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Swimming

Bloodred Dad!

Bloodred Dad!

Proud Parent
Ok. I had an interesting thought the other day about snakes and the water. I'd also heard in many books and through different people and experiences that corns swim and often like to go for the big soak in their water dishes. Does this really happen that often? And as far as swimming, is it something they're born with ability to do (like a dog) or do they have to learn? I'm sure there aren't so many corns that get the opportunity to swim, but if you have one that does, I'd be especially curious to see a few pictures. I wonder if they enjoy swimming...

There's also soaking in the dish... does this only happen when the snake needs relief from the heat or a splash of humidity? Does it happen when there isn't anything wrong? Maybe my corn just doesn't like the water..... We live on the lake and he doesn't like the water...huh.... :)
 
I've put Kieran in the bathtub before, but I can't say that he enjoyed it. But it was the only way to make sure that he didn't musk moi :) I recently threatened to put him in the bathtub again for exercise to build up an appetite if he didn't start eating again... not sure sure if he took me serious or not, but he's finally eating again :)
 
I, too, have wondered how often they actually go swimming. I've only seen one of mine in her water dish, and that was only once. As far as knowing how, I can't imagine that it isn't instinctive.
 
Nanci said:
Here are two of my snakes that went swimming for the first time. No one sank!

http://tinyurl.com/4j4bou

http://tinyurl.com/4fhrys
Click to expand...

Wow! GREAT PICTURES!!!!!

I had a real bad experience one time. I put Sampson in the bath tub for the first time a month or so back; he just sat there. A few more seconds passed by and he was still sitting there, halfway under the water and halfway above. I went to pick him up. My heart skipped a beat when I snatched a limp snake. My heart was almost racing out of my chest. He finally started moving after what seemed like hours (only seconds) right up my arm. I haven't done it since. I was curious to see what other experiences were like. It's amazing that your snakes even got in the water! That's awsome!!!

Caryl said:
I, too, have wondered how often they actually go swimming. I've only seen one of mine in her water dish, and that was only once. As far as knowing how, I can't imagine that it isn't instinctive.
Click to expand...

Hehehe... I'm so glad you're someone who thinks along the same lines!!! Do you think there's any particular reason that she was in her bowl? So are you saying that you think that it is a learned behavior or that it's innate? why did Sampson sink... or why did whatever happened with him happen? What do you think? As well, I imagine that if it isn't innate, it's certainly a quickly learned obstacle. Corns sure are curious and they do seem to display signs associative learning to a degree— through an extended period of time and experience.

Interesting...
 
I put my amel in the tub about a week ago and all she wanted was to get the heck out of there. As for soaking in the water dish, i have never seen her do that, but she does hide under the water dish where the water goes after she spills it.
 
Bloodred Dad! said:
I had a real bad experience one time. I put Sampson in the bath tub for the first time a month or so back; he just sat there. A few more seconds passed by and he was still sitting there, halfway under the water and halfway above. ]
Click to expand...


I've seen them do that when they are drinking. It's scary how long they stay under.
 
I'm not sure if i believe it, but i once read in a Corn Snake book (can't remember the title, doh!) that Rat snakes are capable of holding their breath for up to an hour....

I'd be interested (if i had more corns) in setting up a few different temperature baths, to see if that had any affect on the snakes bathing preferences....

All the best

Tom
 
My snake loves soaking in her tub and I've been considering taking her for a swim in the tub as I hear it's a good exercise for building muscle and strength but do you think the chlorine content could be harmful? All the water she gets in her bowl is filtered and chlorine-free, like I drink. :) Also, what about people with really hard water or that use a water softener? I know it's perfectly fine for humans but would snakes be more sensitive to additives in the water? Just a question I've been pondering for a few days. I can't wait to hear everyone-else's thoughts on it.
 
krtemt said:
I put my amel in the tub about a week ago and all she wanted was to get the heck out of there. As for soaking in the water dish, i have never seen her do that, but she does hide under the water dish where the water goes after she spills it.
Click to expand...



Jake hides under his water dish too. :laugh: It's on the cool side of my viv, and since he is not that long and can still fit in his tank, I only have one "real" hide on the warm side of the viv. I guess he made the water dish his cool place to hide. When his viv gets upgraded this fall he will have a "real" hide on the cool side. :)
 
Gunn, my littlest one, has a water dish that I picked up from the puppy section of Petco that has a hollow ring on the inside (its ceramic) and an opening so that he can hide under there without tunneling. Not sure what I'm going to do if he ever outgrows it..... of course, at the rate he's growing that could take years...sigh....
 
I think Alcedonia likes to have little swims. I put her in a huge rolling under the bed sterilite tub with about an inch of water. Just enough so that can actually float and swim but if she were to get tired she can easily rest on the floor with her head poking out. Also since it comes with wheels the grooves on the inside of the tube from the wheels make like a little platform she can rest her head on. She swims and soaks for about the first 10mins then the next 5mins she starts trying to escape right after she's pooped. lol I only take her out when it gets really hot.

Here's a video of her last swim just before I took her back out.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v227/blueturtle/?action=view&current=MOV02527.flv

I was trying to embed it but couldn't figure it out. Enjoy!! :)

--Aida
 
krtemt said:
I put my amel in the tub about a week ago and all she wanted was to get the heck out of there. As for soaking in the water dish, i have never seen her do that, but she does hide under the water dish where the water goes after she spills it.
Click to expand...
It's funny you say that, Sampson does too. He has a lot of hides (I would say) but he still loves to cool down under his water dish. Up under it is the coolest and the most moist substrate. It's where he sleeps (during the day) a lot. In my opinion, the more areas of cover, the more options are avaliable and the more help they have with temperature regulation the better quality of life they will have.

The most I've seen him "spill" or even be around the water dish is when I've seen him drink for minutes at a time. Gulping away. lol. It's a shame my snake is so active at night. During the day, he's coiled up under vines or under a pile of fossilized rocks. At night he's climbing around. He's so active at night. When I'm up late, every time I look at him, he's in a different place :)

TWGarland said:
I'm not sure if i believe it, but i once read in a Corn Snake book (can't remember the title, doh!) that Rat snakes are capable of holding their breath for up to an hour....

I'd be interested (if i had more corns) in setting up a few different temperature baths, to see if that had any affect on the snakes bathing preferences....
Click to expand...

It's incredible that snakes can do that!!! I actually think that I've done that experiment before on accident. I don't notice anything different so you'll have to let me know how yours turns out.

I really would like him to swim, I think that would be great for him. But we'll see what happens...
 
you know i just found out why my baby has been hiding under her water dish alot lately, besides the desert heat. I looked at her before i went to work and she was in the blue, or rather pink. But back to the swimming, I put her in a dish last night with warm water and she wanted nothing to do with it. Same with the bath tub. But i did notice that if she had a hold of me then it wasnt a big deal, but the minute she was all away in the water she freaked out.
 
my sunglow often gets in her tub and just sits there in a knot with her head poking out

and my rat snake loves the water he climbs in it and can be there for hours
 
durtis said:
my sunglow often gets in her tub and just sits there in a knot with her head poking out

and my rat snake loves the water he climbs in it and can be there for hours
Click to expand...

What I would like to know, is why you are using the logo of my business as your avatar?
 
I've been having troubles and not able to get online for a few days. My butter, who was the only one who willing spent time in her water dish, was there for reasons only she knows. It was only once, and I'm not sure what it was about. I hadn't had her long at that point. She wasn't blue, humidity and temps were good.....I wasn't worried about it, but I was rather hoping I'd gotten one who likes to swim. Nope.

Last night Zipporah, the anery hurricane motley, was - as usual - seeking an escape route. She miscalculated something, fell in her water dish, and s made quite a lot of noise with her efforts to get out of it ASAP. I guess she doesn't like swimming.
 
i've got a 15 yr old corn who likes so soak herself in her water bowl all the time, so you prolly shouldn't worry about it at all, there's even been a few times where she's left her head submerged for a short while (that was a little nerve wracking at first).

as for the tub soak, i've only done it once (this summer) and it was because she was eggbound and i was hoping it'd help loosen her up. while it didn't get the egg out right away it did make her release the largest defication i've ever seen come from her, so beware that you might need to be prepared for a cleanup. The egg did get released the next day though so i can only assume this had something to with it as it had been stuck for over a week.
 
acidiccrayfish said:
i've got a 15 yr old corn who likes so soak herself in her water bowl all the time, so you prolly shouldn't worry about it at all, there's even been a few times where she's left her head submerged for a short while (that was a little nerve wracking at first).
Click to expand...

Did she do it when she was younger, or is an "older snake" thing? Yeh, it seems that swimming is a bit of a stressing ordeal. I'm glad I'm able to stimulate him in other ways.lol.

durtis said:
my sunglow often gets in her tub and just sits there in a knot with her head poking out
Click to expand...
That would be great to see Sampson do that. I've even tried putting him down partially in the water dish when he goes back in the viv, but he is so focused on escaping that it doesn't take. :(
 
Corn snakes (and other rat snakes) do occasionally swim in the wild, but usually it is for a purpose.

Q: Why did the corn snake cross the river?
A: To get to the other side

They are not aquatic in nature like water snakes, but they will enter water to avoid predators etc.
Snakes in captivity seem to soak fairly often, but other than aquatic snakes, it isn't really observed that much in wild snakes.

I suspect that much of their water dish soaking is compensation for wild conditions that we can't or don't meet in their captive husbandry.

I suspect (don't know, but would love to hear) that corns provided with adequate humidity chambers will soak in their water dish less often.
 
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