Reptile & Amphibian Forums

With the conversation below it made me think about if i have ever seen my Timor drink. Now, he is very shy and will usually hide from his basking spot as soon as he sees any movement but I have not seen him drink or anywhere near his water dish for that matter.

So my question (survey)is; How many of you have actually witnessed your animals drinking?

Thanks,
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Scott
"The most powerful person never has to use it"

I've seen my albigs both drinking, all four Waters drinking, the nile drinking, the Sav drinking. I have never seen the Crocs drinking. But whenever I am in the building they just lie still and watch.

>>So my question (survey)is; How many of you have actually >>witnessed your animals drinking?

I've seen a number of my monitors drink. They stick their head in the water dish and pump their throat in and out. I've not yet seen the monitors I am keeping now drink, however - they are Timors and tend to either slowly retreat or run for cover when they see me.

Luke

Yeah my Timor does the same thing...I water the cage everyother day....and change the water but I have yet to see him actually drink....He is my only monitor....But i do see my B&W tegu drink all the time
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Scott
"The most powerful person never has to use it"

You guys seem to really be missing the point of the conversation below. It seems as though you are focused apon your animals drinking from some water bowl......

think outside the box,
Mike.

His question was has anyone actually seen their monitors drinking. of course I dampen or soak their substrates with sprinkling cans and water hoses. And monitor the humidity inside their, um, boxes so they don't loose too much H2o through respiration. But that was not Snake eye's question. I keep three jungle species and two savannah species. No desert types. I don't know if that guy's pretty little lizards died of dehydration. I don't know what they died of. No necropsy was done. But it was sure a sad thing.

Sure...if that is the question, I have seen my lizards drink. But in what context does this matter????? None.

Cheers,
Mike.

Yes I have seen my savannah monitor drink from a water bowl. I keep water dishes in all my reptile and amphibian cages including my tokay geckos cage.... Personally I like them to have water if they want it in that fashion. Honestly I do not understand why any lizard would die from having a dish with water in it. But I am a practical pet keeper not a veternarian or a scientist.

The reason I posted this was just to see if they actually do drink out of their water dish or bowl....or if just offering them the choices of humidity is enough to sustain them. I dont know if my timor needs the water dish...it sits there....maybe just being there helps with the humidity along with the spraying of his enclosure. Maybe the food i am offering along with theat also helps hydrate him enough where he doesnt need to drink.

I get the conversation below. As long as we as the keepers are offering the right choices in temps and humidity and are following and providing what our monitors want then we are doing what is best for the animals

Guess I wanted to see if we even need water dishes at all.
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Scott
"The most powerful person never has to use it"

[Guess I wanted to see if we even need water dishes at all.]

A thousand percent- "yes". I think it's potentially, dangerous to suggest they might not need clean drinking water available at all times. (Esp' for newer keepers)

I suspect shyer types of monitors do not drink in front of us. And if a reptile is in total renal failure from any cause whether it drinks or not it is going to die. So heck yes don't let it run out of water no matter if you see it drink or not.

Now there is some context to the question!

I think they would thrive with the right support, I am not there yet hahahahaha. Ill keep putting the water bowl in there even if they dont use it, which I rarely see anyway. I guess it makes me feel better than they, haha.

Takecare!
Mike.

I am definatley not there either for my monitor I own a couple HL's that wont drink out of a water dish....and are the only animals that i dont have a water dish for.....but i still water them down daily
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Scott
"The most powerful person never has to use it"

The point is that the water dish present, and the lizard drinking only means that the lizard is drinking water, not that the lizard may be losing way too much moisture from its body. The environment the lizard lives in should allow it to hold or retain moisture, if not they dehydrate. When they dehydrate from the environment not allowing them to retain it, no amount of drinking or soaking will restore it.
Fix the leak, dont pump more water in.

Actually the point is if you see the lizard drink that means the water source is suitable . That is good to know as some animals for what ever reason are fussy about drinking. It's always nice to get confirmation . Some animals are very shy so you might not ever catch them drinking but fresh water should always be made available.

Drinking does restores lost moisture that's what drinking is. The problem is if conditions are poor many animals won't drink enough to compensate . The flip side is some animals live in good environments but don't use the water available. The bottom line is you have be familiar with what a healthy animal looks and acts like that's the best indicator of how things are going.

Ernie Eison
WESTWOOD ACRES REPTILE FARM INC.