here suggested about siliconing it down?

Now if only we could figure out how to prevent poop-sailing...

[Mike41793]

How often do you handle your snakes?

Not very often. Everyone gets held a few times a week for cleaning but other than that i don't bother them much.

[wwmjkd]

Ha! Just caught another one while I was walking by! .... Like I said, for the next two days, like clock work! lol

you have some very nice enclosures. that lighting makes all the difference.

In your opinion they aren't negotiable. I think it is. I KNOW i've seen someone post that balls get most of their fluids from the prey they eat, which would make water bowls in their enclosures all the time unnecessary. They just haven't seen this thread i guess. We think we know everything about keeping them, but there's still plenty to learn

Mike, I've seen this as well in a few places, including this forum, a number of times. unfortunately, I can't recall exactly where or when, and I certainly don't remember whether it was based on any kind of study or just a statement someone made without anything to back it up other than their snakes simply not dying due to kidney failure.

I will say that it makes some sense intuitively, at least for royals. they don't require water daily, rats/mice do contain plenty of hydration, especially if you're defrosting them in warm water, and obviously a female snake in Africa won't leave her eggs to go for a drink if she gets thirsty. it probably doesn't pose a serious health risk as an experiment if you're feeding smaller meals every few days and keep to the schedule. however, any concerns I have boil down to the captive keeping vs. wild animal issue. an animal in the wild without immediate, 24/7 access to water is simply a different situation from a captive snake relying only on its next meal from its keeper. there's no way of telling whether the amount of moisture in rodents that would suffice in the wild might be tantamount to deprivation in captivity. you have different humidity parameters, you use newspaper instead of African soil, instead of rain you mist as you see necessary, you're feeding frozen rodents that might be more desiccated due to the freezing process, etc. as with any other husbandry issue, we're only able to approximate the conditions that they require to survive. obviously the guidelines are meant to give everyone a baseline for best practices, and I wouldn't presume to tell someone with your experience not to attempt it. hell I'd be interested to see your results, but I also don't think I'd do it myself.

finally, not to beat a dead horse, but try a PVC coupler too. I don't know why exactly, maybe it's because they can slide around, but they work. go to home depot, buy one 4'' coupler, and put in in your worst snake's tub. I'll mail you a deli cup so you don't have to eat a full sleeve of them if it doesn't work out. I would be surprised if you continue to have problems. I had plenty of dumped bowls before I switched over, and the only one to flood her tub in a year and a half was a cranky and gravid female who just wanted to be a destructive ass that day.

[Poseidon]

Not very often. Everyone gets held a few times a week for cleaning but other than that i don't bother them much.

Maybe messing with two or three a bunch to see if that changes their water bowl flipping behavior?

[bcr229]

I kinda missed this thread, but I definitely see my snakes drink fairly often with perfect humidity.

These are the ones I buy at Dollar Tree, they're great. Haven't had anyone manage to tip one. You can order them and pick up in store, I've never ordered a case personally, just bought individually from the store
http://www.dollartree.com/Sturdy-Sto...2654/index.pro

We had a Dollar Tree open up nearby last year so I decided to stop in and check out the pet water bowls since having extras around is never a bad thing. I saw the ones in your link but wasn't too impressed as several on the shelf had cracks.

I considered these round black plastic bowls - http://www.dollartree.com/Heavy-Duty...?zipCode=60436 - but they smelled weird, almost like a chemical/rubber smell so I wonder if they offgas a bit?

I did pick up some of the large size melamine bowls - http://www.dollartree.com/household/...3610/index.pro - as they seemed pretty durable and are lightweight. Also the base is wider than the top, which should make them harder to tip over. They don't hold a ton of water, but since I check everyone twice daily and top off water as needed that shouldn't be an issue.

[satomi325]

I considered these round black plastic bowls - http://www.dollartree.com/Heavy-Duty...?zipCode=60436 - but they smelled weird, almost like a chemical/rubber smell so I wonder i.

I use these ones. Mine never had a weird chemical odor.
Never had a smell at all really.

They are great for sub adults and younger. They are much too light for the adults and get tipped often.


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[NYHC4LIFE8899]

My ghost rarely seems to drink,but always drinks after a big meal,always..on occasion when he comes out at night to explore,I'll see him drink water,even just do a quick full body swim through it.

[TurkeyPython]

I give my ball a large shallow water dish (exo-terra? I think) no problems at all. I feed him out of His tank though and the dish is kinda heavy and ,because its shallow, usually spills a bit when it is taken out so...

[AllieKin]

This probably wouldn't work for your snakes, but I use Ramekins, similar to these:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Serveware/15819193

They are cheap and somewhat heavy. Perfect for my snakes.

However, I do have an idea for you - not sure if it would work. I give most of my snakes a (somewhat small) PVC pipe that they love to squeeze themselves into. Not only is it adorable behavior that I get to watch, but I think they spend a lot of time arranging and rearranging themselves inside it (or just sitting contentedly inside the tube). It is an easy way to give your snakes something they like to do, in case the tipping behavior is boredom. Just an idea! :)

[M&NSnakeDen]

This probably wouldn't work for your snakes, but I use Ramekins, similar to these:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Serveware/15819193

They are cheap and somewhat heavy. Perfect for my snakes.

However, I do have an idea for you - not sure if it would work. I give most of my snakes a (somewhat small) PVC pipe that they love to squeeze themselves into. Not only is it adorable behavior that I get to watch, but I think they spend a lot of time arranging and rearranging themselves inside it (or just sitting contentedly inside the tube). It is an easy way to give your snakes something they like to do, in case the tipping behavior is boredom. Just an idea!

I use those exact Ramekins too. No tipping since getting them in summer! Love it.

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