Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Do snakes urinate? lol

Snakes have cloacas, like birds (it's thought they both had a common ancestor). Birds don't urinate. Does this mean that snakes don't urinate either?

I've read in articles (internet based) that they do, and I've read in others that they don't. (shows how reliable the net is). I just want to know if I can just scoop out the faeces (I use kitty litter substrate) when I see them and not worry about it otherwise?
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1.0 Spotted python (Harry)
0.0.1 Stimsons python (Garry)
1.1 Evil dictators (Mum & Dad)

That's a new one to me - I've not heard of that. They do urinate, but what those sites were probably saying is that they don't have urine like we do - there's is a more solid white chalky substance. It's sometimes by itself or with feces.
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` Snakes, like birds, don't have a urinary bladder. Their urates are not suspended in liquid, and are eliminated with much less liquid.

` Kitty Litter, however, is full of dust. I haven't found any that isn't, though I haven't checked them all. The dust in the litter is very hazardous to the entire respiratory system of whatever animal is trapped in a cage with it, and must breathe it constantly. This is especially true of most snakes with slow metabolic processes. It also harms rodents kept with kitty litter to absorb urine.
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` Stop the world! I want to get off.

I have special snake-litter. It's basically the same as normal paper-based litter (which doesn't have much dust anyway, it's clay-based that has lots) but with the snake in mind. I don't really know the difference, but the prsident of my society put me onto it, and it's great for cleaning.
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1.0 Spotted python (Harry)
0.0.1 Stimsons python (Garry)
1.1 Evil dictators (Mum & Dad)

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1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Bredl's Carpet Python "Strider"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
1.0 San Felipe Rosy Boa "Legalos"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"
0.1 Okeetee Corn snake "Amazon"
1.0 Crested Gecko "Willow"
0.0.1 Irian Jaya BlueTongued Skink
0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer "Kira"

Umm... I don't have any at the moment, I need to get some more soon. I think it's called breeders choice snake litter, or something. It's really good, it's so easy to clean, and my snake likes it a lot better, he burry's a little bit and plays around in it. It's much better than the newspaper I used to be using.
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1.0 Spotted python (Harry)
0.0.1 Stimsons python (Garry)
1.1 Evil dictators (Mum & Dad)

I've heard of Breeders Choice Kitty litter (not snake litter) that some herpers have used, but I heard of some problems with it.
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Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Bredl's Carpet Python "Strider"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
1.0 San Felipe Rosy Boa "Legalos"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"
0.1 Okeetee Corn snake "Amazon"
1.0 Crested Gecko "Willow"
0.0.1 Irian Jaya BlueTongued Skink
0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer "Kira"

>>Snakes have cloacas, like birds (it's thought they both had a common ancestor). Birds don't urinate. Does this mean that snakes don't urinate either?

One of the byproducts from breaking down (metabolising) proteins is nitrogen. Nitrogenous wastes can build up in the blood and become toxic so vertebrates have to have a mechanism to dispose of the products.

Fish convert the waste products into ammonia, which is highly water soluble and can simply be excreted out through the gills by diffusion.

Egg laying vertebrates convert nitrogenous wastes into a substance called uric acid. Uric acid is a non-soluble white crystalline material which they excrete through their cloacas. It is the white stuff your snake excretes and also the white stuff in bird droppings.

Mammals (and some other vertebrates) convert the waste product into a water soluble form called urea which they then excrete by concentrating it in the kidneys to form urine.

So snakes do secrete nitrogenous wastes, but the don't "urinate".
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Chris Harrison