Bedding Question....

[sweety314]

I currently have the "felt" reptile carpet in my tank for my 2' female, Baby, but the PetCo salesman recommended Zoo Med's ASPEN bedding. The reading and searching I've done doesn't help for PROs/CONs of either one. Does it just become personal preference and how much you want to spend??? ...You know, a carpet you can clean and rotate w/a second carpet (one-time purchasing expense) vs. the consumable aspen shreds that have to be replaced as they're cleaned out and disposed of?

Thanks for the help earlier, too......about Baby & her not eating. Eventually ended up taking her to the vet because the changes didn't encourage her to eat. My tank set up STILL wasn't warm enough (I think...) but the additional changes seem to have worked. It wasn't the juvie rat the former owner said she'd eat, but she DID EAT two mice on Thursday. Yaaaaaaay!!!! The first took her about 3-4 min. to swallow (I had her in a slick rubbermaid tub instead of her tank) but the second she basically inhaled.

I've started looking at and pricing babies and a bigger tank setup for my Baby now. That was another change recommended by the vet. I don't have the funds, and I'm hoping to buy a house before the end of the month. Once we're settled, I'm looking at a bigger tank for Baby....Then I'll have a snakey home w/o an occupant. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

[tigerlily]

As far as substrate goes, it is mostly personal preference. Just DO NOT use cedar or pine. Those are the main no no's. I use aspen and I like it a lot, you can buy huge bags pretty cheap but again it comes down to preference.

At 20" I think 1 adult mouse would probably be plenty once a week. You want to be careful not to overfeed because that can lead to fasting. Something that can happen but you want to try smaller more consistant meals, but I'm glad to hear you finally got her to eat.

What size tank do you have her in now? Smaller is better for babies. Don't go getting her a huge tank, because all that open space can be stressful for a young snake.

I hope this helps, and if you have any other questions please ask.

[jglass38]

I am not a huge aspen fan. I have used every type of substrate there is. I find it easier to use paper towel or newspaper. Easiest to clean and keep a healthy environment. Of course if you only have a couple snakes, Aspen might work for you. I have 16 and if I used Aspen I would spend my life cleaning.

[sweety314]

Thanks for the input, guys!! As for size of tank, my current snake is in a 40g? tall, but she's 2' or longer......I understand that if and when I get a baby, a rubbermaid/tupperware-type tub would be best for quite some time. I wouldn't DREAM of putting my little guy in such a huuuuuuuge tank!


I only have the one snake right now, but I've been drooling over the pieds and axes. *sigh* .....So using Aspen wouldn't break my bank, IF I can find a distributor of the BIG bags. My local store only has the two smallest sizes.

Thanks again for the tips.

[frankykeno]

We use aspen bedding and quite like it but to each their own. We usually get it through one of our local pet stores and it's not a very big bag really (tho it is compressed). Just recently I found the website for Kaytee (the brand they carry) and found out we can get much bigger bags at the local feed/farm supply store. Why I never thought to look there!

Here's their link with a store locater function. They don't even list our local pet store but then perhaps they only list stores that carry this product in the "industrial" size LOL.

www.kaytee.com


~~Jo~~

[Schlyne]

*sigh* .....So using Aspen wouldn't break my bank, IF I can find a distributor of the BIG bags. My local store only has the two smallest sizes.

Thanks again for the tips.

You can order aspen online as well. I think I got mine from the bean farm or Superior Enterprises or something (I don't remember). Sani chips are the best.

I have a giant sized bag of the stuff, and I don't think I'll be using it all up for a while. I find it's better to use for my colubrid, as the newspaper just wasn't absorbant enough for her piles.

[HelicopterPilot]

Hmm I guess I will get some aspen for my future BP aswell. I like to have a Nice asthetic look. Plus it won't break my bank

[khara]

We use aspen for our yellow rat snake, trinket snake, and cornXgopher hybrid. Thing about aspen I noticed is it lowered our humidity some. All that really means is when they are in shed we mist more. For my BP I use newspaper or paper towel but that is mainly because I feed my BP in his enclosure and I wouldn't want Sobe to swallow substrate along with his rat pup.

[sweety314]

.....we can get much bigger bags at the local feed/farm supply store. Why I never thought to look there!

Here's their link with a store locater function. They don't even list our local pet store but then perhaps they only list stores that carry this product in the "industrial" size LOL.

www.kaytee.com


~~Jo~~

DUUUUUH! I didn't even think of that one either. Thanks for the reminder!!! I'll look into the costs of the Aspen. The salesman at PetCo said they keep the humidity up in the right range by misting heavily 2x/day. I've got the humidifier going but out of the last 4 sheds, I've had to soak Baby twice. Even with all that, she's still a pleasure!

[sweety314]

I use newspaper or paper towel but that is mainly because I feed my BP in his enclosure and I wouldn't want Sobe to swallow substrate along with his rat pup.

"PetCo" said they didn't have any problems with the baby BPs swallowing the Aspen. If I use it with Baby, & start feeding her in her enclosure (so I don't have to move her after eating--->regurg ) do I need to be concerned??????