how hard it is to clean a wooden viv?

[Johar]

well, i got a quite big one, after i read couple of caresheets and the guide about disinfecting and cleaning.

it says i need to use a hose "which i cannot do" neither submerging it in a tub.

so what do i do? my friend who has a snake told me that snakes are one of the most wonderful pets , basically because it doesn't need constant cleaning.you only need to remove the poo . well,i do care for my snake. thats why im asking for advice.

i have a small ball python. 5 months old... i remember once asking in a snake forum. my question was "when do i know that my cage needs cleaning"
alot of people replied with "when there's a poo in it!!"

[Smynx]

You want to keep the substrate and water bowl as clean as possible at all times. I recommend a thorough cleaning and disinfecting of the enclosure once a month. Others may do it more or less often. You definitely don't want to submerge a wooden enclosure, but you should be able to wash and rinse it in a bathtub or large sink. You can disinfect afterwards with chlorhexadrine solution in a spray bottle.

[Johar]

hmmm.... i can carry it to the bathroom. i wonder if i should use some wall paper on it to make cleaning easier??

and i assume i have to throw all the wooden bedding in trash? even if its clean?

[cassandra]

I know I've recommended to not use any tape or sticky things inside a snake cage because very sticky things can rip a snake's scale right off.

Maybe sealing the wood with an acrylic paint or something? Don't know if the fumes then would be bad or how long it would take for the paint to off-gas...

[JB_Orchidguy]

I had limited sucess with external paint when I had my cold tank for my snakes. It cleaned well. Its just that the cage was too big to keep adiquately warm. You could also try a shilack or polyurithane coating. Just make sure to give it penty of time to air out after. could try sticking a fan in it to help expidit the fume removal. Goodluck

[cassandra]

Not that I'm in the tub camp yet, you could spend just a few bucks, buy a sterilite tub and be done with it...easy to clean, etc...

[JB_Orchidguy]

I'm a convert. They are really transparent and when put in a nice rack system I would think they would be pretty nice.

[Johar]

hmmm.. do i really need to seal the corners? maybe i could use silicon?

[monkeywrench133]

I just got done building a wood enclosure. I waterproofed/sealed the entire thing with Thomson's Water Sealant, then left it outside for a week to dry. I then put a 4x2 piece of Reflectix insulation on the bottom, laid two 2x2 pieces of Flexwatt on top of that (side by side), then covered the whole thing with a 4x2 piece of plexiglass and sealed the egdes with 100% silicone caulk. Give the caulk about 3-4 days to cure, and it'll be ready for the new kids to move into.

With the two seperate pieces of flexwatt, I'll have a nice thermal gradient for the kids to thermoregulate on.

[Johar]

very nice indeed!!
i'll probably do the same.
do u have pics?