Substrate?!?!?

[MDball0918]

Hi. I'm currently caring for ball pythons and breeding mice and rats. As of now I am using aspen shavings for my balls and compressed newspaper pellets for my feeders. I'm wondering if anyone could tell me the substrate they recommend that can be used for both, I know either one "may" be used for both, but I would love to here your opinions on the "best" substrate. Also I have just built my first rack. It's an 11 shelf 28 quart melamine rack and I'm very proud of it and I would like to send a huge thank you to Pwilliams58 for the directions. My question for the rack is I see a lot of people using a white newspaper in the rack systems, could anyone inform me on where I may find this?

[Bundu Boy]

I take it aspen is the same as wood shavings, you can use it for both your balls and feeders. I use it for my rats, but i use newspaper for my balls, it is very easy to clean, simply take out soiled and replace with a new piece.

White newspaper you should find at your local newspaper printers or enquire at your local art/stationary shop


Which substrate is best? Well how long is a piece of string? Some will say aspen shavings, other will say newspaper, other will say wood chips etc, personal preference is the name of that game.
Depends on your setup really, if you have a lot of balls in racks then the quickest to clean is preferred. My vote for this would go for newspaper, and then shavings.
If you have only a few balls which are in display tanks then a more aesthetic look may be preferred, this is when wood chips (Repti Bark) and spaghnum moss may be preferred as it looks really good in a tank. It takes a little longer to clean but if you use it for a few balls then that is no biggie...

[Exotic Ectotherms]

I like coco fiber (bed-a-beast) for display tanks. It holds humidity well, is absorbent, and doesn't have any large chunks that may cause impaction. Also, it doesn't have the same environmental impact as cypress mulch.

However, if you are looking for something for your racks, newspaper is probably the easiest. Here is the website that sells pre-cut tub liners that are more absorbent than newspaper and do not have any printing: http://www.cageliners.net/index.html