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Substrate pros and cons?

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  • 11-12-2014, 05:58 PM
    Zincubus
    Re: Substrate pros and cons?
    Orchid bark everytime for me . Looks fantastic and holds as much moisture as you want it to ... and you can easily clean it / treat it with F10 / dry it and re-use !!
  • 11-12-2014, 07:11 PM
    MarkS
    I've used cypress mulch, coconut mulch, eco-earth, pine chips, shredded aspen, repti carpet, indoor/outdoor carpeting, sand and dirt, and kraft paper. And the one I keep going back to every time is...... newspaper.

    Actually, I'm using something right now called Bogus Paper (it's thicker and more absorbent than newspaper) and I'm liking it a lot. We'll have to see how it works out in the long run though.
  • 11-12-2014, 09:06 PM
    Aryia
    I use newspaper and paper towels, I personally like paper towels more because they are more absorbent than newspaper but newspaper is literally free : ) Anyway I doubt newspaper or paper towels would be very aesthetically pleasing in this case, but I'll list some pros/cons I find about newspaper/papertowels.

    Pros:
    - Easy and fast to do a 100% substrate change
    - Pretty cheap
    - Don't have to worry about your ball python ingesting any of it

    Cons:
    - Ball python can shift the newspaper around really easily, it drives me nuts sometimes
    - Doesn't look very nice, occasionally you do get a snake with letter print on them as well
    - It doesn't hold humidity quite as well compared to other substrates, but I personally haven't had any shedding issues at all.
  • 11-12-2014, 09:34 PM
    Stewart_Reptiles
    Over the years I have used various substrates

    For hatchlings I now only use shredded aspen

    For adult males I also use shredded aspen

    For adult females I use news paper most of the year and during breeding season, once they ovulate I use cypress mulch and after they laid back to newspaper.
  • 11-12-2014, 09:36 PM
    200xth
    I usually have a selection on hand. Aspen, pine, kraft paper and coco. Some of my snakes seem to prefer one, others prefer something different. I can also mix them as needed if I choose to.
  • 11-12-2014, 09:43 PM
    KMG
    In my naturalistic cages I use a mix of cypress, eco earth, and repti bark. I like how it looks and it holds humidity well.

    In my big cages I use newspaper.

    I have never had an issue with feeding inside the cages using any substrate.
  • 11-15-2014, 03:15 PM
    Smarion0006
    Re: Substrate pros and cons?
    I tried using repti bark. I liked the look of it, but I feel like its a hassel to keep clean. I'm using paper towel now and it is so much easier to deal with. Less smelly and a lot cleaner.
  • 11-15-2014, 05:30 PM
    SCWood
    Re: Substrate pros and cons?
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jrich View Post
    I personally mix eco earth and the aspen. Works very well for me. Bumped up the humidity when I was having trouble keeping it up where it should be, now it's fine.

    Do you get solid sheds with that? Mine is on Aspen as of now and she sheds in pieces.

    0.2 Normal
  • 11-16-2014, 09:59 AM
    barbie.dragon
    Re: Substrate pros and cons?
    I use bioactive soil. Perfect humidity without doing all that crazy stuff to the screen on top of the terrarium and minimal maintenence
  • 11-16-2014, 06:56 PM
    Spencer88
    I use papertowels
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