Snake tried to "drown itself"???

[Bogertophis]

Sounds like he was craving more humidity- snakes do swim quite well, now & then they may like to soak, & they can also hold their breath a LOT longer than we can, so even if the sides of the bowl (narrower at the top) confused him, I'm pretty sure he still would have stuck his nose up to the surface of the water if you haven't stepped in. Can you post a pic of this bowl? Might be a good idea to change it anyway just because it's awkward for his use, but I doubt he was in any real danger.

FYI, one of my large rat snakes uses a water "bowl" that's actually a clear glass cannister (for sugar or cookies, etc- but obviously I don't use the lid). The sides are straight up & down, about 6" deep, & there is a rim around the top where it's narrower than the sides by about a half an inch. My snake has no problem using this- & I gave it to her mainly because after she lays double-clutches of eggs every summer, she really loves to deep-soak in it for quite a while (usually several days), with nothing out of the water but her nose. I know my snake is not a BP, but I'm just trying to illustrate that our snakes often know what they need, whether or not we do. I suspect you didn't need to panic about this.