Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am actually hiding my snake in my dorm. As of right now my 2.5 ft snake is in a 10 gallon tank that has random rocks around the water bowl but the rest is complete sand.

The people i bought it from put these large sticks in there but it made the movement for the snake nearly impossible. So i took the sticks out and let it have it's space.

Well recently the snake has pooped and peed and i can smell it in my dorm. How in the world do i clean sand? do i have to empty it and refill it?

or should i really not be using sand in my cage? are there betters ways and more efficient ways to care for the living conditions of my rogue snake? ps. its a ball python

sand is bad, it can be ingested or plug holes, holds bacteria and its hard to clean.

use newspaper or paper towels, give him an empty box to hide in.

make sure to give the proper amount of belly heat.
-----
jake

my addiction:
0.2 normal ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
0.1 amelenistic corn snake (maizy)
0.1 blizzard corn (blizz)
1.0 albino cal king (zeus)
0.0.1 wc garter (zim)
hybrid breeders association
hybrid haven

I agree with the other poster about using newspaper and having proper belly heat. I'll add that aspen bedding is very good at keeping odors down, much better than sand in that respect.
-----
Mark

i have a heating pad at the end of the tank (stuck on at the bottom of the tank) that basically warms a particular portion of the sand. The heating pad is pretty neat but will it also work on news paper?

>>i have a heating pad at the end of the tank (stuck on at the bottom of the tank) that basically warms a particular portion of the sand. The heating pad is pretty neat but will it also work on news paper?

I actually recommend aspen shavings over newspaper. Newspaper is a little more hygenic if you change it regularly and also clean the tank, but Aspen shavings are better looking.

As for heating, measure the temperature of the substrate directly above the heating pad (the substrate temperature). If that temperature is over 90°F, you should get a lamp dimmer or similar rheostat and use it to reduce the power to the heat pad until the high temp is somewhere between 85° and 90°.

Make sure you have a hide box at the warm and the cool end of the cage.
-----
Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

i use both a heating pad and a heating lamp. i am seriously going to change the sand out very soon but i am not to sure if the heating pad does exceed 90 degrees. i will definitely get back to you guys on that one. can anyone send me a picture of a 10 gallon set up? i would try my best to mimick this set up. =D

At some point (in warmer weather) it will reach 90 or more degrees. So get lamp dimmer, and you'll be ready.
-----
Mark

out the sand. The sand has quite a bit of thermal mass and makes for a great heat sink even though it's not a good as a substrate. With the sand there are no hot spots. External temp fluctuations like daytime vs night time temps will not be as noticeable. When you switch over to paper, you will lose that heat sink. With any dimmer or even better a thermostat, you can turn down the amount of heat the heat pad emits and will be safer for the snake!!
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
24.36 BRB
19.19 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

you have a heat lamp under you bed? your going to start a fire! get rid of it, you dont need it anyway.

also, a good setup is what ever you want it to be. i have newspaper, steel dog waterbowls, cereal boxes (as hides) and the occasional toilet paper or paper towel roll. works great because its nearly free and realy easy to clean (whatever is dirty gets thrown out)
-----
jake

my addiction:
0.2 normal ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
0.1 amelenistic corn snake (maizy)
0.1 blizzard corn (blizz)
1.0 albino cal king (zeus)
0.0.1 wc garter (zim)
hybrid breeders association
hybrid haven