Copper in water

[Bogertophis]

I have seen a video or two about putting a penny in the water bowl. Copper naturally kills bacteria. I clean my snakes bowls often I don't think there would be any bacteria?

Bacteria is pretty much everywhere all the time...some beneficial too, & some not so good, and some right after you cleaned your snake bowls, especially if you stuck your finger in the water, lol. Snakes evolved in the real world with plenty of bacteria- all kinds- but if you clean the water bowl on a regular basis (not necessarily every day, but fairly often & for sure quickly any time they defecate in it) then I wouldn't worry. My snakes tend to live long healthy lives & none have ever had a copper penny in their bowls, though I'd love to see some real research on this, not just speculation. In our current situation with COVID, I've been seeing advertisements for face masks (for humans, not for snakes, lol) with "copper wires woven into the fabric" to help fight off the virus, & then there's also the copper bracelet theory (you wear them & they take care of your arthritis pain...?) & sorry to say, I'm not convinced of either of those, so call me skeptical about the penny in the water too.

I just looked but found no answers on Snopes, but here's a pertinent article: https://www.insider.com/does-copper-...ms-and-viruses
The key thing though is CONTACT, & I don't see how a penny in water is going to do the trick...germs are mostly in contact with WATER, not the
copper, & the same goes for copper wires woven into medical masks...what are the odds that the virus actually contacts the copper when there's
SO much more space without it? You cannot expect viruses & bacteria to steer their way over to touch the copper for you, much less sit there
politely for four hours. Call me skeptical about the effectiveness...