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Coco Soft? Can I use this as substrate?

R

rocketshipwalker

New member
At a reptile expo I recently went too, I was talking to one of the vendors and when I said I have my corn on aspen, he gave me a brick of Coco Soft and told me to try it instead.
They were a small family business, and I think it's made locally?
On the packaging, it says it was made in Florida, at least.
It's described as 'compressed cocohusk chip reptile/herp substrate' on the packaging.
I like aspen, but since Strider is a Blizzard he doesn't show up as well as I'd like.
The coco soft stuff is light reddish-brown, so I think he'd look very nice on it.
I'd only want to try it if you guys say it's safe though.

Also, if you don't recommend this substrate for corns, are there any other reptiles or amphibians that you'd recommend this for?
I don't want to waste it.
It was really nice of him to just give me a whole brick of it for free.
 
I'm going to chime in that I believe this material holds moisture better, but beyond that I don't know. Can you get a photo of the packaging?
 
I've never tried it but apparently folks have had good luck with ball pythons on it? I was correct in my guess that it does hold humidity better then aspen. I have no experience using it personally...it doesn't appear to be dyed, so that's good. This stuff looks like it would make a perfect "moist" hide. It appears as though it's not recommended for leopard geckos...my educated guess is that it would be similar to sphagnum moss? I wonder if mixing it with aspen would be a good/bad idea? Do you feed inside or outside of the cage? That would be my main concern - I'm not sure how much of it would stick to the prey and it being more fibrous might not be good for the snake...
 
Never seen it in that packaging but it's all I used to begin with with my corns. Then I switched to eco earth and have never gone back. I love the softness of it and the fact that it holds tunneling better for my corns when they want to burrow during a shed or just are feeling reclusive.
 
I feed outside the cage, so that's not a problem.
So, do you think it's safe to try?
I have a spare bag of aspen as well. I can switch it out quick if I see something I don't like about the coco soft.
Also, would one brick even be enough for a twenty gallon?
 
It should be fine for snakes. It's just coco husk, which is what eco earth is, just eco earth is the consistency of dirt.
 
Yeah should be no problem. I use eco earth for hatchlings but switch to aspen when they get bigger because the eco earth has occasionally got crusted on their vent after a big deuce. These larger chips shouldn't do that, they look perfect.
 
As others have said, should be perfectly fine. Coconut husk has been used as substrate in various forms for quite a while.
 
If he's not a fan of it, you could try Eco Earth (same thing but pulpier like dirt), Colored Care-Fresh (comes in some fun, but usually pastel, colors), dyed Aspen (a few have used or do use it, so i'd trust it personally), or even Cypress mulch.
 
Thanks!
I've used blue aspen before, and I was pretty happy with it.
It's just hard to find locally and I don't feel like buying any online. Haha
 
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