Substrate?

Hey
Im new to the forum. I have a normal ball Python. One question, what type of substrate should I use? :?

I'll post pics later,
Sean

Welcome to our little corner of the universe! Glad to have ya around :). Substrate is definitely a matter or personal preference. I use paper towels or newspaper. You could use some cypress mulch ( properly baked/boiled ), a piece of carpet, a piece of astroturf, or Reptibark. People use all different kinds of substrate, just make sure whatever you get doesnt have any cedar in it. Cedar is deadly to reptiles. I'm sure others will be along to share their personal favorite substrates with ya!

Personally I prefer newspaper. I've used cyprus mulch and coconut bark which are very nice for snakes that need a higher humidity. But those make a mess. Not just that it gets around when I clean the bin out, but it has also made my bins red, something about the dampness and the color of the wood or something. The reasons I like newspaper are that it is readily accessible, cheap, easy to switch out, works fine for raising humidity for shedding when sprayed, and it is easy to see feces on. I think you would be fine choosing newpaper, papertowels, aspen shavings, cyprus mulch, or coconut bark. It is all a matter of personal preference. For sure you want to avoid ceder. One other thing about the wood base substrates, with one snake they are fine, two sure. I'm only up to 10 and I can't imagine having to clean out all those bins if I were still using cyprus or coconut.

Currently I'm using 'Shop Towels on a Roll', basically papertowels but stronger, more absorbent, and softer....we also use newspaper. Cheap, easy, looks good and non-toxic.

i'm gonna check into those shop towels. right now i use repti-carpet but i can see how cleaning it everytime nellie does her business may soon become a pain. i decided against the wood and mulch substrates because of cleaning issues and because i am still deciding if i want to feed in the tank or in a separate container, and i don't want there to be any chance of my snake ingesting the bark. but again, it really is a matter of personal preference. also, stay away from anything that contains pine.

I use aspen bedding. I like it, it holds humidity well and its good for them to slither on. And just personal preference. I think it might be just as cheap as paper towels and looks better. I keep my snakes in sterilites so its easy to dump out and clean the tubs.

I started w/Aspen bedding but decided that I'd rather feed in the tank. Sophie could care less really as she's an easy feed (so far) but Smitty still hasn't eaten for us and I don't want to stress him more by having to remove him everytime we attempt to feed him. Also, the humidity tends to be too high (need to add even more holes) in the sterlites so low humidity is not an issue either.

I have coconut bedding. You soak it in water and it expands to like 50x it starting size. The moist ground helps with the humidity. It looks good and is less abrasive than some of the other..