I have had my snake for three months wondering if a substrate change is needed. No mold I spot clean regularly and the enclosure still smells earthy and not bad in any way. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
I have had my snake for three months wondering if a substrate change is needed. No mold I spot clean regularly and the enclosure still smells earthy and not bad in any way. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
It depends on what substrate you are using.
Some can be ok, but the main thing you have to remember is that spot cleaning does not get rid of harmful bacteria that spreads from waste- especially in moist warm environments like the substrate of a Ball Python enclosure.
This is why I reccomend doing substrate changes and thorough cleaning at least once a month to prevent bacterial skin infections in reptiles if the animal is not in a bioactive enclosure.
We were planning on doing it Monday after a vet appointment because she hasn’t pooped in the three months we have had her. I’m using a soil play sand sphagnum moss and coconut coir mix.
Has there been any urates at all? Even a small amount can introduce bacteria.
If not I wouldn’t worry about the substrate too much, if theres no mold or foul/stale odor from it just keep up with spot cleaning ![]()
Yeah one when she shed and one only one other time and I caught them right away and cleaned them out also I noticed some spring tails in her water dish or from my research and what I was told they are springtails so there is some sort of clean up crew going on. Her enclosure smells like a damp woodland or I guess what a damp jungle would smell like so no bad smells.
What kind of bedding is this?
Playsand, sphagnum and coco coir should not be getting random critters in it.
That may not be a good sign. Or it’s not a good quality of vender
Organic soil too
Soil was frozen solid for weeks before using also in below zero temps
They jump around on the top of the water right? Cause if they’re black dots at the bottom that’s not springtails.
Springtails could have hitched along with any plants if you had them in the enclosure as well.
Yeah they are white they clump up and when I blew on them or touch them they move quickly saw one do a jumping motion when I emptied the water bowl to clean it and a few were left after just dumping the water out
Whew, that’s a good thing at least! Last thing you need is a mite infestation or something with a new snake. Springtails are great and hopefully helping the setup. I’d make sure to save a good amount of the ones that hang in the water cup to help seed the enclosure when you do have a bedding change.