Switching Substrates

I use EcoEarth by itself, it's the best thing I've used so far. I've used ReptiBark and paper towels before, but EcoEarth is the only one that's worked for me. Paper towels just don't do much for humidity, so I only use it for the first few months I have a new snake to check for mites and easy spot cleaning. It's about 10-13% air humidity in the house at any given time here right now, but I'm able to maintain a 65-70% humidity for my boa constrictor and 50-55% for my ball python. The garter's humidity isn't much above the room's humidity, but he just shed a perfect shed so he's doing good, too. The only bad thing is that it dries out quicker during the winter, so you may need to mix it with cypress mulch or sphagnum moss so it holds humidity longer. I'm thinking about doing that because it's drying out every 2-3 days. During the summer I can go a week or two without having to do anything for humidity. This is the only winter I've had problems, though, which is because the RHP and CHE in the boa's enclosure is working harder than it would normally. It's colder here than it was at my old place. I've never had a problem with the bedding molding, either, but that probably will depend on how wet you keep it. When I mix water in it, I pour just enough water directly into it to make it dark when I mix it up and no water strains out of it when I squeeze it. It does get dusty when it gets dry, but you can combat this by mixing it up when the top becomes dry and then mixing water into it when the humidity drops about 5% lower than what it should be. It can be difficult to just spot clean, but if you just run your hand through it you can find any urates and feces that may be buried as long as you don't shift things around too much. You might want to use a glove. :P

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Originally Posted by ViperSRT3g

So I've decided that once I use up all my aspen bedding, I may switch substrates. What substrates do you guys recommend and what are the pros and cons of it? I've been leaning towards using paper towels but I sort of feel that it might be too plain since my snake's been on actual bedding this whole time.

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I've been using that kraft indented paper lately. I liked the paper towels when I was using them. I like the indented paper a little better because it's wide enough for one sheet to cover it instead of having to overlay multiple rows of paper towels.

It's kind of plain, but the snakes seem to be happy on it and it's easy for me to clean.

I will say, I use tubs and live in FL so humidity isn't really an issue for me. If you're using a tank or live in a drier area, something else might work better for you for helping with humidity.

For the Eco-Earth and cypress mulch, do those things get stuck to food easily? It annoys me to offer food that gets covered in the aspen bedding, so I'm hoping things don't get too messy when eating.

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Originally Posted by ViperSRT3g

For the Eco-Earth and cypress mulch, do those things get stuck to food easily? It annoys me to offer food that gets covered in the aspen bedding, so I'm hoping things don't get too messy when eating.

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Unfortunately it does, if you offer FT and it is offered while wet, it'll get stuck. I used to put down a paper plate before feeding, it doesn't help if the snake drags it around though.

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Damn haha, I guess I may have to use multiple substrates to keep my snake and I happy. I'm thinking of having paper towels lining most of his tank, and then repti-bark in the feeding area so that nothing gets stuck all over the food while he's eating. Both seem to be easy to take care of over the current aspen bedding.

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Originally Posted by ViperSRT3g

For the Eco-Earth and cypress mulch, do those things get stuck to food easily? It annoys me to offer food that gets covered in the aspen bedding, so I'm hoping things don't get too messy when eating.

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It does if it's wet or they drag it around, but it's nothing to worry about if you have good husbandry and a water dish if they need to drink afterwards.

Funny timing on this thread, as I am in the process of switching mine off paper to aspen. I second the recommendation for the Harlan Teklad, I've been using it for a while for my ASFs, since it's lab-grade the quality is very consistent and you get a lot in the bag since it's compressed. I still have my big breeder girls on paper though since I bring the males to their tubs, imagine getting a sliver of aspen stuck to your hemipene! :O

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Originally Posted by 200xth

I've been using that kraft indented paper lately. I liked the paper towels when I was using them. I like the indented paper a little better because it's wide enough for one sheet to cover it instead of having to overlay multiple rows of paper towels.

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I was looking at that as an option instead of newspaper. Do you buy it locally or online from somewhere like ULine?

Oh that kraft indented paper stuff looks pretty good. If I'm imagining it correctly in my head, is it like a really thick paper towel texture?

Plantation soil (Ground coco husk) for me. Excellent humidity control, easy to clean, and all my snakes love it.

My go to choice for all my terrariums.