Help getting rid of the smell..

I have 3 ball pythons right now, soon to be 5. And I am having a difficult time getting rid of the smell after one or all of them use the bathroom. Any good tips on reducing or eliminating the smell? They are kept in my bedroom so it can be a little strong and my room mate is not a fan of the smells leaking into the main area of the house.

thanks.

What are you using for substrate?

As long as I clean it up throughly and leave no residue behind, the odor disappears quickly. it sounds like bad housekeeping! Take the snake out and really clean the enclosure after a poop. I usually spot-clean urine, but sometimes if it is a larger pee, I will just clean the whole enclosure.

I don't think bad housekeeping, that sounds a bit rude IMO.

I have only one snake and just one dump from him has me gagging and the whole room stunk up after cleaning, so I can understand dealing with 3. I give his cage a really good clean and if weather permits I just open a window and that deals with the smell quickly. If not, I use an air purifier. I have a dog, rats, and my snake in just one room, so the air purifier really does the trick eliminating smells.

As soon as they go to the bathroom, clean it so the odor doesn't really have time to linger.

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Originally Posted by PythonBabes

I don't think bad housekeeping, that sounds a bit rude IMO.

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Apologies, I meant to say "insufficient cleaning." :P

Also, snakes don't "go to the bathroom". They defecate and urinate.
They don't even have a bathroom, unless they crap in their water bowl....I guess that counts as "going to the bathrooM.":rofl:

The poop of my BP is not smelly at all. I don,t even notice that he pooped through the smell. I have to search for it. As i said almost no smell, and he poops after the third or fourth meal. Not that often

If the smell is really that bad then you should consider more frequent spot cleanings and wipe downs of the enclosure. Also , there is a product called "Natures Miracle" specifically to target urine and feces odors. It's chemical makeup is based on a enzyme formulation that is pretty safe for animals. However the mode of action is to remove stains and smells enzymatIcally which is purportedly more effective than just perfuming it over. Petco, Petsmart, and Petland all sell the products.

An air filter/purifier can also help. I run one of these in each of my snake rooms, but the fan is noisy so you may want a different model in your bedroom unless you really like white noise:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...a-7b8786e59436

I have almost never has a smell in my snake enclosures at home or at work. At work is more common since the substrate is wood shavings. I clean those weekly so no smell. Home I spot clean and there is never a smell. What is your substrate and how often are you cleaning? This just seems odd to me.

I am surprised to see this post - even when I had a room full of snakes I never had any odors whatsoever. I primarily use paper substrate and the whole cage gets changed out each and every poop or urine.

I would switch to the Uline indented kraft paper to ensure you are catching every pooper as it happens. Something must be lingering in the cage for it to smell like that and that can't be healthy for your snake either.

So...you guys are saying that snake poop doesn't stink ??

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Originally Posted by PythonBabes

So...you guys are saying that snake poop doesn't stink ??

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Shouldn't be that bad. I have 2 and even if they both poop at the same time I don't have an odor as bad you describe. I don't even smell it until I open the enclosure (both have their own AP T8), if I even smell it. Spot clean and good to go. Now, my 2 year old toddler (human of course), she can stink up the whole house and it lingers.


Side note: I use Reptichip and it absorbs liquid and odor quite well.

I have never smelled it in any of my enclosures. I'm sure if I picked it up and sniffed it it would lol

Well, as far as I'm concerned, a snake's poop stinks, don't really know what's going on with you people saying that it doesn't lol. Very similar to dog poop, stinky.

Could be anything. Maybe you have a more sensitive nose. Maybe it's the food, digestion, temps, humidity, really anything. Sorry us people don't have stinky poos from our snakes. Or stellar noses to smell it.

in the two years at my job I have had dozens of snakes including balls, Kings, corns and rainbow boas. If I didnt clean weekly I "might" get a hint of pee. Never poop and that's with 4 snakes to one enclosure. (Yes I know, I know...that many snakes in one enclosure..I have no control over that at my job.)

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Originally Posted by PythonBabes

So...you guys are saying that snake poop doesn't stink ??

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Of course it does, until it is cleaned up. After a retic bowel movement my whole house may end up stinking.

Now that said, it's not as bad as walking into a home with a cat litter box but the furry felines have also used the carpet, walls, furniture... :puke:

Note: if your snake's urine or feces suddenly starts to smell really rank and there hasn't been a change in feeder types, that can indicate a problem with the internal organs and you should take it to a vet.

Okay, thank you one person gets what I'm saying. The poop stinks before it is cleaned.

What I'm getting is that the other people are saying that their snake's poop has NO smell, which is confusing.

Mine's poop has little to no smell at all. It's actually a game to try and find all his poop because there is no odor announcing it. He also never has runny or non solid poop and I clean out all waste and remove wet substrate as soon as I can. Never have had an issue in years of owning him.

Maybe I'm just more sensitive to smells. As soon as he goes I can smell it and I've mentioned it and had other people in the same room asking me what smell am I talking about haha.

Same with how I usually can't stand to be in someone's house who has a cat or multiple cata, even of they use all those fancy odor blocking litters, I can still smell it and it'll bother me. Good thing my cats go outside like my dogs lol.

Mine will have some odor right when it is "fresh". The only time I've had a really stinky poo was when I fed my boa chicks... Man...the smell. I'd say if the poo smells horrendous, or is very runny / diarrhea like, then you might need to go in to the vet for a fecal or something just in case.

If you have lingering odor in the cage, I'd suggest doing larger spot cleaning (removing all the poo but also a large area of substrate around it) and possibly using something like a vinegar / water solution to clean the enclosure. Some plastics can absorb odor and that may help. My parents have a litter box for their cat that is like this. 2 weeks after first using it (with daily scooping) and the plastic had already absorbed enough bad odor to smell like vomit...even with fresh liter in it. I have been using a litter box for 7 years now without any residual odor because of the type of plastic (it gets scooped daily).

As soon as I walk into my house, I know if my defecated that day. If I'm in the same room, I can usually smell the urine as well. I use F10sc cleaner/disinfectant and when cleaning the tank, I remove and wash the plastic hides/water bowls with soapy water, then spray the enclosure down with diluted F10sc, let it set for about 4-5 minutes, and wipe everything down. That disinfectant is the best I've ever used and it kills odors almost immediately. It seems pricey, but it lasts a long time. Definitely worth checking into.

I know what works for one, may not work for another... I have an AP T8 enclosure and use kraft indented paper as a substrate. I imagine if you're using something loose, urine or feces could linger if the entire substrate isn't removed, the enclosure disinfected, and then new substrate added.

Best of luck on finding something that works for you.

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Originally Posted by PythonBabes

Well, as far as I'm concerned, a snake's poop stinks, don't really know what's going on with you people saying that it doesn't lol. Very similar to dog poop, stinky.

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Of course it stinks but I've never had it permeate my living space. When I open the cage and smell anything funky I immediately change out the cage and we are good to go. No lingering odor at all.

But then again, I use indented kraft paper so it gets changed out completely every time someone messes. Plus, I use disinfectant wipes on the surface of the cage where the poop laid.

Just saying - I've never had any odors in my house. I don't think I would want to keep snakes if that was the case. Yuck.....

So as soon as you clean the poop the smell just automatically leaves? Not one bit of smell around the cage right after you've cleaned it? That doesn't make sense to me.

Sorry if I sound stupid, I just don't get it lol.

Nope, no lingering odor at all. I guess I just got lucky. LOL

I only ever smell if something happened if I open the cage and the act was recent, otherwise I have to actually look for any poops/urates/pee when I check the tanks every morning and night. I use EcoEarth and I hear that this type of substrate helps with odor control, so far I'm pretty satisfied with it. Even if I miss a little bit of pee or poop (which I'm sure I have, it blends with the color of the substrate pretty well) I haven't noticed an odor.

You know you've cleaned well when you can't smell it anymore. If it still stinks, keep scrubbing.

And if the smell of snake poop bothers you then I hope you never need to breed your own rodents. They smell much worse.

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Originally Posted by the_rotten1

You know you've cleaned well when you can't smell it anymore. If it still stinks, keep scrubbing.

And if the smell of snake poop bothers you then I hope you never need to breed your own rodents. They smell much worse.

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I do actually! I have a male and a female rat breeding pair, though since I have one snake only they are more pets than for food production. I have them on CareFresh bedding, and they've never stank to me. Breeding rats that are crowded most of the time and kept in tubs probably will stink, but mine are kept in a huge CriterNation cage.
Like I said, I have a really good quality air purifier in my room so that helps with animal smells.

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Originally Posted by PythonBabes

I do actually! I have a male and a female rat breeding pair, though since I have one snake only they are more pets than for food production. I have them on CareFresh bedding, and they've never stank to me. Breeding rats that are crowded most of the time and kept in tubs probably will stink, but mine are kept in a huge CriterNation cage.
Like I said, I have a really good quality air purifier in my room so that helps with animal smells.

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That is funny because I can smell a rat cage a mile away and to me it reeks

I have rats and a DCN for them. Back when I was breeding, they stank a lot, even with fully changing bedding 1x a week and emptying litter pans maybe 2x a week. I find my snakes smell a lot less. But TBH, most of the rat smell is them scent-marking everything with pee, not their poop.

Wow. I didn't know this thread would take off. I must have a sensitive nose as soon as I come home from work I can smell it and I clean out the tub and put new substrate (unprinted paper) in. It's not horrible afterward, but there is a lingering odor. I will change my cleaning solution to one suggested in the thread and hopefully that will help. Thanks for the advice.

I don't really see how people on here swear that rats stink, but clean their cage once a week lol or even less than that. Maybe its because my rats are actually my pets, so I tend to them more than someone solely breeding them just for their snakes to eat.

I fully change bedding every 4 days, and the little igloos with nesting stuff gets cleaned almost everyday since they like to pee in there a lot.