Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi everybody!,

I need some advice with my 7 foot male albino burm.

I done all my homework before purchase of him, and i can cater for all his needs i.e size of enclosure, feeding, handling etc.or so i thought!!!!

No-one warned me about all the urinating!!!!!!!

When i purchased him back in march, he came with mites and although i quickly eradicated all of them, i have been keeping him on newspaper since.

Although this has worked out very economical with the vast amount of urine passed at a time, the smell is becoming overpowering especially as he grows.

Can you recommend anything that will help absorb and perhaps temporarily mask the resulting smell, so that i may get a nights sleep?

As the cage is in my bedroom i am sick of being waked up at the small hours of the morning with the smell. I do not wish to part company with him, i need any solutions that you may have!

Thanks for any input in advance

Phil

Ya, it does smell bad, the only thing you can do is just clean it when you see it. Before I go to bed I check it and then I check it in the AM before I leave and clean clean clean.

I have used newspaper for decades with all of my herps including large constrictors (and even indigo snakes who poop in copious amounts) and never have had a problem with odor. I clean my cages daily and replace paper as needed. There is something wrong with either the type of cage you are using, your husbandry practices, or, you might need to get your burm checked by a vet as they don't excrete uric acid that often. If your b urm had mites you definitely want to get the snake checked out as these parasites are vectors for all kinds of disease in captive snakes which could be producing the problems you are encountering (but only a vet should make that diagnosis).

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center, Lake Forest, IL

Try using cypress mulch. Just don't feed your snake on it!!! Sean

Definitely go with newspaper. If you use almost any other substrate, chances wont be completely removing the soiled parts when you clean it and there will still be residue that will cause the odor after the cleaning.
With newspaper, I notice that at least in my experience although you will be lining the entire enclosure with it, you will want to make extra thick layers in each corner as this is where they defacate/urinate. Good luck

Ever since I moved my Boa's cage into another room, I am not awaken by all of her "paper krinkling" she does all night.

I used to have the same problem, if you have an open screen lid on the cage, chances are, that smell is not going to go away. I use Indented Kraft Paper for my substrate for my Tiger Retics and Anacondas. But the best thing to do, especially since it's a burm and you will need to move him into a large enclosure anyways is get him one that's got sliding, front opening, or swinging doors on it, with smaller ventalation. The smell will succed in the cage, so when it's opened you will get a good wiff, but there are a lot of safe cage air fresheners also, like sprays and stuff. Those can help a lot also. Just my 2 cents

~Ben

..similar to a bathroom vent. Obviously this will raise other concerns but if one is gifted enough to fabricate this for the cage then you could probably come up with a solution to the problems caused. I'm thinking a very low volume/speed fan that shoots out into a dryer vent hose which exhausts elswhere, say, the neighbors house .

Or, possibly an open vent at the top of the cage with a fresh air vent at the bottom. Again, tube the top vent elsewhere, maybe into a drop ceiling panel. The heat would escape from the top and take the smell with it. The fresh air would come in from the bottom. You may have to boost temps and humidity but hey, might work.
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DZ
1.0.0 Burm, Moses
0.0.2 Ball, Chico & Chewy (rescue, many scars)
0.2.0 Cats, Merideth & Hannah
1.0.0 Black Chow, Pivo RIP Oct 23
Lotsa fish
1.4.0 Rats
0.2.0 Humans (a little obnoxious though)