Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I keep most of my smaller snakes on paper towel substrate as it keeps my nice acrylic caging cleaner. But if I use plastic cups for water the snakes have a tendancy to knock over the water bowl(I swear they do it on purpose sometimes)and make a big mess. In a effort to thwart this I cut holes in the top of small rubbermaids, cheese dip containers, etc.
Anyways, I had my first bad experience last year when my only dbl het hypo stripe coastal female first pushed the empty container onto the heat tape then coiled inside so tightly she couldnt escape...and cooked inside it! Well yesterday I had a 09 king(about 2')coil tightly in one full of water and drown! Needless to say I wont be using these cups again, and I suggest others to be careful...

Sorry to hear that! Have you had episodes with the ready made deli lids with prepunched 2" access holes?
Trial and error does not designate neglegence ,Back to the drawing board i guess ...C

Trial and error for sure, but not much difference between my home made and pre mades. They are handy as its difficult for the snakes to knock over and spill.....but not worth these problems for sure.

I can picture a snake in an iverted covered deli bowl pushing the upside down perimeter (Missing the center hole)till exaustion on heat tape. L8r C

I think they push on the outside but dont know enough to get to the center where the whole is....its a flaw that more than one has succumbed to in my care so I hope it doesnt happen to anyone else.

Yeah, snake's aren't very bright sometimes, and it would act like a "one-way" crab trap once in a while.

Sorrt to hear about that tragedy Jeff. You might try gluing a small section of PVC pipe(just slightly taller than the deli cup) down to the bottom of the enclosure, then dropping a deli cup down inside it. The lip of the deli cup rests on top of the PVC pipe section. I have seen people use that idea with great success before.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Doug, stuff happens as they say. I have tried to glue them to small tiles but the glue breaks and they still tip em over. I dont want to glue anything down inside, it wont last either.

I have done all those things too with some success. It depends on a lot of things regarding the prep too though, like taking some sandpaper to the smooth surface of both pieces to be glued, and making sure they are rough, while still being nice and flat. Or a course grinding wheel to rough the tile up a bit after scribing the profile onto the tile so you know exactly where to rough it up. Where there is a will, there is usually a good way to successfully do things. I have also drilled very tiny "pilot holes" through the bottom of an enclosure and into the thin cross-section of schedule 40 PVC cap to anchor it firmly in place. You can of course also glue a flat cap on it too if you want. I GUARANTEE you ain't gettin THAT to budge!..LOL!

Being a professional carpenter for decades, and applying lots of ideas and having lots of the right tools, one can do just about anything. It just takes a bit of thought, and the right method is all.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

I had one drowning when I first started using the bowls with lids but since I began making the holes much wider I have not had any incidents. I don't use heat tapes on any of my setups however, so I'll keep that in mind, thanks!

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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

Jeff,

Sorry to hear about that! Always sucks to lose a snake.

I use PVC fittings (1" to 2" expander) to hold a plastic souffle cup. The cup fits perfectly inside, and I have only had 1 snake manage to spill it's water in 1.5 years of using this method.

They are about $1 at Menards. I know that adds up quickly when we have many many babies to use them for, but I believe it's worth it. I have saved myself so much time and headaches with these things!

Here is a picture of each piece separately:

And here they are put together:

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Aubrey Ross

©
www.SlipstreamSerpents.com

The PVC is for sure the way to go. I also use the souffle cups for hatchlings and juvies. For adults, get a long piece of PVC and cut the sections yourself. Drop in a deli cup (the same ones used to ship), and you have an instant spill proof bowl. I believe both the cups and the PVC is the 4" variety. And I use the medium height cup. Even my adult Ball Pythons can't spill it, and if the snake defecates in it, you have a disposable bowl.

This has saved me so much time and trouble it's silly. The PVC isn't expensive, and you don't have to clean out nasty crocks hoping you've gotten them clean enough. Just toss out the deli cup and use a new one after awhile.
www.serpenteer.com

Sorry to hear that, Jeff. I solved the knocked water dishes problem by siliconing plastic tubs (tupperware, butter tubs) to the bottom of the enclosures and slipping another container of the same size into them. When it comes time to wash them, I have extras so I can slip a clean one in there and switch them out as needed. I think you can see what I mean in this picture.

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Diego

SWCHR

Where are you stationed? Virginia still ?

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wake me when its april

Doug L

Eeeep! I just got a bunch of those. I don't use them as water bowls but as moss boxes for humidity hides. Now I'm all ascared
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

usually if you just limit using them to low in height shoeboxes they can't turn over completely trapping the snake inside. You can also try the taller 8oz.? deli cup if the ones you use are too shallow.

Sorry. I just reread Jeffs original post. We are not talking about the same thing.

Jeff, I am sorry to hear about your losses.
On the other hand, many valuable suggestions are being made in this thread.
I use tall cups, so that in a sweater box the lid presses against the cup and cannot be moved by the snake.
The snakes go in/out through two holes I make on opposite sides of the cup, never had problems with this
David

>I do something similar with my larger snakes in racks...balls and baby retics...get a rubbermaid that's nearly the same height as the rack and melt two holes in it...I place it against the back wall longwise so it's got 2 sides not against a wall...one hole per side. works great.
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

I just glue a plastic cup to the bottom of the tub, and then just nest another cup inside of it, which I then fill with water.
Jeff