Small Problem

[Vengeance]

In about a months time I'm going on a week vacation. Now my problem is I'll have 5 snakes at that point and since I have just recently moved, I don't know anyone in the area well enough that I would be willing to trust them to come into my house and change the water, or even if they would be comfortable with it. My family lives too far away to make the trip and also they will be with me for 3 outta the 7 days as we are going to a weading for my cousin. So my question is this.....


Would this make a suitable temporary solution for the week that I am gone?


http://www.petsmart.com/media/ps/images/products/detail/large/March04/lg_5972_366f7.jpg

I'm going to attach it to the side of the cage to make sure it doesn't get tipped over and I know the best option is to get someone to come in mabye two or three times over the course of that week to change the water, but I'm trying to look at worse case scenarios here in case there is no one avilable to do that. What are your thoughts?

[Kury]

I'm not sure if it will work, I would imagine it could...

The only problem I can see easily, is that that particular water dispenser doesn't hold much. I have one for one of my geckos, and including the heat, and the gecko, the water is gone pretty fast...

If the water bottle inside would hold a bit more, I imagine it'd work....

[mykee]

You can very easily leave the water for a week without worry. The Africans don't run out into the jungles and make sure there's fresh water every 3 days, so I 'm guessing they won't die from you having week-old water for them to drink. They'll survive, I swear.

[Brent Strande]

I see no prob with leaving the water for a week while on vacation... thats one of the things that I love about snakes. My problem is the feeders that I have here... water bottles can't last more than two days!

[Corey Woods]

They will be fine for a week.........just top up all their water dishes before you go.

Corey
PS They could technically go without water for a full week.......they'd been slightly dehydrated but still alive..........but why stress them for no reason.

[Vengeance]

Thats good to hear, thanks. I feel better now knowing that I can leave a water dish with them for a week, rather then have someone I don't trust 100% come in and possibly not put the lid on the cage back on properly.

[RandyRemington]

Maybe get a 2nd (perhaps larger) water bowl for each. I found some cheap ceramic bowls too heavy to tip over at Kohls. A nice thing about two bowls is it's less likely both will get spilled or soiled.

You could also do a dry (no pun intended) run a few weeks before you go. Try filling the bowls and monitor them for a week to see if they will run out or spill or any other problems.

How’s your weather? Will your house be the right temp while you are gone? Is your heating/cooling reliable?

Supposedly dehydration has been known to cause gout (I think that was it, due to build up of uric acid) some time much later. Of course there are some species like the Trans-Pecos Rat Snake that some recommend never watering (apparently they get their water from food and don’t feed well with open water) so it probably varies from species to species.

[Vengeance]

I've got a month to see how fast the water evaporates from the dish while in the cage so I'll see how it goes. All of the snakes besides the Cali King will be Ball pythons. Some will be only about 3 - 4 months old, not sure if this makes a differance when it comes to avilablity of fresh water. 3 of the cages are controlled by a propritonal thermostat, so I have no worries there about tempatures. Haven't decided if I'm going to leave the Air Con on or not while we are gone. But Temps are pretty stable in the house so I'm not to worried about that.

[rwg]

If your snakes aren't in the habit of pooing in their water, I wouldn't even hesitate to leave them for a week with a large heavy water dish. I use large "pottery" dog dishes that even my 4.5 foot bullsnake cant push around. Even if they did soil it or spill it, they'll be okay for the remainder of the week. Put 2 dishes in if you're worried about it.

rg