Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a custom cage for two ball pythons the water bowl/pool is a medium size container that is about 10 quarts. Has anyone set up any type of drain on the bowls to make it easier to drain and refill with fresh water daily. I know the bowls need cleaned if snakes do there duty in them. Question is how did you do yours? And what is the drain im looking for im sure its a plastic one.

>> Question is how did you do yours?

Open cage.
Remove water bowl from cage.
Dump water into waste water receptacle.
Dispose of water bowl.
Fill new bowl.
Place new bowl in cage.
Close cage.

I think timing this I can do it in less than 30 seconds.

*note I use deli-cup as bowl liners, they are less than a penny each.
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Jeremy Payne
JB Reptile

1.0 Snow "Kahl"
0.2 Triple Het Moonglow "Kahl"
0.1 Orange Tail Hypo Het Leopard
1.0 Ghost
0.1 DH Ghost
1.1 "Kahl" Albino
1.0.2 Hypomelenistic
1.3 Pastel Hypo
0.1 Anerthrystic
0.0.2 Normal

0.1.2 Morelia Viridis

the reason im asking this question is because the cage is sorta deep and hard to get to the bowl its built into the floor so it only sticks out of the floor like 2 inches the rest is under the cage.

>>the reason im asking this question is because the cage is sorta deep and hard to get to the bowl its built into the floor so it only sticks out of the floor like 2 inches the rest is under the cage.

If this was for a large Iguana or Monitor, or even a very large Boid. I would say a water dish drain was a necessary evil. However by creating a drain for such a small dish your doing two things.

One your goal is to make it easier which usually leads to laziness. By this I mean it will lead to frequent draining a filling a less cleaning. After all it doesn't look dirty and its so hard to reach in there

Two to properly plumb a drain you will either need fancy plumbing or a separate container below the cage in which to drain things into. This in the case of fancy plumbing make the dish harder to remove from the cage for cleaning. Or in the case of a simple center drain into a dish below, create two dishes in which you need to clean.

In both cases by removing the burdon of having to remove the dish to drain and clean your increasing your work without removing the original task.

Remember in the cases for which I mentioned it being a necessary evil. It wasn't making the task easier it was making the task possible. Having kept large lizards I know what its like to carry a water dish with over 3 gallons of soiled water to a waste receptacle.

I'm sure you have reasons for having the dish recessed into the floor, but perhaps you should look at a pair of tongs to reach in and remove the dish.

There are reasons why people use sparse cages ceramic crock bowls and paper substrate. They all make it simpler to keep clean and by keeping the cage cleaner the animal is healthier.

To give you a personal example I once used cat litter boxes as water dishes for all my large boids. I thought the pros out weighed the cons. Those being in my eyes, more water to lessen the amount of water fills due to evaporation, and to give the animal a soak option. The cons at the time where of course it takes quite a bit of water to fill a cat box, which is heavy and taxing to the already high water bill.

Of course I was in correct. I only created more problems. By lessening the amount of fills I had to do I was less active in the Herp room and therefore less observant of my animals. In turn the larger bowl became a ready toilet for many of the animals I kept, increasing the cleaning/water replacement cycle. Furthermore when the water level become low enough the cat box being lighter than a ceramic crock was easily overturned. Creating a whole new set of flooded cage problems.

The solutions was I know use crock although not ceramic as I can't find a local cheap source. I use the van ness bowls found at Walmart and various other pet stores. While not as heavy as ceramic they had enough weight and were small enough to not allow the large females soak time. This means no more flooded cage. The reduced amount of water meant even when I was lazy the animals got fresh water more frequently as evaporation can empty small bowls very quickly. I have noticed over the years that many of my animals won't drink from water bowls with water reaching a week old. Yet as soon as I replace it with fresh water many a times they take a drink.

Many people think snakes drinking water demonstrates husbandry issues. IMO soaking is more indicative of husbandry issues.

Not to make this a ramble or a lecture but I think in the end the KISS concept rules out, Keep It Simple Stupid. It's best for both you and the collection. And if you do need something always work towards making it easier, not necessarily faster. After all you know what they say about Idle hands....
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Jeremy Payne
JB Reptile

1.0 Snow "Kahl"
0.2 Triple Het Moonglow "Kahl"
0.1 Orange Tail Hypo Het Leopard
1.0 Ghost
0.1 DH Ghost
1.1 "Kahl" Albino
1.0.2 Hypomelenistic
1.3 Pastel Hypo
0.1 Anerthrystic
0.0.2 Normal

0.1.2 Morelia Viridis

I love that acronym - I had forgotten about it. I need a KISS reminder from time to time myself.

But at least I can get to the water bowls..
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Mark

>>I love that acronym - I had forgotten about it. I need a KISS reminder from time to time myself.

I think we all do... I should route a plaque for my shop door. A constant reminder so to say.
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Jeremy Payne
JB Reptile

1.0 Snow "Kahl"
0.2 Triple Het Moonglow "Kahl"
0.1 Orange Tail Hypo Het Leopard
1.0 Ghost
0.1 DH Ghost
1.1 "Kahl" Albino
1.0.2 Hypomelenistic
1.3 Pastel Hypo
0.1 Anerthrystic
0.0.2 Normal

0.1.2 Morelia Viridis

Though probably not the answer you were looking for, Jeremy's replies are well worth considering. Those of us with years of experience and a passion for tinkering can firmly vouch for adhering to the KISS rule.

With that said, a drain solution for you depends on the type of water bowl you have - what it's made out of. If it's plastic or fiberglass and there's nothing underneath it to restrict draining, so that you could use a 5-gallon bucket to drain the water into, you have several options.

The hardest part is going to be achieving an unrestricted drain. While you can easily use PVC fittings & valve, the connection to the water bowl will be slightly raised inside the water bowl because of the needed fitting to attach the drain pipe. Usually not much of a problem as the bowl will/should be cleaned after draining anyway. You can use 1/2", 3/4", 1",... 2", - on up, depending on the size drain you want/need.

Another option is to install a typical PVC sink drain in the water bowl. Will most likely still have a slight height difference between the inside bottom of bowl & the drain. The biggest drawback to doing this is the size hole you'll need to cut/drill in the water bowl.

Later!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

www.natures-signature.com

Our female's tank is deeper than the rest, to keep from spilling water every I suck some up with a turkey baster. I wouldn't even bother trying to rig up some sort of drain to save about 20-30 seconds of my time.