I use the same exact bowls. I honestly can't imagine the weight harming the snake unless it was dropped from a decent height. I put in a good amount of due diligence when deciding whether or not to use them. The sides are not rigid, but not flimsy either. They have some give. The bottom of the "bowl" itself is pretty much flush with the exterior edges, so weight distribution would be much more even than would be required to do damage if set down relatively level. Otherwise, the angle of the bowl would be too extreme and the water would pour out everywhere, lightening the weight of the bowl drastically.
I'm not sure what the injury/deformation could be since I have no experience there, but highly doubt the bowl was cause for the injury.
Obviously, that's just my two cents based on my experience with those exact warer bowls.
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