Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My son and I are very new at taking care of a corn snake. It is time to clean out the aquarium and I was wondering if we can use dish soap to clean it out. When we bought the snake the guy said to use bleach and water but I don't remember how much bleach to water. Also how much bedding should be on the bottom for the heater under the aquarium to heat properly?

To clean use hot soapy water. To disinfect use a bleach to water combo or for something even safer try Nolvasan (aka Virosan). With bleach you have to be absolutely certain that it is dry before putting your snake back in, etc. Nolvasan is completely safe and eliminates that worry.

There is a difference between cleaning and disinfecting and you need to do both. For more/great info on the topic:
www.anapsid.org/cleaning.html

-----
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 "Legolas"
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
0.0.1 Monkey Tail Skink
0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer "Kira"

for disinfection you just use 1 capful of bleach to 1 gallon of water. Yes this is very, very diluted, but its all you need. I'd reccomend to put the tank in your bathtub upside down or outside and spray it out very well... you dont want any residual bleach left in there.

Also.. what kind of substrate are you using? When I used astroturf I had to do this weekly, but now that i've switched to aspen i change the substrate out every couple months but I havent even gotten the tank dirty or smelling to where it needs to be cleaned.
-----
-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Claudius)... coming soon

I am using Bird and Reptile litter. It is Kiln dried wood fibers. I got it from the petstore we bought the snake from. It doesn't smell but I don't think the snake has solid stool because I don't see much.

hmmm dont know anything about that stuff... what kind of wood fibers are they? If it's pine, fir, or cedar; i'd get it out asap! If your tank doesnt smell, I don't see why you want to clean it all out.

You may have to look to find where your snake defeciated... sometimes its hard to find. But its there (i hope... for your sake...) Give your snake upwards of 4-5 days to defeciate after it eats. I'd just look for it, get it out (i use a cat liter scoop for my aspen). Then change it clean it out every other month or so.
-----
-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Claudius)... coming soon

Thank you for your help. The only thing it says on the bag is Kiln wood chips. The snake seems to be doing fine. I will have to get a kitty litter scoop tomorrow. I haven't scooped since we had him should I start the tank over by cleaning it?

There is a terrarium cleaner that I have that works well. I bought it from a local pet store where I live. I think it is called ESU terrarium cleaner. ESU being the company that makes it.