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My Corn Is "Potty Trained"

Peanut Lover

Peanut Lover

New member
Hi, I was just wondering if any other clean freaks out there had their snakes potty trained? I have had my corn for 4 months and he has never gone in his cage before. I just inspect the tail of his body everyday. If it looks like there is poop inside I dip Peanut in some warm water and he lets it drop almost every time. If he won't go, I'll put him in a "diaper" (really a paper towel) and he will go in there. Does anyone else have their corn potty trained? My snake is only 19 inches...I don't know what I'm going to do when his poos get bigger?:toiletgra
 
I don't look for the swollen butt everyday but if I have someone out and they look like they got to go. I will take them outside and let them go in the grass but that is only with the bigger ones.
 
I'm definitely a clean freak, but I haven't taken my obsession this far :laugh: I still can't even tell when he has to poop!
 
While thank you! Anerys can sometimes look dull and boring compared to the colorful morphs, but I like to think that Peanut is just as pretty as they are. He has never pooped in the water bowl! I wish, that would be so easy.
 
I'm sorry but that sounds really stupid. Don't stress the poor thing by inspecting it's vent for a bump and then basically soaking it until it poops. And a diaper? Seriously?
 
It's not really a diaper! :nope: I can tell when he needs to poop, so if he won't go I'll just carry him around in a paper towel and I call it a "diaper". Better in that than on me
 
I'm a clean freak too. Popcorn generally goes 2-3days after feeding & poops on her towel when I get her out for 'cuddles'. This isn't done intentionally tho. It just happens. If I have her out & I see the tell tale signs of preparing to poop I just make sure she's over the towel & not me when she does it. Last week I didn't take her out till a little later in the week so she went inside her enclosure. No problem! Nothing a little poop scooping couldn't rectify.
 
Peanut Lover said:
It's not really a diaper! :nope: I can tell when he needs to poop, so if he won't go I'll just carry him around in a paper towel and I call it a "diaper". Better in that than on me
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Do you realize how stressful that is on the animal? You are doing it no good by stressing it like that. Let it crap in it's viv, and be done with it. If you are uncomfortable with that then don't keep snakes.
 
Carinata said:
Do you realize how stressful that is on the animal? You are doing it no good by stressing it like that. Let it crap in it's viv, and be done with it. If you are uncomfortable with that then don't keep snakes.
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I don't see how inspecting the vent area or soaking the snake would be a stressful experience. A great deal of people soak their snakes pre-shed or just for the hell of it. Also, I would think that regularly checking the vent area could actually be beneficial at some point; consider if the snake had an abscess or injury at that area that needed inspected. He's already accustomed to having that area checked out, and probably wouldn't be as flighty.

I don't think your potty training is neither stupid nor harmful.
 
Used to be someone here that was so worried about snake pooh, they wanted diapers for thier snake. They gonna go and we have to deal with it.
 
Cassie16 said:
I don't see how inspecting the vent area or soaking the snake would be a stressful experience. A great deal of people soak their snakes pre-shed or just for the hell of it. Also, I would think that regularly checking the vent area could actually be beneficial at some point; consider if the snake had an abscess or injury at that area that needed inspected. He's already accustomed to having that area checked out, and probably wouldn't be as flighty.

I don't think your potty training is neither stupid nor harmful.
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Snakes by nature don't like us. Soaking a snake is like a sort of laxative, it allows the junk to move easier, and when a snake voids it looses a certain amount of moisture. If you are basically forcing the snake to void, you are forcing a loss of moisture. Look I do this for a living, I work for a reptile breeder and importer. We soak all animals when they first come in, before we Nix them. 95% void when we soak them. Soaking is good for a snake when it has a stuck shed or when it first comes in, but it is not good to bother it when YOU think it needs go to the bathroom. Yes, one could argue that checking the vent area on a regular basis could be beneficial, but all in moderation. When I clean adult male Balls at work, I always check the vent especially after breeding, but I don't check all snakes, because it is traumatizing for the animal. Also, wrapping the snake in a paper towel until it goes to the bathroom is absolutely unnecessary. That stresses the snake to no end and could even lead to it not eating. Snakes don't need our attention, they rather tolerate it at best. Doing this is very stressful for a snake especially a baby snake.
 
I certainly wouldn't want to deal with the hassle of "potty training" or snake diapers, but to each his own! lol.
 
Carinata said:
Snakes by nature don't like us. Soaking a snake is like a sort of laxative, it allows the junk to move easier, and when a snake voids it looses a certain amount of moisture. If you are basically forcing the snake to void, you are forcing a loss of moisture. Look I do this for a living, I work for a reptile breeder and importer. We soak all animals when they first come in, before we Nix them. 95% void when we soak them. Soaking is good for a snake when it has a stuck shed or when it first comes in, but it is not good to bother it when YOU think it needs go to the bathroom. Yes, one could argue that checking the vent area on a regular basis could be beneficial, but all in moderation. When I clean adult male Balls at work, I always check the vent especially after breeding, but I don't check all snakes, because it is traumatizing for the animal. Also, wrapping the snake in a paper towel until it goes to the bathroom is absolutely unnecessary. That stresses the snake to no end and could even lead to it not eating. Snakes don't need our attention, they rather tolerate it at best. Doing this is very stressful for a snake especially a baby snake.
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I'll agree that snakes don't particular care for human interaction, and that it's more of a relationship based solely on tolerance, but after your eloquently worded assertions, I still don't see the harm in this!

I want a snake that can be handled by anyone, and that is adjusted to being handled in a variety of ways. If we can coax our animals into letting us hold them period, surely acclimating them to regularly having their vents inspected is no more stress inducing than the prior.

I'll admit complete ignorance to snake anatomy, but I do know that coaxing a bowl movement via warm water soak is in no way comparable to an actual laxative. True laxatives work in various ways to empty the intestines. Yes, emptying the intestines too quickly can disrupt absorption of nutrients and reabsorption of water. Using an exterior method to entice a bowl movement is not at all inducing peristalsis of the intestines, nor is it providing any lubrication to the intestinal wall. All soaking does, really, is somehow relax the snake to the point that it can defecate. The stool has already been formed, nutrients have already been absorbed, water has already been retained.

If you soak a snake when it doesn't have to poop, I'm willing to bet my life's savings ($23.45) that it's not going to do sh*t (pun fully intended)

Of course, I have absolutely no credentials under my belt and am not claiming expertise in any area :)
 
Cassie16 said:
I'll agree that snakes don't particular care for human interaction, and that it's more of a relationship based solely on tolerance, but after your eloquently worded assertions, I still don't see the harm in this!

I want a snake that can be handled by anyone, and that is adjusted to being handled in a variety of ways. If we can coax our animals into letting us hold them period, surely acclimating them to regularly having their vents inspected is no more stress inducing than the prior.

I'll admit complete ignorance to snake anatomy, but I do know that coaxing a bowl movement via warm water soak is in no way comparable to an actual laxative. True laxatives work in various ways to empty the intestines. Yes, emptying the intestines too quickly can disrupt absorption of nutrients and reabsorption of water. Using an exterior method to entice a bowl movement is not at all inducing peristalsis of the intestines, nor is it providing any lubrication to the intestinal wall. All soaking does, really, is somehow relax the snake to the point that it can defecate. The stool has already been formed, nutrients have already been absorbed, water has already been retained.

If you soak a snake when it doesn't have to poop, I'm willing to bet my life's savings ($23.45) that it's not going to do sh*t (pun fully intended)

Of course, I have absolutely no credentials under my belt and am not claiming expertise in any area :)
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Correct, a true laxative works differently than soaking, but no matter which way you look at it liquid is lost during a bowel movement. I do have personal experience both professionally (work) and as an amateur breeder. The thing is snakes do best with neglect. Yep I said it! If you ignore your snake and feed it, clean it, and water it, chances are it will do awesome. That doesn't mean that some snakes don't get used to handling and tolerate it to a certain point, but basically forcing a snake to void because all your experience says "We tell the snake when to eat, and where it has to be contained, it won't hurt for me to judge when it has to go to the bathroom either!". That stresses the animal quite a bit. Also you say feces have been made, the are obviously ready to go. If the animal has begun making feces and it is forced to void, sure some will come out but I am willing to bet that it is loosing water and nutrients. Ask any serious snake breeder/hobbyist and they will tell you this is unnecessary and potential dangerous for the snake.
 
I just find the whole thing a bit disturbing.
And hovering over the creature, doing "vent inspections"..is kind of nasty.
Just let it do what snakes do, and leave it to poop when it wants to!
 
He likes the paper towels. He hides under all the different layers. And I don't check his vent every day. I just check like 3 days after he's eaten. If I don't soak him then he will go on me while I'm holding him. He has never gone in his tank EVER.

This is probably going to harm my case saying this, but I like to think that my snake is gay and likes a clean space. I swear, he will hold it til I get him out. I think he doesn't want to poop in his cage.
 
There is so much wrong with that....
forcing your snake to poop after "inspecting" his vent...can't be good for him and says something just a little bit ....well I don't want to be insulting but....just kind of wrong about you. Something I can't put a finger on, and would rather not put my finger near there anyway! I don't mean to insult you but that is just...icky!! It is of no benefit to the snake at all!
Plus to say that you think your snake is "gay" because you think he prefers being manipulated to poop over just going in his cage.....
I know a few gay people. Some are neat and great house keepers, and others...not so much!! Stereotyping really is not a good thing.....

Snakes are not meant to be "potty trained"....
 
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