Lazy taking care of snakes

I have 4 ball pythons and I have been very lazy with them, I need to find a better way to clean their snake rack without it being so much of a chore now that I work 50-60 hours a week, I use paper towel as substrate and am in need of better water dishes and possibly a change of substrate as the paper towel is not the best.

I am also a little worried about the ink in news paper, is it toxic?

Suggestions & cleaning tips would be great!

Also note: I use F10 super concentrate for cleaning
Thanks!!!

4 snakes is an easy cleanup. My favorite way to do it, paper towel substrate, heavy plastic water bowls, clean with water. Sounds like you may just be burned out. I'll take over your collection if you need a break :)

I work 50 to 60 hours a week as well and maintain 42 reptiles, mainly snakes. I really enjoy looking at everyone of my animals on a daily basis to see how they are doing and if their cage needs attention, how they are growing, and making sure everyone is in good health. I also enjoy keeping detailed electronic records of each animals activity. This allows me to evaluate the animals growth, if they are defecating like they should be, or if they are refusing food etc. I still enjoy the first snake I ever owned, which is a imported adult normal ball python I purchased about 27 years ago. For me, the hobby has just gotten more exciting every year.

I switched from newspaper to aspen bedding several years ago for all my snakes. I have a baby Surinam boa that prefers to hide in the aspen instead of the hide box. Usually you just see her head like she is waiting for some prey to come by. This allows me to spot clean daily and change substrate every two weeks depending on often and how much the animal defecated. A heavy water dish will help with accidental spills.

The most important thing about any hobby you pursue is to enjoy it.

Yeah that was going to be my suggestion is switch to a bark type substrate. Aspen, cypress, eco earth, anything like that should let you be able to spot clean the tubs between full changes. I think most people reduce their deep clean days to once or twice a month that way. Much easier than having to do a full substrate change and tub wipe down every time poop happens.

Well I just was introduced by a member on this forum to a company called Uline which has packing products. One is rolled packing paper. I bought the 50lb paper, 18" wide roll that is over 1500 feet long and a roll holder with cutter. The rolls cost about $21 and the cutter about $40 but the cutter is a one time purchase. it should give me about 500 changes. All I do is pull it to length and cut it off. The paper is wide enough and I cut it long enough that it bends up on all sides of the tub which essentially catches most of the deposits the snake leaves, so intermittent cleaning is easy. As far as a water dish, most dollar stores carry clear glass heart shaped candy dishes that are about 5" across and 2" high. They are great because they don't tip and they cost....... wait for it........ one dollar, cuz it's the dollar store.

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Originally Posted by rlditmars

Well I just was introduced by a member on this forum to a company called Uline which has packing products. One is rolled packing paper. I bought the 50lb paper, 18" wide roll that is over 1500 feet long and a roll holder with cutter. The rolls cost about $21 and the cutter about $40 but the cutter is a one time purchase. it should give me about 500 changes. All I do is pull it to length and cut it off. The paper is wide enough and I cut it long enough that it bends up on all sides of the tub which essentially catches most of the deposits the snake leaves, so intermittent cleaning is easy. As far as a water dish, most dollar stores carry clear glass heart shaped candy dishes that are about 5" across and 2" high. They are great because they don't tip and they cost....... wait for it........ one dollar, cuz it's the dollar store.

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I work for Blue Cross Blue Shield in Florida and they have a print mail facility that I get that same paper for free. I made my own roll holder out of pvc pipe and cut it to size using a razor knife. I also picked up all of my water bowls from the dollar store. I use some for water and the others I put a cut out in them flip them upside down and bam, a hide...lol

Thanks for all the great tips!!

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I switched from newspaper to aspen bedding several years ago for all my snakes.

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I had originally been using aspen although it worried me that I couldn't see if they had peed or pooped and they would just end up laying in it all month,

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I really enjoy looking at everyone of my animals on a daily basis to see how they are doing and if their cage needs attention, how they are growing, and making sure everyone is in good health.

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I like this, I'm going to incorporate this into my daily routine

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As far as a water dish, most dollar stores carry clear glass heart shaped candy dishes that are about 5" across and 2" high. They are great because they don't tip and they cost....... wait for it........ one dollar, cuz it's the dollar store.

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I'm going to pick some up today!

Thanks!