Dealing with pee in a rack

[engywook]

I recently moved both of my pythons into plastic tubs with a newspaper substrate; in generaly, it's been great -- humidity & temperatures are stable and they seem happy. The only problem is that the tubs can be _too_ good at keeping in the humidity: when the snakes pee they produce a decent volume of liquid, which takes the humidity up to 95-98% (from 55%).

It's normally not a big deal, because I clean up the mess and everything's fine; however, I'll be away for a week and the only person who can check on them for me is only willing to check temp/humidity, not to clean & feed...so if they pee while I'm away, they might end up stuck in very high humidity for a while.

I'm thinking about switching to a coconut substrate while I'm away, since it would absorb more of the liquid. (If it works nicely, I might even make it a permanent switch.) Has anyone else had a similar problem? Any other suggestions?

[pslsnakes]

That wouldnt be my only worry.

If you let the urine sit and fume up, especially with the few air holes in the tub...it will create a nemonia (SP) and might start a respitory illness.

[elevatethis]

Next best thing to getting someone to clean for you would be to have that person keep an eye on things and maybe just slide a tub open for a few minutes to get fresh air in the tub; a fan in the room to keep the air moving may help too.

FWIW, I left for a week and came home to some dirty tubs, without any ill affects. Try doubling up on layers of newspaper too to absorb as much liquid as possible.