Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok heres the deal, I went from newspaper to 'indoor/outdoor' carpet. Its not the astroturf though, its more like the carpet you found in your high school class room. Its awesome, looks really nice and neat in all the cages, nothing can hide in it, and I also have an extra piece for every cage so my 'kids' dont have to stay in a tub for to long. Well, I take the soiled carpet into the bath tub and scrub it with Ajax- Antibacterial, then hang it over a shower curtin rod and rinse, then I soak in bleach for a few mins, rinse again and let dry. Everything seems great there (please give me some constructive critisism if need be)Now on to the real question, cleaning the inside of the cages after the soiled carpet is removed. I have been using a 10 to 1 bleach solution in a spray bottle, I spray, let soak, wipe down really well, then I rinse with a quick water spray and let air out. Before I started rinsing with water the snakes would dirty their cage almost as soon as I put them back in, the only thing I could think was it must have been the bleach smell. The bleaching then rinsing is quite an ordeal on 25 cages ranging from 7 small tubs to 2 8 x 3 cages. I used Virosan for a while but mostly on the water bowls and hide boxes. Would the smell from Virosan cause the same pooping reaction out of my snakes? is there anything I could do differently? (Such a long intro to a simple question)

Thanks so much,
Krystle Treadwell
www.tkreptile.com
0.1 Albino Granite Burm
1.0 Granite Burm
1.1 Albino Het Granite Burms
0.1 Albino Het Laby Burm
1.0 Laby Het Albino Burm
1.1 Albino Green Burms
0.2 DH Albino/Laby Burms
1.1 Albino Burms
0.1 Green Burm
1.0 High White Albino Burm

0.3 Columbian Red Tail Boas
2.0 Columbian Red Tail Boas
1.1 Hypo Red Tail Boas
1.1 Orange Pastel Red Tail Boas
0.0.2 Green Tree Pythons

I use Lizard Liner (its a green felt like carpet) as my substrate. My routine is to clean (hot soapy water), rinse, disinfect (soak in Virosan/Nolvasan for 15 minutes), rinse and dry - I too have an extra piece of substrate. I have not had any kind of noticeable response from my BP (quick to poop,etc). You should give it a try. I have a spray bottle premixed with the Virosan. I just spray the cage down, let it sit for a bit and wipe dry. It's not harmful to your snake and I bet the process would go much quicker than using the bleach solution. I don't really notice a smell from the Virosan so I'd imagine you'll get a different/better response from your snakes. Hope this helps.

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0.0.1 Ball Python
1.0.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"

I don't think it has anything to do with the cleaning smells. It's just because of all the activity and moving to a temperary cage and the handleing they get on cleaning day.

My wife cleans the cages on Monday and then feeds everyone on Tuesday. Every week she complains that most of them have pooped since she cleaned them yesterday.
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Wade's Weptiles & Wodents

>>I don't think it has anything to do with the cleaning smells. It's just because of all the activity and moving to a temperary cage and the handleing they get on cleaning day.
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>>My wife cleans the cages on Monday and then feeds everyone on Tuesday. Every week she complains that most of them have pooped since she cleaned them yesterday.
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>>Wade's Weptiles & Wodents
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Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

Ok this is interesting.....Here is what I learned while on my interview at the zoo.

Some snakes (doesn't seem to be all) have a tendency to mark their territory so to speak. By cleaning out the entire cage and disinfecting the whole thing, they feel the need to deficate soon after. The guys here at Zoo Atlanta, found that if they just spot clean more often the cages actually stay cleaner. As an experiment, I started spot cleaning the poop rather than disinfecting the whole cage after a poop. The result, cleaner cages. The snakes seem to recognize their territory and do not poop immediatly after I clean the cage. I still disinfect all the cages once a month, but spot cleaning has prevented the clean and watch them poop again cycle. The only time I clean and disinfect constantly is if I have a new arrival that is in quarentine.