Best Substrate

[Thor26]

Right now im using Aspen for my '07 normal but im running low should i get coconut fiber whatd o you think. hes in a 20 gallon long

[mrmertz]

Sounds fine to me.

Some people have concerns over Repti-Bark, I've never had an issue with it and we feed F/T using a hair dryer to be sure that the food is completely dried so nothing sticks to it. I use a combo of Repti with he Zilla moss mix for now...

...BUT...I tried a little test with the two boys we have and both seem to prefer the blend of Eco-Earth and the Forest Bed. No matter which side I would place the coconut mulch on, he would always settle there! Hot side, cool side - it wouldn't matter. My sister's BP they have had for years has always use the mulched coconut bed (the expandable brick) and she says Irwin loves it. Plus, if they ingest any of it it is not harmful. I like it because it holds the humidity for me out here in the arid southwest. The one problem with the darker substrates is that it is really a chore sometimes to find out where the poop is.

My Burmese was always kept on aspen bedding and there was never an issue there either.

There is a huge python up in Phoenix at the reptile critter store and they keep him on wood CHIPS - not shavings. They claim they have seen him down the chips occasionally and without any apparent ill effects but after reading about the post-mortem on a Burmese that fell ill and died I'm not too sure about the long term consequences of that. The entire gut was perforated with millions of tiny wood slivers. If you don't care about keeping him/her in a more natural setting - I'd switch over to newspaper.

[Thor26]

Sounds fine to me.

Some people have concerns over Repti-Bark, I've never had an issue with it and we feed F/T using a hair dryer to be sure that the food is completely dried so nothing sticks to it. I use a combo of Repti with he Zilla moss mix for now...

...BUT...I tried a little test with the two boys we have and both seem to prefer the blend of Eco-Earth and the Forest Bed. No matter which side I would place the coconut mulch on, he would always settle there! Hot side, cool side - it wouldn't matter. My sister's BP they have had for years has always use the mulched coconut bed (the expandable brick) and she says Irwin loves it. Plus, if they ingest any of it it is not harmful. I like it because it holds the humidity for me out here in the arid southwest. The one problem with the darker substrates is that it is really a chore sometimes to find out where the poop is.

My Burmese was always kept on aspen bedding and there was never an issue there either.

There is a huge python up in Phoenix at the reptile critter store and they keep him on wood CHIPS - not shavings. They claim they have seen him down the chips occasionally and without any apparent ill effects but after reading about the post-mortem on a Burmese that fell ill and died I'm not too sure about the long term consequences of that. The entire gut was perforated with millions of tiny wood slivers. If you don't care about keeping him/her in a more natural setting - I'd switch over to newspaper.

Wow thanks the thought of those slivers just made me shiver.