Reusable Bedding

[Jay_Bunny]

I tried searching for this and didn't come up with much but while changing paper towels today I began thinking about ways to possibly use a reusable bedding for the snakes. Here is what I thought up. What about using cloth to line your tubs and tanks with? They would soak up liquid waste and water just like paper towels would and even better. If you check daily (which I do anyway) you could remove the soiled cloth and replace with a new clean one.

The soiled cloth would have solid waste/urates removed, rinsed and then you could use your washing machine to wash them. Much like cloth diapers back in the day (even though I have never used one, my grandmother used them for her kids)

Would this be a possibility? Would it be worth it? What are the pros and cons of such a bedding?

[OhhWatALoser]

even tho you do wash them I would imagine they would get pretty nasty after a while of just constantly being pee'd and pooped on. whats wrong with newspaper you can just throw away and is free?

[kitedemon]

repti-carpet it is like astro turf.

I don't use it myself but there are some whom do. I use coco coir.

BTW be careful of using paper towels I have heard of snakes eating it with a rat that was a bit damp and needing help passing it. Newspaper is less likely to happen.

[Jay_Bunny]

Thanks for the heads up about the paper towel. I have never had an incident but I will keep an eye out.

The reason I don't use newspaper is because its too much trouble for me to get free newspaper. Also my snakes have a habit of tipping their water dishes and it doesn't absorb well. Paper towels work a bit better in this department, but I find them to be so wasteful. Currently I go through about a 1.5-2 rolls per week, which isn't expensive (I get a 6 pack of rolls for about $5-6, but I just find myself with a lot of paper towels in my trash. If I could find a reusable bedding that I could simply clean and put back in, that would be a lot better. I would assume they would be similar to cloth diapers. Those get peed and pooped on all the time, yet they are washed over and over and reused. Wouldn't it work the same for something that only gets pooped on once a week?

Perhaps I'll try it for a few weeks and post my results with it here.

[Black_Shark]

Go Aspen. You can get a HUGE bag for 11 bucks from Petsmart (that lasts me an entire year) or even cheaper at some tractor supply stores. Only have to disinfect once a year, clean monthly and spot clean whenever you seen poop/pee

[Jay_Bunny]

I mainly started this thread to discuss the possibility of a reusable bedding. While aspen can be spot cleaned to reduce the number of times you have to do a full change it is still something you'd have to continue to purchase. I'm going to do an experiment with the cloths and see if it is something that could work for me. They would be removed, disinfected/washed, and dried whenever needed and once a week even if there is no urate or poop (which in the case of my snakes, there always is). This will make sure bacteria/mold does not have a chance to grow. They will be removed even if it is just a water spill.

I just found out I can get tons of cloth for free, so I'm definitely going to give this a try and let you guys know how it works out. I'd love to know if anyone else has tried this before.

[dragonboy4578]

I have used the reusable bedding before. I have a friend that works for a carpet company and she got me a roll of some sort of heavy felt material. It worked great for a while, but even with its dark color it started to stain and look nasty. It didn't last that long. It did hold humidity well thought. The other problem was the complaints that I kept getting about putting something that nasty in the washer. I did rinse it out first, but was still nagged about it being nasty. In the end I went back to newspaper.

[Jay_Bunny]

Yes, the stains could be a problem. Would using something like Oxyclean or bleach take care of stains due to feces or urates? Or will they always be there once they set in? I would assume that cloth diapers would also stain if this is the case, yet I remember finding very clean, white cloth diapers in my grandmothers house when I was a child.

I did some really quick research on cloth diapers and if the same kind of fabric was used, then there are easy ways to remove stains. There are natural, non-toxic, stain removers, and rinsing in cold water before the stains have a chance to set helps. Apparently, setting the cloth out in the sun bleaches them naturally.

I might have to experiment a bit and find out what works. I will also be doing research on what is safe to use to clean the cloth with.

Now, please note, this is just an idea and might fail horribly. Or it could work wonderfully. I guess we will see what happens if I do decide to experiment with it.

[dragonboy4578]

The cloth I was using was a fairly dark green at first, but with the continual washing it lightened up fairly quickly. I never tried to bleach it though. The baby cloth would probably work. Keep us posted if you decide to try it.

[Byrdie]

Careful with the bleach when i worked offshore we had to use bleach to clean our clothes that we used in the engine room (Oil gas ect...) anyway the other Deckhand threw some of my stuff in one day and added too much bleach....lets just say it itched in the most uncomfortable places... anyway >.> just saying a snake has to live on it remember good luck though let me know what you find