Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My son and I have a growing collection of Kenyan Sand Boas, and we've been wondering what the best method for providing water would be. Our snakes are housed in racks with slide-out tubs. Our bedding is Aspen (Sani-Chips). The snakes immediately burrow into the bedding when placed in the tub, and anything light-weight containing water is going to get spilled. I'm considering buying heavy ceramic bowls for each tub, and I've thought about using velcro to secure the bowl to the bottom of the tub. Unfortunately I think the Sani-Chips will probably prevent the velcro from working well. What works for you? Do you provide water 24/7 or do you put it in the enclosure only periodically?

Any thoughts or suggestions greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Steve

Heavy plastic bowls...don't remember what brand, but they are sold in the pet section. Ceramic and glass can be hard to clean right. Water is provided 24/7, with the water frequently changed and bowl cleaned.

For larger cages I use the large pet watering bowls. Again, plastic for conviencence.

Can't say I've ever really had a problem with watering kenyans in the last 12 years. I wouldn't use tupperware, but other than that, pretty much anything will work.
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Travis Rose
1.3 Rough Scale Sand Boas
1.2 Indian sand boas
13.33 Kenyan Sand Boas
X.X Nervous Rats
X.X Paranoid Mice
0.3 Dogs
0.2 Cats
X.X Fish
0.1 Very understanding wife
2.0 Future Snake Lovers

Thanks a million for your reply. I had been thinking about using the small stoneware pet dishes because they're heavy and seemed less likely to spill, but if the plastic ones are easier to clean then that sounds like a good way to go. No problems with them getting tipped over?

Steve

No, no problems with tipping over. Pretty easy and simple. Sand boas CAN go a few days without water, but if you are using aspen or sani chips, why deprive them of it? Both of those substrates are very dry, and the added humidity will help their shed cycles without causing undo problems.

I dissagree with sand boas going weeks without water. I think you are taking too much of a risk. Mine are well fed, and if they go more than 2 days without water they all run to the water bowl (figuratively speaking of course). It has a lot to do with how humid the environment is. If your house has 85% humidity then the snakes can go longer without water...if its in the 30's then they can't last nearly as long. Common sense...you need a lot more water in the desert than you do in a jungle....even when the temperature is the same... (not all deserts are hot).
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Travis Rose
1.3 Rough Scale Sand Boas
1.2 Indian sand boas
13.33 Kenyan Sand Boas
X.X Nervous Rats
X.X Paranoid Mice
0.3 Dogs
0.2 Cats
X.X Fish
0.1 Very understanding wife
2.0 Future Snake Lovers

I give all my snakes water using disposable plastic deli cups. They are relatively cheap (in bulk) and I don't ever have to was a waterbowl.

In order to secure them in place, I use 4 inch diameter sleeves of PVC pipe. I don't know exactly what they are called, but these are 4 inch diameter pieces of PVC that are about 2 inches long. They are for joining PVC as far as I can tell.
You can either silicone or screw the PVC piece to the corner/side of the cage or just stand/glue it in the middle of the cage and then put the waterbowl in it. Then add your shavings to the cage and the snake can't burrow beneath the bowl.

I never have problems with spilled waterbowls anymore, and I don't have to wash them either!
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

Chris,

That's sheer genius. Thanks for the great idea!

Steve

I use a similar method to Chris H. You can find PVC fittings to help secure water bowls.

-Chris
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Christopher E. Smith
Contact
Captive Bred Herps
Wildlife Research & Consulting Services, LLC

I took a trip to the local Home Depot last night to have a look. I found that the 4" caps intended for perforated drainage (sewer) line just fit the 4.5" wide deli cups. The 4" couplers worked also, but they're too tall to fit well inside my 28 quart tubs. This will work great for my larger snakes and tubs. I'm going to try to find some smaller cups and pipe to fit in my 6 quart and 12 quart tubs.

Steve

Sandboas and rosyboas do not need to drink hardly at all if well fed. And racks help restrict water loss by limiting evaporation. So why have water in there all the time when they only need it sporadically?

My method for such snakes for the last 5 yrs or so has been the following:

1) Place a med-large bowl of water in the cage, remove it either later that day or the next day. Don't offer it again for a week or two. Trust me, they will survive just fine. In fact, rosies do better this way (where I live anyway).

2) Sometimes when cleaning cages more thoroughly, I will keep a plastic container with about 1/2 inch of water. I place the snake in there while I change the bedding in the cage. If the snake is thirsty, the snake will drink immediately. When Im done cleaning, the snake goes back in the cage.

Prior to the above methods, I found myself changing water all the time for snakes that rarely used it. What is the point of that? The benefit of the new method is no water spills and easier maintenance. Plus having heavy dishes in rack is not the best thing if the rack is thin material.
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Mark

Thanks Mark. I've got Rosies and Kenyans also.

Steve