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Never Drinking???

COerriccaRN

COerriccaRN

New member
I got my Snow hatchling about a month ago and have been noticing a few problems with her...

1. She NEVER drinks water. Ever. I would say that she is drinking at night while I am not looking but I don't think she is. I can take her out and hold her nose to the water bowl and she will drink and drink and drink and drink...She drank water the other day for over a minute, maybe two. I figured that she just liked water so I tried a few expeirments. First, I put a small mark on her water bowl at the water level and waited four days. It hadn't moved much (other than just regular evaporation.) I then held her over the water and she drank for 43.2 seconds on a stopwatch. I then set up my computer and webcam to face her cage and recorded her movement all night for four more nights. For two nights, I set the webcam to record only movement (motion activated) and she crawled NEAR the bowl a few times, but never drank any water. For the next two nights I put the record setting on SpeedUp(it records all night and plays back quickly). On both of the recordings she never drank anything. After the four nights of recording I held her nose to the water and she gulped it down for almost 45 seconds (no stopwatch)

2. During feeding time she is TICKED OFF. She rattles her tail, strikes at everyone and everything (even her feeding box!) I'm sure this is normal, but could this be a result of not having much water??

Note: I use ONLY bottled or distilled water for my snakes. Our tap water is extremely metallic and I'm afraid it will hurt my snakes.

What do yall think of this? Problem? Should I worry?
 
is the bowl too tall for her perhaps? I've had babies that are too "dumb" for lack of a better word, to crawl UP into a bowl...perhaps som'thing shallower?

I only actually see mine drink after meals.
 
is the bowl too tall for her perhaps? I've had babies that are too "dumb" for lack of a better word, to crawl UP into a bowl...perhaps som'thing shallower?
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Actually it is pretty small...I dig all the substrate out from under it so it sits almost level with the bedding...She should be able to find it. She crawls all around it. Somtimes right over it without drinking.
 
COerriccaRN said:
Actually it is pretty small...I dig all the substrate out from under it so it sits almost level with the bedding...She should be able to find it. She crawls all around it. Somtimes right over it without drinking.
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In that case look her in the eye and tell her what a pain in the rear she is being...som'times these younguns just need to be set straight.

:shrugs: I dunno...maybe som'one else will have a suggestion. :)
 
In that case look her in the eye and tell her what a pain in the rear she is being...som'times these younguns just need to be set straight.
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As I am holding her over her water bowl waiting for her to finish drinking I sometimes think to myself "Shouldn't I be doing this in ten years. When I have children. Not snakes." It takes all I got not to shake her and yell JUST DRINK YOURSELF YOU LITTLE TURD :D
 
She's drinking just fine when you're not watching - don't sweat it. Most of mine will drink if I hold their snouts in or over the water, but I rarely see them drink apart from that.

If you're worried about dehydration, the signs are sunken eyes and saggy/loose-looking/creased skin. I've only ever seen that in rescues that have been without water for many days though.

And yes, some will show signs of aggression if disturbed whilst eating. Some don't like being watched. In your shoes, I'd take that as a sign that she needs privacy while she's eating and make sure that you leave her in a place where nobody will watch her. Nothing to do with dehydration - just a clue to one of her personal preferences.

Rest assured, she's doing what's normal for any of our Corns i.e. making you worry about absolutely nothing!
 
I've actually never seen my snake drinking from the bowl on its own. It'll occasionally drink from it if I hold it over the bowl. It's lived a while now so I have no doubts it's drinking at night when I'm not watching.
 
I have recorded the tank for four...actually five now...nights in a row and have not seen her drink once though....
 
You've had her for a while now, so any signs of dehydration would be obvious. There really isn't a problem.
 
I agree with Bitsy. It is nothing to worry about. I almost never see my snakes drink.

Just keep the water bowl in the same spot and always keep fresh water in it. The snake will do the natural thing and drink.
 
If she's like a cat she probably wants it a different temperature :grin01: But really, never give any animal distilled water - bottled drinking water/spring water is fine but NEVER distilled. Overtime it leeches minerals out of your animal's body, including calcium.
 
Hmmm... I have to agree with everyone else... unless your snake is showing signs of dehydration she should be fine. I RARELY see my snakes drink (only once with my BP in the year I've owned him) but I'm not worried, I just keep the dish full and clean.
As for holding her snout over/in the water, you're acting like a protective mom! Hahahaha! :p I love it!
 
If you were geographically closer, I'd recommend that you send her to work with me. She'd have an overwhelming desire to drink well before we even got home...
 
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