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which substrate to use

T

The Newguy

New member
Im working on convincing my parents to let me have a corn snake. so im doin a bunch of research and pricing and other stuff to show that i can handle this. So my local pet store has "Forest floor cypress mulch" Repti bark, Aspen snake beding and Eco earth loose coconut fiber substrates. I'm not sure which to use. One of the books ive read says that its a good idea to mix a couple different ones because one they look more natural and two they may hold different amounts of moisture. If i could get some suggestions it would be greatly appreciated:dgrin:
 
I personally prefer the natural look of Repti bark, and use it for my Basil. It makes for a very attractive viv. It also is a bit moister than a lot of other substrates, which helps with keeping the proper humidity levels.

Aspen, however, is quite a bit cheaper, and is easier for the snake to tunnel in. I've never used coconut fibers, so I can't give you my opinion on that. It really comes down to personal preference.

Repti bark comes with my highest recommendation, though.
 
Personally I LIKE aspen or sani chips, as a minor and reptile owner my mother prefers newspaper in the winter because of the dryness in the air. I think if you just have one snake instead of 24 like me LOL, I would use Aspen with a humid hide as aspen can be a bit too dry.
 
I like aspen, but here is my suggestion with that.

Don't get it from a pet store. More than likely you'll pay way too much. I saw Petco was selling the aspen snake bedding...a little bag for something like 8 bucks...maybe 1 cagefulworth (yeah, that's a unit of measurement). Go to a farm supply store (I go to Mills Fleet Farm, but I think they are only in WI, MN, IA, and ND) maybe try tractors supply co, or if you have any other farm store. At fleet farm in the equine department I found 45 pounds of shredded aspen (exact same shred type as the aspen snake bedding) for 5 bucks. That stuff should last me until Dec 21, 2012 :grin01: Or try small animal departments. Just make sure it is aspen, and not some other wood.
 
ZoologyGirl said:
I like aspen, but here is my suggestion with that.

Don't get it from a pet store. More than likely you'll pay way too much. I saw Petco was selling the aspen snake bedding...a little bag for something like 8 bucks...maybe 1 cagefulworth (yeah, that's a unit of measurement). Go to a farm supply store (I go to Mills Fleet Farm, but I think they are only in WI, MN, IA, and ND) maybe try tractors supply co, or if you have any other farm store. At fleet farm in the equine department I found 45 pounds of shredded aspen (exact same shred type as the aspen snake bedding) for 5 bucks. That stuff should last me until Dec 21, 2012 :grin01: Or try small animal departments. Just make sure it is aspen, and not some other wood.
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i love the tractor supply and farm and fleet store my girl has to drag me out of there while in scratching the ground to go back in.

the same goes for the tools section at sears.. but next time igo ill look for some aspen 8 bucks is what i pay for a tiny bag
 
I'm a big fan of aspen. I got a 20lb bag of Kaytee brand aspen for something like $12 on ebay.
 
I'm in love with paper towel. I love it more than life its self...ok thats an exaggeration. but seriously...i just went through a thing with my BP that I had to change the substrate everyday for 21 days...papertowl change takes 10 seconds, any sort of loose substrate takes longer than that...and I just 'borrowed' an industrial size roll from work because we had a case of 1000...so its cheap too...lol
its easy, accessable, cheap...and the white doesn't look too bad if you've got some fake plants and such. It is true the snakes dont get to burrow with PT....but mine dont seem to show that tendancy anyway.
 
I wanted to add I've used repti bark, coco fiber, and 'jungle earth' whatever the heck that is...and of the three, i liked reptibark best...but it could NOT compete price wise. I also didnt like the hassle of preparing it. I mean...its not tonnes of work, but its more work than papertowel, and way more expensive. This way, I can keep my viv's super clean, which eases my nurotic mind. :)
 
RosieReal said:
I wanted to add I've used repti bark, coco fiber, and 'jungle earth' whatever the heck that is...and of the three, i liked reptibark best...but it could NOT compete price wise. I also didnt like the hassle of preparing it. I mean...its not tonnes of work, but its more work than papertowel, and way more expensive. This way, I can keep my viv's super clean, which eases my nurotic mind. :)
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haha nurotic mind lol

ocd gets the best of women.:poke:
 
'tis true...I -am- the best... ;)

lol...Its funny, but I work with a few guys who make me feel like a slob. I have never once in my life been concerned with matching my socks to my underwear. Very metro.
As far as my snakes go, I'm hyper about them these days. I know it...I just try to live with it. :p
 
I use newpaper. It is not pretty or decorative, and doesn't hold the humidity well. But...I have ALOT of snakes. Newspaper makes the tubs so easy to clean that in very little time I can spotcheck every cage, cleaning as needed, so my snakes stay spotless. Plus I have snakes that prefer hiding between the pages over any other hide I could provide them!
 
To aid in your question, I personally use aspen, and Charles seems to like it cuz he can borrow in it and hide from the big scary human who always bugs him lol.

ZoologyGirl said:
I like aspen, but here is my suggestion with that.

Don't get it from a pet store. More than likely you'll pay way too much. I saw Petco was selling the aspen snake bedding...a little bag for something like 8 bucks...maybe 1 cagefulworth (yeah, that's a unit of measurement). Go to a farm supply store (I go to Mills Fleet Farm, but I think they are only in WI, MN, IA, and ND) maybe try tractors supply co, or if you have any other farm store. At fleet farm in the equine department I found 45 pounds of shredded aspen (exact same shred type as the aspen snake bedding) for 5 bucks. That stuff should last me until Dec 21, 2012 :grin01: Or try small animal departments. Just make sure it is aspen, and not some other wood.
Click to expand...

So I can just use any kind of aspen I find? It doesn't have to say something like "reptile safe" or anything on it?
 
Really hope this isn't viewed as a dumb question :) - but..

windowswisher said:
I personally prefer the natural look of Repti bark, and use it for my Basil. It makes for a very attractive viv. It also is a bit moister than a lot of other substrates, which helps with keeping the proper humidity levels.

Repti bark comes with my highest recommendation, though.
Click to expand...
Have you ever had a problem with mites in the repti-bark? I love the look of it as well.

When I was younger, I kept my garter snakes on aspen but had a problem with mites from it :(. We solved it by freezing all bedding coming into the house for at least three days (then thawing it of course) before using. I was just wondering if that was a prob in the reptibark too?
 
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