Chaning substrate/cleaning tank

How often should this be done? My snake has pooped once and I cleaned it up out of the substrate and put some new substrate down evenly where the poop was cleaned up from. I've yet to be able to notice urates or actual urine. How often should I take my BP out and clean the tank? How often should I change the substrate?

Thanks.

Well, spot cleaning should be done whenever you see something (like what you described) But, fully cleaning the tank (like taking everything out, baking wood pieces, disinfecting plastic items, changing substrate, etc) I think should be done every few weeks to a month? Don't quote me on it though. I clean my bigger boa's tank more often than the others because she sleeps and defecates underneath the substrate. So, about every three weeks I completely change all her substrate, and since I've got everything out of the tank anyway, I clean all of it. Everyone else I fully clean once a month.

When I spot clean, I always take all the substrate out that was in the vicinity of the poopies or urates. You can generally tell by the color of the substrate. And I clean anything that happened to be nearby (like a wood limb right on top of the pee spot).

I do it every month. Spot cleaning, is done on a regular basis as they poop and pee. They urate when they pee so it gives you an idea of the general area you need to clean. I try my best to thoroughly clean everything, furniture, tank, and fully renewing the substrate after they shed because it gets very moist and presents a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. Pandora likes to poop either in or on top of her hides so I clean those as well or the plants if it seems as though they've come into contact with it. Grab something called Wipe Out by ZooMed. I use it to get rid of that crusty stuff left over from pee when spot cleaning and just put it on a paper towel, wipe and let it dry and then put in fresh substrate. It's also great when thoroughly cleaning the tank.

nice. thanks guys.

What kind of substrate are you using? I use a thin layer of aspen on top of paper towels and that way it makes it easy to see when he has pee'd as urine is unmistakable on paper towels.

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Originally Posted by dreese88

What kind of substrate are you using? I use a thin layer of aspen on top of paper towels and that way it makes it easy to see when he has pee'd as urine is unmistakable on paper towels.

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I'm actually doing the exact same thing. I just can't see the towels unless I lift up the tank and I figured that would stress out the snake...?

If you have a snake bag I'd say take them out of the tank put them in a snake bag or another tank if you have one. I spot clean every time I notice something and a complete changing of subtrate once a month. I also take out the hides and water dish and put them in the dish washer on high heat. Then I hand wash them again and put them back into the tank.