• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Is a fountain a good idea?

M

Mary-Beth

New member
I was thinking of making a fountain for my corns and I was wondering if there is any reason why I should NOT. I would be using safe products and covering all holes with screening. thanks
 
As long as it's kept clean I don't see how it could be a problem. Can anybody else see glaring flaws with it? (I'm running on 2 hours of sleep and my brain is turned off so...)

I don't think running water would stress them. In fact, it might even do the opposite. Having the "white noise" of the pump and water going might help dampen sounds and vibrations that would stress them out?

Anyway, if you do this I'd love to see some pics.
 
The big drawback:

Snake poop in the water (which will happen) is highly caustic to little pump parts. I've used one with lizards but they are alot of work to keep clean and filled up.
 
ahhhhhhh
i hadn't thought about poop
do you think very fine mesh would pervent the fecal matter from going in? :idea:
 
Naah, the poop would just liquify and circulate through all the same. I think it'd be very pretty but better suited to chameleons or frogs. Nice idea though.
 
princess said:
Naah, the poop would just liquify and circulate through all the same. I think it'd be very pretty but better suited to chameleons or frogs. Nice idea though.
Click to expand...

Do they like their water still and not moving?

ps - I had frogs and toads for years and i would not recomend putting a submersible type pump fountain in with them. They poop more then you would believe! and always in the water lol, and it has the tendency to be ahhhhhhh - chunky. :grin01:
 
Personally I wouldn't use one, simply because of the cleaning factor. While they may be easy to clean (for the most part), a simple bowl would be MUCH easier.
 
The other factoer with fontains id the raised humidity level, for a boa yeah as they need more humidity (generally speaking of course) then corn snakes do. Thoughts people as this is what i was told about 4-5 years ago when i thinking along the same line.
 
OK everyone, It takes alot to stress out a corn snake. A fountain will not by anymeans stress one out. Fountains are great for any snake. Bacteria will not grow as fast as still water would. Most people change the water dish every day when its not nessasary. You could change the water dish once a week and there will be no problem. So if you deside to get a fountain you dont have to change the water for atleast 1-2 weeks. I know ill get flack for that but I know its ok. All you new snake owners will say every day but that a load of crap. I own 56 corn snakes, 2 blue tongue skinks, and I have three young children running around the house on a daily basis, and my animals dont get stressed. So having running water in the viv is ok.
 
i put a small filter in a one gallon dish for my spoiled female cuz i love her. i just add water to it every day and clean it when she poops in it, which is every 2 weeks or so. it works great and has been running for about 2.5 years straight with the same parts.
 
Would you drink 1 week old water? Corns LOVE fresh water, so I say change it daily, atleast one little guy will be thankful.
 
Just so everyone knows there is one greater risk to having a fountain and dealing with bacteria. Legionella which is transmitted through airconditioning systems fountains etc. What this bacteria does is will get into the air and be inhaled. So as far as bacteria go there is an increased risk. The only thing I am unaware of is the ability for the snake to contract legionella ie how susceptible is it. So I mean it is a risk and some other bacteria won't grow as well do to the flow of the water system. If you could somehow have a filter I would highly recomend that. Good luck with the project though if you go through with it. Sounds really cool
 
countMEout said:
Just so everyone knows there is one greater risk to having a fountain and dealing with bacteria. Legionella which is transmitted through airconditioning systems fountains etc. What this bacteria does is will get into the air and be inhaled. So as far as bacteria go there is an increased risk.
Click to expand...

Does that apply to any fountian?
I have several in my living room already. :eek1:
 
Well as long as proper chlorination is taking place then you are fine as that will control most bacteria. The problem begins when you neglect your fountain, pool, air conditioning system(mainly hotels for the ac) but the real problem is neglect of the system or not correctly taking care of the system itself. So i do not think you should have an issue if you are filtering and cylcing the water properly. So keep the chlorine pumping and everything should be fine.
 
MichaelBoyko said:
Would you drink 1 week old water? Corns LOVE fresh water, so I say change it daily, atleast one little guy will be thankful.
Click to expand...

If the water is circulated all the time, then yes I would drink two week old water.
 
MichaelBoyko said:
Exactly...

Of course I was referring to water standing for 1 week.
Click to expand...

If you have ever watched your snake drink you will notice they dont drink every day. The ones iv seen seem to drink after eating or before, sometimes they just have a drink for the heck of it. Water left in the viv depending on if you have a heat source over or under it, will need changed every couple of days. My set up is all day the only heat source is a uth(under tank heater), the water dish is on the cold side. Every couple of days I check the water for slim, if there is some present then I change the water. If not I leave it for a couple of more days. Snakes dont drink every day so you dont need to change it every day.
 
And if a tree falls in the woods and there's no one around...

The problem I was referring to with the fountain (bacteria) isn't just in the bowl, where the snake drinks from. You fill a reservoir, the water goes into a dish, then back up a tube, and through the reservoir again (and back into the dish). No matter how much you keep the tray clean, bacteria will work it's way into both the tube and reservoir.

While it might look neat, I can't see anything positive about them.

And for the record, I see my snake drinking all the time. Sometimes twice. That bowl definitely gets gross if I leave it more than a couple days.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top