Do i really need a water bowl

[beardeddragongirl]

I give my beardie a weekly bath (and usually drinks too), and he never uses or even goes in his water bowl.. am i allowed to take out the water bowl? its literally no use in his tank.

 

[Feline]

I think what you're doing sounds fine and you don't have to have a water dish in the tank if he doesn't even touch it. The water dish is primarily for some humidity if your Beardie doesn't drink out of it. My Beardie doesn't drink from his water dish so I just stopped putting one in his tank because it's one more thing that I have to clean, not to mention it takes up quite a bit of space because I have an extra large reptile bowl. I soak my reptiles 2-3x/week; the Beardie hates it while the tortoises could care less.

 

[Sauzo]

I don't use a water dish. Just a bath twice a week and an eyedropper of water if Harley looks thirsty. She gets a lot of her water from the Reptiworms I feed her cause I throw em in a dish of water to wash off the substrate and then give em to her.

 

[cstevens90]

I have read that they don't need a water bowl as long as they are bathed and you mist them. I personally have a water bowl in there all the time just because my bearded dragon seems to enjoy his ( I have no idea why lol)

 

[Killzone3265]

^ they dont really need to be misted either, it helps with shed though. but bathing every few days seems to be the best way to go, its how i've been doing it for months with skittles

 

[cstevens90]

I don't mist ether I just bath him a and he has his water bowl. I have just seen several people say to mist them tho.

 

[jacody]

no misting.. it doesn't accomplish much other than being messy.. soaks are the way to go where they're absorbing water through the vent.. water in the tank is not necessary.. if you're beardie doesn't drink from the bath they prob. won't in their viv either..

 

[KristineM]

No water dish. No misting. Not here anyway...we just bathe (daily during sheds). Although, we've always done a bath or soak every day as our guy is pretty young and it has just become part of his daily routine. I also offer him water from a dropper if he seems thirsty Never mist (if you choose to mist at all) inside the viv. It will raise humidity and can cause upper respiratory problems and even infections.

If your baby doesn't need the water anyway, just take it out

 

[Sauzo]

Same here, bath during shedding and eye dropper if she seems thirsty but I usually soak her Reptiworms in water prior to feeding anyways so she gets most of her water from them.

 

[KristineM]

Misting is a huge debate...honestly. Some swear by it and others absolutely will not most anything but the greens outside of the viv before placing them in for a little extra hydration and to keep the veggies fresh longer. I am of the "no misting" belief. It IS each individual's choice though. Soaking is best, as it has been stated, they absorb the water through their vents and a dropper is great if the beardie will take the drops offered

 

[Kilana]

I started off with a water bowl that Enkou just ran through and otherwise ignored. So I've just been doing regular soaks and he seems fine. I'm thinking I'll need to get an eyedropper in case, but for the most part I dribble a little water by hand on his nose and he licks it up, or he just soaks. Hasn't been a problem so far. I also sometimes add a little extra moisture in his salads, like drizzling a little water on the top after putting them in his bowl, so when he eats his greens he's getting some water off of there.

 

[Spartan06]

When I first joined the board I was told to get rid of the water dish because it could raise the humidity level and if too much water was put in the bowl that our baby could drown.

I do soaks every two or three days. The way I judge if we should be doing soaks more frequently is by her poops. The way I understand it beardies don't urinate and they release everything in their poo. Ours is always *watery* without being runny like diarrhea, if that makes any sense. The only time I've increased her soaks is if that starts to look less wet. I use a Pampered Chef chopper to chop up greens at least once a day and I think as long as the greens are fresh she is also getting water from them. I've never used a dropper for water but I've never seen her look like she needs it either. When we first brought her home I didn't know to soak her and the first few times I did it she drank, but I can't even remember the last time I saw her drink during one of her soaks so I am assuming she is getting what she needs from the combination of her greens and her soaks.