substrate question

[Loz]

Hi guys, I've had my Royal for a week now, and he went straight into shed, and the humidity is well down!!
At the moment I'm using Aspen for the substrate, but I'm thinking of changing to cypress or Eco Earth... now what I would like to know is this.. is damp substrate ok for my snake? I always thought damp substrate lead to scale rot, etc... this is my 1st time with Royals and I'm on the learning curve .. thanks.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Welcome to the site!

Slightly damp substrate is ok, but even really wet substrate is fine as long as you let it completely dry out for a few days before rewetting it. This wetting and drying cycle will help to prevent scale rot issues.

Since you said you are new here are some great threads I recommend to all new BP owners:

Care: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

Cage Setup: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...With-Pictures!

Cage Heating: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t-Thermometers

[Loz]

thanks for the info..... I've found the 'soak and towel' tip useful, and will use it tomorrow...

[NYHC4LIFE8899]

I am using aspen in one tank and coco husk in the other,coco husk is doing nothing different for humidity either...I just got a bag of Eco earth and I will be trying that next. Think it will hold humidity way better than coco husk,it's obvious already as it's damp in the bag....

as as for the coco husk and aspen,well both tanks are set the same and both tanks holding humidity the same..I like aspen to be honest

[The Serpent Merchant]

I am using aspen in one tank and coco husk in the other,coco husk is doing nothing different for humidity either...I just got a bag of Eco earth and I will be trying that next. Think it will hold humidity way better than coco husk,it's obvious already as it's damp in the bag....

as as for the coco husk and aspen,well both tanks are set the same and both tanks holding humidity the same..I like aspen to be honest

Did you wet down or soak the coco husk?

[Loz]

I used aspen with a mex black i had.. no probs, but the royal is a different beast.... needs a little more humidity, it seems.

[NYHC4LIFE8899]

Did you wet down or soak the coco husk?

I heavily misted it down with a spray bottle,kind of helped but wasn't sure if I should soak it....plus have it in a tank with a heat bulb,so it would adventually dry it out any way..wasn't sure how often I should be soaking it..my little guys going into his first shed with me now,so I been keeping humidity round 75-85..maybe tommorow,I'll just soak the husk and see what happens

[Loz]

let us know how you get on..

[Physician&Snakes]

I directly saturate my substrate on a weekly basis and keep an open screen top with infared heat bulb. In my almost 9 years of keeping the specimen dwelling in that enclosure, I have not seen a poor shed. I honestly go nuts when I hear of someone using a wet towel over a screen top, why? One, you're asking for mildew if you are not careful. Two, Humidity Sinks and heat rises, so if you want heat to rest at the floor of the cage, then your humidity has to be at the floor in order to capture heat radiating from the top to the bottom. If all your humidity is being dispensed slowly from a towel at the top of the screen then heat hitting the cage floor will simply rise and only be briefly captured toward the top of the enclosure, where your snake probably is not. Now if you have a short cage then this upward retention might work if an eye is kept on it but it will be extremely less efficient when compared to a well saturated substrate allowed to dry out at a moderate pace. If you are afraid of scale rot then Cypress bedding is a good choice for as it will change colors when it needs to be re-saturated...

This cypress needs to be saturated as it is a dun bage/brown color and dry to the touch; whereas well saturated cypress has a peach brown color and is moist to the touch.

Dry




Saturated

[BumbleB]

how exactly do you saturate your substrate? Misting or pouring water over it?