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Scented Soap
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by Jahon on March 17, 2009
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First of all I would like to mention that I disinfect my snake's cages every 6-8 weeks by taking it into the bathtub, if small enough, and wash it out completely with soap and water. In this case I used Irish Spring brand soap. Now my problem is that the cage now smells like Irish Spring Soap. It's only been a day so I can only hope the scent will go away, but I was wondering if this could harm the snake at all. Another question I had was if cage size affects the size of the snake. Thanks, and have a great day.
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RE: Scented Soap
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by earthguy on March 18, 2009
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Jahon,
While I have no solid evidence that strongly scented soaps cause any problems I tend to avoid them. I know people who have respiratory reactions to strong scents, so it stands to reason, biologically, that it could happen to snakes as well. I will usually wash cages out with unscented dish soap. If I have a REALLY dirty cage I will dilute some HCl (safety first - Always Add the Acid to water) and use that before I have used the soap and water. Either way you should let it air out for a while before you put the snake bake in. Just make sure that the temporary cage that you are storing the snake in is clean and secure.
As far as your second question...snakes will outgrow their enclosure if it is too small. It is an urban legend that you can keep a python (or turtle, etc) small by keeping it in a small cage.
Hope this helped
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RE: Scented Soap
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by Jahon on March 18, 2009
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Thank you very much for your time Joshua. It did indeed help. I guess since I'm watching my snakes all the time, I just don't notice them grow, and I was paranoid I was doing something wrong. I feed my juveniles every 2 weeks on a good sized rodent and my adults every 3-4 weeks. I gave my albino crotalus atrox to a friend for a few months and it seemed to have gotten so big to me. He said the same thing about my snakes. I guess you just don't notice an animal growing very well when you watch it all the time. Thanks again for your time and have a great day!
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RE: Scented Soap
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by earthguy on March 18, 2009
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I definitely understand. As far as cage sizes go...different people use different rules of thumb. Some say that you're fine as long as the cage is at least half the size of the snake. Others use a square footage: length ratio. I say as long as the snake can move around freely it should be fine. It also depends on the species. Ambush predators (Gaboon vipers, for example) shouldn't need as much space as a similarly sized active hunter. Arboreal snakes need more vertical space...you get the idea.
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