Substrate

I read in the husbandry faq that Repti-bark is ok to use. This substrate is made of fir bark. Somewhere else I read that substrate made from soft woods like pine, fir and cedar have phenols that are not good for ball pythons. Is this Repti-bark from ZooMed ok to use or not? Thanks.

Best,
Red

I do not use Repti-bark any more. I use Cypress mulch as do quite a few others.

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Originally Posted by Nightmare Creatures

I do not use Repti-bark any more. I use Cypress mulch as do quite a few others.

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Did it cause problems for your snake or did you not use it long enough to notice anything? I just bought some and then read that it could be harmful. Man I need to stop asking questions at the local pet store. :confused:

Best,
Red

It usually has wood mites in it....which is okay....easy to fix just freeze it over night. But it is way more $$$ then other subs. So just not worth it to me. Seems to stick to feeders more too and get in the water.

iv always just used newspaper with my bp, its simple, easy to clean and it cant be injested.

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Originally Posted by open_eyes

iv always just used newspaper with my bp, its simple, easy to clean and it cant be injested.

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Couldn't agree more. Plus its cheap. I've used the Repti Bark and I didnt care for it. I also don't feel that "spot cleaning" is cleaning.

Depends on how you spot clean. In my 65 gallon that I'm now getting rid of, I'd just grab a huge chunk of substrate so that I got all of the liquid urine out of the tank, and then I'd replace it with more substrate and fluff it all. But if you're just picking out the pee/poo then you are leaving tons of chemicals in the substrate, and especially ammonia which isn't good for the snake's health.

Personally I use aspen because it's a lot easier to see things in it (pee stands out as a super white, while poop is a brown, both of which easy to notice on the off white of aspen).

the best thing to use for ball pythons as substrate is either 1 of these 2 items
Newspaper or most commonly used is Aspen Bedding
which Aspen is perfect for them due to the fact its digestable should they eat any ..

hope this helps

Thanks everybody. I was reading the other day about substrates and somewhere someone wrote that fir has phenols that are dangerous to balls. I will be using aspen or newspaper (which we never have a shortage of) from now on. Again, thanks.

Best,
Red

another inexpensive alternative is paper towels, i go to the dollar store and but a couple rolls every other week or so. it also looks a little nicer than newspaper and is easier to clean than aspen. being that its light in color also helps to to monitor your snakes leavings, and spot mites easily.