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Spot Cleaning Substrate

Twoboyz

Twoboyz

New member
Hi,

I have a new set up from Zilla. It's the Deluxe Snake Kit. It came with a bag of douglas fir bark, which is dark brown. My question is about spot cleaning. With such dark bark, how can you tell where he "made a mess" if you know what I mean. Would it just be better to get a light colored bedding so it's easier to see where the messes are?

Thanks
 
I'd toss the fir bark and get a bag of shredded aspen or aspen chips (sani-chips). It's a whole lot easier.
 
Thanks. Unfortunately he just picked my son's hand to do it on so it was easy to see! Fun times.
 
I like the aspen for a lot of reasons, but the lighter color can actually make it harder to find the urates sometimes IMHO.

As for spot cleaning, it's fine. I think that's what most of do. Personally I remove waste daily - assuming I find it, of course! - and completely strip the vivs quarterly.
 
I am planning on switching over to sanichips soon. I did pick up a small bag of the ultra white carefresh last night though because they were currently out of sanichips. See how that goes, but it's too expensive to use in the long run.

I have grown tired of aspen shavings everywhere. I don't think I'll have the same problem with sanichips and definitely not with the carefresh.
 
I'm noticing an odor already and it's only been a week since we have set up the tank. I'm not sure if it's just the smell of the snake in general or if we have just missed some spot cleaning because we can't see it on the dark bark chips. The tank is in my son's room with the door closed during the day, which is a relatively small space, so maybe it's just trapped in there and more noticable. I'm wondering, do you have to be really diligent about spot cleaning to replace all the bedding only once a quarter?

I have lots of questions since I'm such a novice...I appreciate the helpful hints.

Twoboyz
 
I have never used bark chips - is the smell perhaps the chips themselves? I've had 5 snakes in a small 9x9 room with aspen bedding - I cleaned their vivs about a month ago (which is when I got several of them) and just spot-clean as necessary. There is no odor at all, so I'm thinking it's not the room size... I hear that corn snakes will "musk" when they are nervous. Musk is supposedly difficult to see and has a strong odor to it. So it could be that, too.
 
Twoboyz said:
I'm noticing an odor already and it's only been a week since we have set up the tank. I'm not sure if it's just the smell of the snake in general or if we have just missed some spot cleaning because we can't see it on the dark bark chips. The tank is in my son's room with the door closed during the day, which is a relatively small space, so maybe it's just trapped in there and more noticable. I'm wondering, do you have to be really diligent about spot cleaning to replace all the bedding only once a quarter?

I have lots of questions since I'm such a novice...I appreciate the helpful hints.

Twoboyz
Click to expand...

Considering snake mess is much like avian excrement its probably better to have aspen... it usually clumps together(urate), and you can see the solid matter (black) easily.
 
It was sort of runny and dark brown when he did it on my sons hand. Does the substrate clump? Not the excrement itself? Also, how often do they do it? I read they only have one bowel movement after eating a Pinky. Does it happen pretty much 48 hours after they eat roughly? That's about exactly when this happened.
 
Iv actually had the exact same question and Twoboyz. Its been like 4 days since i last fed my little guy and I cant find the poop anywhere (his substrate is reptibark). I think im going to run out and buy some aspen from the local pet store. Also, is it a terrible idea to only clean their cage once a month and not to spot clean in between? Will the snake get sick or is that okay to do?
 
I have a very hard time seeing Pineapple's waste, he is a small snake, about 10g right now. If he goes in a paper towel while I'm holding him, it's noticeable while it's wet - but it dries up to almost nothing - I saw a paper towel in the garbage a few days later and the waste was super small after drying up.

I've just been going through the tank once in awhile or so and sifting out anything darkish then mixing in some fresh bedding. I haven't had him very long so I haven't done a full clean yet. I haven't noticed any smell with either of my snakes.
 
aspen in my opinion is the only way to go. I used to use newspaper and then astro turf. Both were very messy. I can't believe how easy aspen is to spot clean. I just lift out the clump where the crap is and spot clean the glass. No smell at all but then again my snake is only a baby. My king snake crap stunk terribly.
 
yea aspen does seem nice. The only thing is my little guy lovesss to burrow, Any recommended techniques to find stuff hidden in the bottom of the substrate? Should i just sift through once in a while, and if I find something then im lucky? And of course clean it fully about once a month
 
Sift through it and hope you're lucky. Exactly why it needs to be cleaned out totally every now and then.

Personally, I am switching to newspaper when I use up the rest of the bag I have. Should be better to clean and less dusty.
 
I've used Repti-Bark before and had no problem with it.

Yes, the substrate clumps if you use something like aspen shavings. This occurs within a few hours. If you wait too long the urates dry to a powdery consistency and sift through the substrate.

I have a few burrowers who make finding the waste a challenge. I've decided that one of the best things about moving a lot of mine to a rack is the ability to see the underside of their vivs and find those "hidden treasures!" For the ones that are in large, heavy or otherwise nearly immovable vivs, it helps if you can remember when they voided previously. Mine often go in the same place, or nearly the same place.
 
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