V.Large vivarium keepers

Feebo · 05-26-10, 06:07 PM

I`d like to discuss very large enclosures, hopefully with a few of you that keep them. My biggest enclosure is six feet long, four feet back and a foot and a half or so high. I keep a pair of Boas in that one. The thing I`d like to discuss is cleaning regularity. My Boas kindly poo in thier water most of the time, it makes for a clean up that is truly the stinkiest most horrible regular job in the snake room lol Because they do that mostly, I really don`t have much poo in the tank. As for urate, well that`s mostly with the poo. The thing is, I`m always telling newcomers that when a clean out is well over due, you`ll have an abundance of urate in powder form beneath the substrate, the substrate it`s self LOOKS clean, but it`s not. BUT... Being as my Boas do thier biz in the water bowls, I really don`t get much mess. I`m checking every tank at the moment after having had a sudden death from blood poisoning (Mites) I was prepared for mites in my Boa tank, being underneath the late Jaffa`s tank, but, thankfully, nothing... I was going to do a full clean anyway but it was so mess free in there, I ended up just moving the substrate out of the way, cleaning and disinfecting the floor and then moving it back, for the sake of cleaning at least a bit while I was there. No powdered urate under the sunstrate. The odd desacated turd and welded on urate but really hardly anything at all as I say. Can anyone else comment on this? Do you find yourself doing similar spot cleaning in huge vivariums? Not needing to do a full clean out very often at all? Even though I`m still disinfecting, checking and removing waste and actually rummaging around looking closely at the condition of the substrate, it just doesn`t feel right not completely changing the substrate more often! lol The warm end of the vivarium was STILL squeeky clean after months and months, they just make a weeeeee bit of mess at the cool end, the majority goes in the water and gets taken out straight away.... Hows about you big viv keepers discuss your cleaning regime with me.....

Feebo · 05-27-10, 04:15 PM

I thought I`d bump this.....

infernalis · 05-27-10, 06:00 PM

My largest is about the same size, but it has Chomper in it.

He has clay soil from my yard in it, so he can dig and mess it.

However, Chomper is "potty trained" (he did it, not me) he refuses to go to the bathroom in his box at all.

He will make a lot of noise to get let out, then take care of his business out on my lawn. (garden)

During the cold months he does it on one of my linoleum floors, easy to clean up.

If I had to put a finger on why he behaves that way, I would think it's because he does not want to smell that foul stench in a box that has very little venting to it.

Our Royal (BP) is in a 4 foot (55 gallon) tank, I spot clean regularly, but do a tear down wash out 3-4 times a year, and I do find some white powder under his bedding, just not a lot of it.

Kmef07 · 05-27-10, 06:13 PM

I use cocogrow which is coconut husk pulverized into a very dry dirt that when introduced to water spreads nicely. I just spot clean and my tank is also 6feet long and 30inches deep. My brb tends to poo in the 10 gallon tank that I have in there but I take that out and there is a filter that runs a waterfall to the other end of my tank and then the water goes through a return of hydroton that has lucky bamboo and other plants in it so all in all my tank is really clean just from spot cleaning. I also have plants all over which tend to clean it out.

shaunyboy · 05-28-10, 09:05 AM

as long as theres no bad smells coming from the tank,i spot clean.i completely clean the tanks only 3 or 4 times per year.i find most of my carpets like to hide there poo in roughly the same spot each time.so i do as you do feebs.i push substrate aside give the affected area a wee spray with diluted bleach soulution or use them flash wipes you get for cleaning kitchen surfaces.all my tanks are in my bedroom so the last thing i want is smelly tanks.
cheers shaun