Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was just feeding all my kings/milks and found a Floridana male dead in his water tupperware. I've never seen anything like it... can only assume he fell asleep in there and drowned. He had shed recently and was otherwise perfectly healthy. The only other thing I can think of is he drank poop water a few weeks ago and got septicemia. The water he died in was fresh, I just changed it within the week.

Him dieing had nothing to do with the water bowl and drowning.
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You don't know that as fact. I have heard of people using small tupperware or other lidded containers with a small whole cut into the middle of the lid to help prevent it from spilling. Then when the snake crawls in, the water level rises because of the snake's added body volume up to the very top of the lid, and they desperately search along the side to escape, not being "smart" enough to go back out the CENTER hole they came in from......so they drown.

No, not real common, but a definite reality that has happened before once in a great while.

I'm not saying it couldn't have died from something else either, I'm just saying it "can" and has happened before and is a possiblity. Without a necropsy, nobody will know exactly what went on there.

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

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Yes it was in fact a tupperware with a hole cut in the lid, so I have to agree that this theory is a very real possibility. If the tupperware was 3/4 full and the snake filled the rest when he crawled in, it could have happened just like you said.

I don't see any other options really, the animal appeared perfectly healthy. He started out smaller than the female and had been outgrowing her recently.

I'll get rid of the other tupperwares that are like that immediately and replace them with regular water bowls. Horrible lesson learned.

Not uncommon at all, just a sad accident.
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Gerard

"Sleep my friend and you will see, your dreams are my reality. "

www.livebaitclip.com

GONE FISHING!!!

Yes I'm 99% sure this is what happened now. I filled the water "extra full" because the weather was warm and I didn't want it to evaporate too fast. It was a small tupperware and a fairly large snake. It all makes perfect sense now.

Yes, things like this can definitely happen when the catastrophic stage is set just so......really sad. This post might very well save some other snake's lives that have the very same scenario set in place.

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

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Yes, I had a few other tupperwares like that, just took the lids off them. So it will never happen again here. My good intentions to make sure the snake had plenty of water backfired and killed it. It was a good one too. This sucks.

Yeah, it does suck...... and all of us have done something in the past regarding our snakes at one time or another that we wished we would have done very differently afterwards. I guess it's just part of life's tough learning prossess and all one can really do is make sure the same thing doesn't ever happen again as you did. Like you mentioned and I fully agree, some lessons can come at a very high cost.

Best of luck with all the others regardless of what recently happened.......

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

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

I had a couple babies die last year like that. I started to solder holes on the side of the tupperware to keep the water from getting too high. And now I don't use lids on dishes at all.
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www.brooksi.com

Wellyes i didn't think of a hole cut in tupperware. I only use bowls.

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Me too, old school, hahahaha!!!!!
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Gerard

"Sleep my friend and you will see, your dreams are my reality. "

www.livebaitclip.com

GONE FISHING!!!

Yeah it never occured to me to use a lid with a hole for a larger kingsnake.

i once bought those little throw away water cups with a lid and hole that fit into deli cups. Then i discovered the babies had drowned in them because they got stuck. Ever since then i never used a water bowl or any size with a lid and hole.

darn Superior enterprises is selling this stuff.
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We just use to cut holes in delis before you could buy them pre made. Works good for pet rocks!
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Gerard

"Sleep my friend and you will see, your dreams are my reality. "

www.livebaitclip.com

GONE FISHING!!!

Wow, good call, Doug. I had never thought about that. I don't use bowls like that, but its a good thing to know.
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