Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
I have noticed my PTS, Flicka, liked it when she has warm water as opposed to cold, or ever room temperature water. I was planning on maybe putting a couple strips of heat tape under the water bowl. I am somewhat hesitant as water heat tape=short. I was in the pet section of Walmart and their was a "heated water bowl". It was basically a stainless steel water bowl attached to a wire. It had a run of the mill cord, but it had a metal coil around it. Would this heated water bowl be a good idea for a PTS? Would the heat tape water bowl work? Would a heated water bowl of any kind be a bad idea? I was planning on hooking the water bowl or the heat tape to a thermostat and keep the water around 90 or so. I hope to hear your comments on this, Josh

My apologies for the typos in my post. I am sure you all can figure out what I am trying to say. Josh

Although your idea sounds good in theory, I do not think it is worth the risk. Specifically, warm water breeds a lot of bacteria. I know that the bacterium Aeromonas is common in water bowls that are not frequently cleaned. I would imagine that heating water to 90 degrees would make bacterial infections more probable. I would instead recommend a more labor-intensive method, where you offer the warm water perhaps every other day, and then throw it out and thoroughly disinfect the container after an hour or so when the water cools.
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Wildlife dies without a sound, the only voice it has is yours.

...the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

Dear Colchicine,

Thank you for such a well-written & thoughtful piece to jrbl. I wanted to add, however, that the environment itself that is condusive to the well-being of Corucia in captivity also spawns bacterias & other 'little' problems. It is awful here in South Carolina during the winter months to maintain the temps consistently as well as the high humidity. A good rule of thumb for those of us in the cooler & dryer climates during the winter is absolute cleanliness when it comes to husbandry techniques.

I do heat my 'swimming pools' during the winter to maintain 80-85 degrees. In the long-run, it tends to be less work than Corucia defecating all over the place when their preference is 'going' in their pools anyway. I change their water everyday & disinfect the containers everyday. This is not an easy task with 30 PTS but well worth going the extra mile. Like you said, why take the risk?

Also, during the winter, with several humidifiers going, a daily wipe down of every enclosure is required & necessary to prevent bacterias/ mold. I read an article years ago in Vivarium magazine where the author disinfected by using grain alcohol. Ever since then, i've employed the use of the cheapest Vodka I could find followed by sponging it off with warm water & I have never had a problem.

jrbl, I use Kane heat mats. They are pretty expensive but waterproof & very resilient to the wears & tears of reptile behavior. To be on the safest side, I also place a piece of cage carpeting over the mat just to insure our Corucia friends, with their long, sharp nails cannot puncture that protective cover. I run the cord out of the side of the enclosure to further safe guard against any potential accidents & then I place a grommet to seal the hole. These mats work really great in conjunction with a thermostat or rheostat. Just place your pool or soaking container on top of the mat & you're good to go. My skinks love those 16"-18" plastic plant saucers that are about 2" deep or so.

Good luck,

Sherri