my rosy and water

[backwater]

good day to all. i've had my rosy for about a year. he's in a 10 gal with aspen and moss substrate. i keep his body temp at about 80F. my ambient humidity, <25%.my snake is healthy and doing fine. my question. i've read differing thoughts on water in the cage. most seem to advise against it. i've followed that. i had my critter out on my spider/snake table, roaming around. he discovered a small puddle of water, drank and crawled thru it till gone. so i put a small water dish in his cage. the water dish got dumped, he's been living in the moist aspen for 3 days! has anyone have an experience like this?

[chairman]

Aspen doesn't do well when wet, I'd recommend changing out the substrate. You can also switch to eco earth for substrate, that would do better with occasional spills.

My understanding of rosy boa care is that you need to offer a water dish at least once a month, usually a couple days before a feeding. Others suggest offering a water dish a couple days before every feeding. I'd be inclined to offer more frequently than less frequently.

[royalfan94]

I have had two Rosys in the past, and always leave water in the cage in a bottom-weighted bowl. Usually pretty shallow water, at that. The weighted bowl is the secret: they'll flip about any water dish trying to get underneath it to hide, no matter how many hides they already have. I park it on the bottom of the enclosure with no substrate beneath it and lower the level of substrate around it.

Admittedly, most of my snakes I've had since the late 90s have been royals, who play in water and like a full dish.

I'm of the opinion that as a pet, they have a right to water whenever they desire. They have landed themselves in a top-notch environment where water is available year round, there's always a warm spot, and prey runs plentifully. I don't leave any of my reptiles without water unless I'm directly intending to clean their cage within the next few hours. Even during the two to three month period where the temps get lowered in the cages for "hibernation", water is still available.