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Bedding or snake has strong odors

A

asp1079

New member
I love my corn snake... I got her about 2 months ago. She's doing fine and will hopefully continue doing fine. Good temperament and no handling issues.

But recently, it seems her terrarium has started to get strong odors. I accidentally went two days without spot cleaning as I usually do it every day from being ill. So I got on it after I recovered and seemingly over night, the terrarium reeked of urine. Obviously snakes urinate and I guess she went a lot without me realizing it. I hosed it off with soap outside and used aspen bedding for snakes.

But by the next morning, I found a strange odor yet again by her terrarium. :confused: I figured the odor would be gone. I didn't give her any water until that morning and no urine was to be found anywhere [checked thoroughly]. I'm concerned that either she has an odor, which I find unlikely, OR that my heat lamp is frying the bedding and making it smell?! This is all I can think of! I know reptiles may have a very slight odor, but what I've been getting is strong. Today's doesn't even smell exactly like urine, and it's not like ammonia either, which worries me.

Thank you for any opinions.
 
What is the temp under the heat lamp?

I would never let your snake go without water, even to experiment.

Aspen shouldn't hold a smell that strong, I would take your snake to a vet and get everything checked out. She could have an infection that is causing the smell.

Let us know how everything checks out.
 
Thanks for the advice... I usually give her water every single day and make sure to keep the dish clean. It scares me a bit that you say an infection is possible. I was thinking that it may be her and not the bedding. :'/ I'll call the pet store's reptile expert tomorrow and ask for advice. Maybe a vet visit is in order.

Thanks again! I will keep you posted.
 
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asp1079 said:
Also, the temp reads about 75 right now. The highest it ever goes is 80.
Click to expand...

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I think 80 degrees is too low for proper digestion, I keep all mine somewhere between 84-86 on the warm side and 72-76 on the cool side.
Also do you have another heat source other than the lamp? Ideally you would want a UTH (Under Tank Heater) controlled
by a thermostat, incomplete digestion might be part of the problem.
After eating mine go into their hides which are over the UTH to digest their meals. Using a lamp for a heat source is harder to control proper temperatures.

Good luck!
 
I don't think snake urinate. I belive it all come out with the feces at the same time. So I don't know if it is that. Calling the breeder or store you got her from would be a good idea, or a vet. Hope she is not sick!
 
When you change the aspen excelsior, do you do a 40% or more change of the shavings? I usually find that when I do a 40% or more change of bedding, the very first thing the snake does (within a couple of hours) is to "christen the new material". Also read the backside of the bag of aspen, make sure it is 100% aspen. Sometimes old bags of aspen gets bugs in it. Some snake growers like to freeze the bags of new aspen. Sometimes an old bag will have loads of frass (the esoteric name for bug poop) in it. Usually if the aspen is "dustier than usual", this indicates something stinks in Cornville. HTH. dp
 
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