Substrate alternative...

[DavidFallows]

Hi,

For the past five years I've been using wood chips from the reptile shop which have been great for my little guy, however I've just picked up probably the biggest vivarium in the universe and changing the substrate every 3/4 weeks is not only going to be a mammoth task but also prove extremely costly.

I know many people recommend newspaper, however newspaper in the UK stinks, and the inks transfer really easily which I'm not a fan of.

Instead, for the past week I've been trying out towels. Three large, light grade (not thick at all) bath towels comfortably fit the base and ripple nicely creating a terrain. These can easily be replaced with fresh towels each week.

If this is a good idea I'll pick up some natural colour towels especially for him. Does anyone have any concerns about me using bath towels? He seems pretty happy.

We have a large litter tray in the cool side which holds his usual amount of substrate so that he can still dig around, he also uses this as his toilet, or at least tries to as I watched him poo slightly off the edge the other night.

 

[GothPixel]

Hmm.. I wonder if towels would affect the humidity. Don't really know. Just something that comes to mind.

 

[Miqote]

I saw a post once about possibly using fleece as a substrate for reptiles. We use fleece for our hedgehog, and she does her bathroom "upstairs" in her wheel area where we have some carefresh. My little snake is on paper towels, so I don't see how a big towel would be much different then this besides the snake being unable to burrow. When she is a bit bigger she'll probably get aspen though.

I know I didn't give much of an answer - but I'm pretty interested in this too! I really love the fleece in my hedgehog cage, it's really fun to pick out cute patterns.. My hedgehog also has little "sleeping bags".. basically just little fleece sacks she will crawl inside and sleep in. I've always wondered if snakes would like these, given their enjoyment of dark hiding spots.. haha.

 

[Thulsa]

My concern would be the Moisture retention of the bathtowels. You would be constantly changing them out and my question would be is it worth the extra cash savings.

 

[Marica]

After my Naomi had surgery, she was not allowed to have aspen in her enclosure due to her sutures. She didn't seem to mind it at all and I would think it's a more cost effective route than paper towel. You just have to make sure your temps on the bottom of the viv aren't too hot as they could borrow underneath. Another concern that was brought up in the other discussion I believe was whether or not the detergent used to clean the towels could affect the snake, so I suppose it would be best to wash with a mild detergent. I used 2 really soft beach towels layered one top of the other in her viv. She'd frequently borrow between the 2 towels, sometimes curling up under her hides between them as well. Here's a pic of her after I removed the hide and pulled back the top towel:

 

[DavidFallows]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Thulsa: They can easily be swapped around in a matter of two minutes for fresh ones which have just been taken straight out of the dryer, I'd rather do this every 5-7 days than spend around $80/£44 each month on aspen.

Marica: He has heavy objects pinning down the main towel that covers the UTH area. We've been keeping an eye on him in his new home and he's happy enough either coiled up in his warm cave, carpet tube, or digging in his substrate - he's not been so concerned with finding out what's underneath the towels but we'll keep a look out.

Also, We use just half a block of detergent which doesn't have any fabric softener - as we don't want his viv smelling like 'summer breeze' or 'cool lavendar' or any of that crap which may smell nice to us. Already thought of those two.

 

[EsotericForest]

I wouldn't think it would be a problem as long as you're willing to keep an eye on the humidity levels. But honest I don't see that as even being a huge problem in my opinion.

 

[Blue Apple Herps]

You should be able to get unprinted news paper if you were still interested in that route. Many print shops sell it, you can often get the last bit of a roll for next to nothing if not free. There is still a lot left, but too little for them to use.

 

[DavidFallows]

It will probably still stink though as I think the smell is from whatever cleaning agent they put through the mache here in the UK.

Maybe picking up packs of paper towels, the kind you find in dispensers, would work even better.

So far though I think sticking with the towels is the best option, unless there is a problem with them of course.

 

[ceduke]

I used towels for a sick snake I had, they were quite convenient!

 

[Blue Apple Herps]

It will probably still stink though as I think the smell is from whatever cleaning agent they put through the mache here in the UK.

That's possible. In which case, you could still get unprinted paper from an arts and craft store. But you could always try picking up the end of a bolt and seeing if it smells. Just an idea.

 

[Nanci]

$80/month for shavings??? I bet that much money would buy me enough shavings to last four years, for 25 snakes!! Wow!

 

[Taz Monkey]

$80/month for shavings??? I bet that much money would buy me enough shavings to last four years, for 25 snakes!! Wow!

lol, I took the Petco guys advice and bought the big bag of aspen for like $13, and I can tell now that its going to last me for like a decade. I should have just stuck with the smaller bag, even though its more money, because I won't have to look at the huge rubbermaid container full of aspen in my garage for that long. As well as the fact that I'm sure bugs will get in it and thats no good either.

 

[charlie1]

aspen is the only way to go. I only use around a half inch of it because it makes the turds easier to find and by removing a clump of it around the mess you can go a solid month before cleaning the whole viv.