Why you like/dislike your substrate

Using wood shavings of various types.

Tried indented kraft paper and it was hit or miss. It seemed many animals could not get "comfortable" on it. With larger colubrids that make a lot of waste, they would cruise through the puddles and get streaked with crap. It was a mess.

Dried pine (mallard creek mini micro flake) and Harlan Tekklad aspen is what I alternate between, depending on what the local feed store has in stock. I keep a shop vac in the snake house so the mess is negligible. When the snakes crap or pee, I vacuum up the spot and it's surrounds, clean it with F10sc and place back a scoop of new aspen/pine. Simpler than paper and the snakes - as a whole - seem to prefer it.

I can see paper being a huge pain for colubrids or sure.

For balls I can see why some prefer paper and why it is better for them. It's great to hear the why's for all the different (yet acceptable/correct) substrate choices.

Thanks again everyone for your participation.


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I use the reptizorb tub liners from superiorshippingsplies.com, and I really, really like them.

Pros
-Precut to fit tubs perfectly
-I can see exactly what their urates/feces look like (which was actually very helpful when Cornelia was having tummy troubles) and I know exactly how often they desposit them
-Super easy clean up, if there's a mess, roll up the liner, wipe tub with f10, put in new liner
-Strong enough not to fall apart no matter how wet they get
-Absorb a ton of liquid, so snakes aren't left sitting in a puddle, even when you slosh a bunch of water out of the bowl
-Since they fit the tubs perfectly, all the clean spares fit nicely in a stack in an empty tub

Cons
-They don't disguise odors at all, I always know when one of them has left me a present
-Since they suck up moisture so well, it makes bumping humidity hard, I always have to have the water bowls on top of the heat

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Whisperinmyhead

Why you like/dislike your substrate?

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"My" substrate is mostly carpet. It's soft on my feet,but it can stain.

Carpet must be nicer than my laminate floors. Stains come up easy but hard on the feet. Spot cleaning is a cinch. Substrate change can be quite costly.


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I use coconut fiber, holds moisture decently, easy to clean up (just scoop out the poo, I use a small aquarium fish net), looks nice, and fairly cheap, you can buy them in compressed bricks that you soak in water but I usually mix that with a bag of the dry stuff so it's not quite so wet.

I'm currently using newspaper, but thinking about to change to aspen or something else. I don't mind the cleaning and I do actually like newspaper, but the huge drawback is that the ink from the paper will attach to the snakes. Especially on whites snakes. I wish I could find someone to sell me unprinted paper, but the people I've talked to only have those enormous roles that weigh like 4 tons, lol. That would last a life time to say at least. :D

Butcher paper or packing paper sold anywhere they sell shipping supplies may be a good alternative if you really like your substrate just not the ink.


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I have been using paper towels (tried newspaper too, didn't like it at all), but seem to be going through them very fast due to one of the cons you mentioned (when they go, you have to change all of it, and sometimes use extra if there is a lot of liquid). This has made me consider getting one of the aspen/cypress substrates, but I have concerns about whether the dust will bother their breathing or mess with their digestive system if accidentally ingesting any of it while eating. I know when I was younger and sometimes still now, even a little bit of dust would bother my breathing, so if it is always in their face/by their nostrils, how much will that bother them? I am not concerned about extra work on my part, as long as the substrate I use is best for my BPs' health.

I'm fine with aspen. It takes a little more to keep up with humidity,but it's no big deal.