Change out substrate?

Hi, Zaya's mom here. We've had Zaya (juvenile female) several weeks now and she seems to be doing great, she even completed her first shed yesterday.

Anyway, we keep her with aspen bedding which I've been spot cleaning and fluffing up for her. I just read something that made me realize that perhaps I should be totally replacing her substrate; is this true? How often should it be totally replaced?

Thanks very much for any help!

I do a full change every 4-6 weeks or so. Depends on how deep you keep it, how messy the snake is, etc. One of mine likes to soak a lot and get her substrate all wet...

When I used aspen I'd do a complete change once a month, spot cleaning as necessary. Now I use paper towels instead, and clean each container after a defecation.

Thank you both. I will but a new bag of aspen shavings since we've had her for 6 weeks now.

it's a good idea to "Clean the Tank" (disinfect) while changing the substrate too. Just as you sometimes clean your bathroom or kitchen, vacuum your carpets, you should do the same for your snake's home too. Simply tossing in fresh Aspen might be nice, but any germs living in the cage are still there. Yes, there are germs in snakes, mice, poop, etc...

Some of these germs can make your snake ill. There are several commercially available Reptile Cage Cleaners on the market you can use. A lot of people make their own by mixing about a tablespoon of bleach to a cup of water. Some people even use Vinegar. Vinegar is an excellent disinfectant.

Anyway, I no longer use Aspen myself, but I do have to clean snake poop out of my cage like everyone else. I spot clean immediately when I see the need for it, and once a week I switch my bedding out (I use Reptile Carpet). I have 2 pieces cut to size. I use the clean one and wash the dirty one. I always have 1 ready. When I change it out I completely clean the cage. This means I clean the furnishings too. I usually run some water in the bathtub, put in a little bleach, and toss in the soiled piece of carpet, the vines, the hides, etc..... Rinse everything off and I'm good to go. It doesn't take very long and it's sort of my "Sunday Morning" Routine. I usually wrap Rufus, My snake, around my neck as I do this. After all, it's his home and he likes to watch and supervise.

Thank you Karl_McKnight for your response. I did wash out the inside of the tank with very diluted unscented dish detergent when I swapped out the bedding, but I am guilty of not cleaning her other furnishings except for wiping out her hides. Do you even soak wood in the diluted bleach? Bleach is such a no-no with tropical fish that I am leery of using it around animals.

What do you use instead of aspen shavings? I see that Twolunger uses paper towels.

Thanks again!

When I do use bleach, which is not often and only for specific purposes, I rinse very well and use Prime which is a dechlorinator for aquarium use.

The first step in cleaning is washing well and your detergent wash if well done is very effective. I used vinegar but recently switched to F10 which is a veterinary disinfectant. I just find the smell more pleasant.

The most important thing is to promptly clean up any feces. I don't even try to sterilize everything. I believe that is overkill. There is a balance to keeping things clean so that your snake's immune system is not overwhelmed by a large number of pathogens in close quarters vs. not challenging their immune systems at all.

P.S. I never soak wood. I wipe it off. If needed dried feces can be scraped off then wiped down. Baking for 30 minutes at 200 degrees is an effective way to sterilize wooden objects.

beckyhiker said:

Thank you Karl_McKnight for your response. I did wash out the inside of the tank with very diluted unscented dish detergent when I swapped out the bedding, but I am guilty of not cleaning her other furnishings except for wiping out her hides. Do you even soak wood in the diluted bleach? Bleach is such a no-no with tropical fish that I am leery of using it around animals.

What do you use instead of aspen shavings? I see that Twolunger uses paper towels.

Thanks again!

Click to expand...

As I stated above I use Reptile Carpet rather than Aspen. I've used aspen before, as well as paper towels, newspapers, and currently Reptile Carpet. I just like it better.

I actually use a Reptile Cage Cleaner produced by "National Geographic" that most pet shops sell. I use it on the cage itself, the glass bottom, sides and trim.

I run a little water in the bath tub and add bleach to wash out the carpet, the flat slate rocks and the plastic vines, his cave hide and his water bowl. I do not use that on the wood half logs. I use an old discarded toothbrush and warm soapy water on the wood.

Everything inside the cage was acquired from a pet store or online. I'm not a big fan of bringing rocks or branches from outside and placing them in the cage for the reason they can contain ticks, mites, bugs, germs, fungus, who knows what kinds of other pathogens. As DollysMom pointed out you can bake wood or rocks in the over and kill most of that stuff. I did bake my rocks and half logs when I first introduced them into the cage, but I have not baked them sense. If you bring stuff in from outdoors I would highly recommend it.

Although some of us use paper towels, it is usually because we have multiple corns and utilize a rack system. With multiple snakes hygiene is so very important, and you can't take a chance on disease or internal parasites infecting them. I have heard that the Reptile Carpet is a good substrate, or tank liner, especially when cleaned as Karl described. I used bleach for many years, mixed with anti-bacterial soap, but my Vet suggested ammonia rather than bleach. She said ammonia will kill some organisms unaffected by bleach, so I follow her advice.

I have several snakes of various species. I use either Aspen or Reptichip, based on humidity needs. I spot clean daily as needed and have them on a 4-6 week deep clean rotation. When I spot clean, I use F10 on a paper towel to wipe off the cage bottom area. I deep clean with F10 and Citrus II, a hospital cleaner that I order on line. It has no lingering odor, rinses cleanly, and it's great for water bowls. Water bowls are kept filled and rinsed every other day. On deep clean day, I soak them in a bleach and water solution to easily remove any scale buildup, then a good wash with the Citrus II. I, too, bake all wood products and I only buy them New and commercially, never from outside. This summer I'm going to make them little jungle gyms for their cages. Evause the wood makes me nervous. I've seen some scary things fall out of wood and cork in the oven.

I'm probably one of the few here besides Karl who uses reptile carpet. I use aspen for my corns and carpet for my house snake for fear of substrate ingestion. I started with two pieces but now have four just because it is easier to wash a couple at a time. I use ZooMed EcoCarpet. As an aside one side seems a little softer than the other. I always put the softer side towards the living space. I wash mine in my front loader in hot water. I use BioKleen unscented detergent for all my snake stuff like carpet, bags, towels, blankets, and microfiber cloths. The only thing that doesn't get dried in the dryer is the carpet. I dry the stuff in the dryer hot enough and dry enough to sanitize it. I wash the carpet separately and air dry it. I did hand wash it at first but find that hot water in the washer does a better job.

P.S. I find it fascinating that we all find our ways. Everything related here so far is reasonable. The big take away is regular cleaning and awareness is more important than the exact method or product used.

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144107

I made a little tutorial with pictures a while back. Other than using F10 instead of vinegar this is how I still do it. Nothing wrong with vinegar, however.

Thank you everyone for all of the information in this thread, it's very helpful! And, thank you DollysMom for the link to your tutorial; my son just played with Zaya while I cleaned, but I also have a small "tupperware" that I bought for her. I will check out this F10, I do already have white vinegar, but I'm not the biggest fan of the smell.

This last time after I cleaned out Zaya's home, I put ZooMed reptile carpet under the aspen shavings because I had read in a couple places that that was the way it was supposed to be done. Reading this thread I'm now a bit confused, is it either/or, or both? I am particularly concerned because Zaya loves to bury herself and has in the past, made a whole system of tunnels in her bedding. I don't want her to get burned because of being right on top of the glass where the heating pad is. I thought maybe she would be safer with the reptile carpet.

What do you guys think?

Thank you again for all of your answers and help!

if you have a thermostat hooked up to the heating pad and set to the proper temps, your snake will not get burned. If you don't have a thermostat, keep in mind some of those heat pads can hit 120 degrees or more. This can and will burn the snake. (I used to keep Boa Constrictors which like it a tad bit warmer than corn snakes, and I did not use a thermostat at all. I found that if I placed about 1 inch thick layer of newspaper over the heat pad it would dissipate the heat to the 91 degree temps I was looking for. But without that thickness of newspaper it was way too hot. Back then Reptile thermostats were not as available as today and this was how everyone did it.)

Today, you can get decent thermostats at pet stores or online. If you don't have one I highly suggest you think about it. I would also suggest you get a hand held infrared thermometer and take a reading of the temp right over your heat pad. You might be amazed at what you see. And this is the "Only Real Way" to get an accurate idea of what your temps are.

As far as using carpet or aspen or both, it really doesn't matter.

Happy to help and glad you are so on top of things!

You can do carpet and aspen. Supposedly it keeps them from burrowing down to the glass, but they can and do go under the carpet if the really want to. I personally would do one or the other. As long as you maintain your heat pad/thermostat and monitor temps the odds of your snake getting hurt are very slim. Burrowing is a normal, healthy behavior. No heating system is 100% safe but neither is anything in life.

One thing you can do is be extra vigilant about your heating if you have a power surge. That's something that can damage the thermostat. I've unplugged mine during lightning storms as well. As long as your house is 70-80 having no heating for a few hours isn't going to hurt. (I do keep shipping heat packs on hand for winter emergencies.)

Sometimes I've delayed feeding for a day due to predicted bad storms, summer and winter, so they weren't digesting during the storm or possible power failure. No one talks much about that but I'm sure I'm not the only one who has adjusted feeding around predicted bad weather.

http://www.reptilebasics.com/F10SC-200ml

Here is the link to the F10sc. You can also buy premixed F10. For normal use, I mix 2ml F10sc to 1 liter of distilled water in a spray bottle (1:500).

You can also buy it from third party sellers on Amazon, but the link above is to the official importer.

Thank you Karl_Mckinght and Dollysmom once again.

Yes, I have a thermostat hooked up to the heating pad; I have it set for 85 degrees F, although it never actually seems to read 85. I guess that I will leave the reptile carpet for now. I might move it when cold weather sets in later in the year because I must admit that I will worry that it will interfere with efficient heating of the aspen shavings. I think that I will also get a second heating pad/thermostat for the cool side of her home at that time.

DLena, I like the idea of a jungle gym for snakes, I will have to look into that! We like to play with Zaya on the bed because it seems like a safe place and we can shut the cats out (sorry guys!). It would be fun for her to have something to go over/under/around.