So when I drink water I always like cold water even if I’m in a cold environment. But that makes sense because I’m a warm blooded creature.
On the other hand snakes are cold blooded and they require external warmth so I could see them prefering warm drinking water. At the same time though, in a natural environment any water they drank would be cooler than the air so maybe cooler water would feel more normal. Also in a properly setup terarium a snake has ample access to warmth from other sources so they don’t really need the additional heat from warm drinking water so maybe having cool water would be a nice change and allow better temp regulation. But warm water also has the side benefit of helping boost humidity.
Anyways, this is just what I decided to overthink today. I’m also not talking actually hot or cold, just lukewarm or cool. What do you all think? Would my pet snake prefer to have their water dish topped up with cool or warm water?
I don’t really have an answer but I just want you to know you’re my people. I too will overthink random stuff.
Overthinking has to be my favorite hobby.
Are you sure? Maybe you should reconsider.
Are you sure?
I don’t think your preference for cold water had anything to do with being warm-blooded. I grew up having mostly warm/hot water and still prefer it that way to this day because it’s what I’m used to. I think the majority of Chinese people would tell you the same.
Would my pet snake prefer to have their water dish topped up with cool or warm water?
This calls for an experiment!
I hypothesize warm water. Lowering their temp just to warm back up is probably hard on their system. However, warm tap water sits in the water tank and the old adage is that you’re not supposed to drink it. So warm up cold tap water.
But that makes sense because I’m a warm blooded creature.
It probabily doesn’t. Most likely it’s because what you grew up with. Like drinking water with ice if you’re from the US, or carbonated water if you’re from Germany. Anyway, totally off topic.
I’ve discovered that I find drinking hot water to be very refreshing and hydrating. Just sip from a cup of hot water just like coffee or tea.
Its probably not very hydrating because you can’t just chug half a litre like you can room temp.
Just saying, a preference for cold water even when it’s cold is for sure a learned behaviour IMO.
apparently enjoying hot water is common in east Asia
the folk explanation is that it’s a holdover from when water always needed to be boiled before drinking to kill microbes
the west (mainly Europe) didn’t get that message and decided to purify water by making nearly all of it into beer, which explains a lot lol
That’s an interesting point. I grew up with well water in MN where our ground water temp is about 43F (6C) so I am used to practically ice cold water just being on tap. It makes sense that what you like is going to vary based on what you’re used to.
I think the reason we evolved to prefer cold water is because warm water is more likely to be stagnant and contain dangerous pathogens. The cold water of lakes, streams and springs was much safer for our ancestors.
deleted by creator
Bro relax, they said “I think”
“I think” applies to the reason for an evolutionary trait. They’ve presented that trait as fact.
I’m not claiming it’s for sure an evolved trait, but most people do prefer cold water (and hot water) over lukewarm water. Here’s a paper if your curious: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41266787
My pet snake likes to take a nice long soak after she eats. She also likes to take massive shits in her water. My hunch is that she prefers lukewarm, but too warm makes her freak out. California Kingsnake.
Overall, I’d imagine it depends on the species. A desert snake will be pickier than a snake in more moderate regions.
Mine is a ball python. They seem to prefer basking under the heat lamp after eating. Also they haven’t ever pooped in their water dish that I can remember, but I have had them horf up a partially digested rat in there before. That incident was made even more pleasant by the fact that I had their heat lamp positioned over the water dish at the time (to try and keep humidity up) and it happened while I was sleeping so I didn’t catch it for several hours. So I awoke to my entire house being filled with the miasma of a partially digested rat which had been stewing under a heat lamp for several hours. The smell was indescribable and beyond the imagination of any sane individual.
It’s not really about warm or cold, it’s about how they get the bottle lid off, a snake not being an octopus.Especially now they have those lids-attached set-ups.
