It isn’t all glamorous.....

[SquirmyPug]

When I had my 12’ burm, you would swear I kept a pony in the cage. How I wished for a cage setup with a drain plug to be able to hose down. The worst thing was when she was in “a mood” and did not want to be handled. Nothing like trying to persuade large angry snake to get out of her cage and into a cleaning tub. And Reinz is spot on with urates with the large snakes, soft goey...and highly spreadable.

If you have a cage that is off the ground (and not all glass)
then you might be able to install a drain. Even if it just drains into a bucket it would make cleaning easier

[Dianne]

One thing that has worked for me to cut down on the mess is giving the snakes a large enough water dish to swim in. Most of mine prefer to poop and pee in the water and this makes clean up easy. Side note, my Columbian Boa is the only exception. LOL.

Just love your animal and the messes they make. Is part of caring for them as much as cuddling with them when they are out. Cant prevent it, cant train them, and scolding them they will sass you or just simply ignore you. Essentially they are moody teenagers.

I’ve always been a big believer in water bowls large enough to soak in, though my 7’ boa is the only one without that perk. Out of 14 snakes, only one consistently goes in his water bowl, Merlin, my Solomon Island ground boa...the smallest snake I own. The rest all go on the cage floor, some on the hot end and some on the cool end. And I definitely love them no matter what. ❤️

Mostly I brought this up because there are folks who are more squeamish about waste, or more fastidious and don’t consider the realities of cage life when placing their new pet in the living room or bedroom. Then there are the folks that simply think they’ll only need to clean the cage once a month. In reality, we should be checking the cages/tanks/tubs daily, or at least every other day. If they aren’t regularly maintained, you end up with fouled cages or water bowls or both. That impacts their health and ours.

[cletus]

My hypo female used to go in her water bowl like clockwork when she was smaller. Not anymore. I kinda miss the predictability. Lol. I'm going to switch her over to Reptile Prime this weekend and see how it does with the waste.

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[Ax01]

As snake keepers, we often concentrate on the beauty of our animals. The incredible coloration, either natural or morphs, their natural grace, their efficiency as hunters in the wild...and the trials and tribulations of feeding in captivity. We share husbandry skills with new keepers from setup and substrate options to problem solving. We mention clean up, particularly as it applies to safe cleaners to use. But we don’t often share the reality of cleanup. Not that this would put most of us off, especially those of us with multiple animals. If you’re already a keeper, you can guess where this is heading.

I have probably the worst sense of smell of anyone I know thanks to year round allergies. This evening I was watching Dead by Dawn, nature documentary. Suddenly my sinuses were assaulted from the next room, through a closed door. I immediately knew the culprit, Duncan, my 7’ Bci. And yes, you will often be able to accurately guess which cage needs cleaning by smell alone. There was no waiting for the end of the show. Upon opening the door, I can only assume she was proud of herself. It appeared that a large dog had visited the cage. She evidently did a victory lap, or three, smearing it across all three doors of the eight foot cage, all three hides, the water bowl, and along the front wall below the doors where the deed was done.

When you get your first snake, you may assume they will go in one spot, neatly away from where they roam, much like a dog or cat. If you are lucky, this is the snake you will acquire. In reality, they often lay in it, crawl through it, and spread it everywhere. You can’t just assume you will only ever clean one spot, if using a substrate that allows spot cleaning rather than a full change. You really do have to check the walls, hides, and any other enrichment items in the cage, if not every time then at least occasionally for the long term health of the animal and your own health when handling. You sometimes have to bathe the snake or at least use damp towels to wipe them down. And as Selene proved last week, sometimes you have to check the top of a 12” deep quarantine tub because it was on the “ceiling”.

i have never seen poop discussed w/ such eloquence. i loved the preface, the setup and then the horror. lol



bravo! happy cleaning! take a bow!