Cleaning your snakes

[Grimslade]

Sorry I feel that I should know the answer to this question, but being new I do not. Sorry if it sounds stupid.

I have a question and I have not been able to find the answer. What do you use (if anything) to "clean" your snakes? I figure snakes eat mice/rats and get guts, blood, etc on them... is there something you should use to wipe them down?

I always wash my hands before and after handling snakes I just don't want to put them in danger of disease if there is something that I should be doing.
Thanks!!!

[BWSmith]

I have never really "washed" a snake before. Soaking them for various reasons (other than cleaning them) is not uncommon however.

[wreckwriter]

If your snake gets blood, poop or whatever on it you can just wipe it off with a wet paper towel. Not much sticks to snakes very well so its not often an issue.

[Torin]

Occasionally if they get a large blood spot on them, I'll clean it off after a couple of days with a wet paper towel. If it is small, I won't worry about it. It all comes off at the next shed anyway.

I think I've used the paper towel method twice in the last year and a half.

[Heidi]

Years ago when one of my snakes got mites my vet suggested two bottles of cleaner and a protectant to treat them and the last was some sort of preventative that left a thin shiney film on the snakes. I have no idea what they were or anything else about them and If I've seen the stuff in stores now I wouldn't even recognize it. The snakes did seem to enjoy their "baths" though.

Since then I do not bathe my snakes but will occasionally soak them like mentioned before.

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[wreckwriter]

Originally Posted by hbwright

Years ago when one of my snakes got mites my vet suggested two bottles of cleaner and a protectant to treat them and the last was some sort of preventative that left a thin shiney film on the snakes. I have no idea what they were or anything else about them and If I've seen the stuff in stores now I wouldn't even recognize it. The snakes did seem to enjoy their "baths" though.
Since then I do not bathe my snakes but will occasionally soak them like mentioned before.

armor-all for snakes??

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[JuliusSqueezer]

Snake skin is made of keratin. It's water tight. Their eyes are sealed shut behind a layer of thin, clear skin...like little built in goggles so you don't have to worry about getting soap in their eyes. If you want to bathe your snake with a mild hand soap or even shampoo...go for it. I suggest letting them soak awhile in the tub before using any soap though to give them time to drink if they want to. Ingested soap won't hurt them but it can act as a mild laxative. I bathe snakes that just dropped babies so I can remove the scent completely and get them to start eating again right away. I have had a few large snakes poop in the water and continue soaking in brown water for long enough that...they got bathed. Megan bathed Max for me after such an occurance with half a bottle of Biolage shampoo lol...dang nasty burm. This is her bringing him back downstairs after his bath. Sorry, this is a G rated site so no bathtub pics of max. This pic was taken a few years ago when Max was just a little fella. He's grown a bit since then.

[Heidi]

Oh, come on, we want the bath pics. Nobody under 18 allowed in this thread. *If you're under 18 stop reading now*