substrate

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

Is that a good price? :O

I just picked up a 5.5 foot compressed block of coco coir for 100$ it expands to just over 1000 quarts at about 9¢ a quart. That does me for 18 months.

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wow thats just crazy!!

Im using plantation soil right now by Exo Terra. It was extremely good a month ago when I first put it in, but after this month, its drying out just as quickly as aspen would.

Im going to make the switch to cypress tmr. Ive heard mixing it 50/50 with coco-husk is not a bad idea so thats what Im going to try :) I dont know how you guys use aspen, it totally ruins my humidity. (im using a tank atm tho that might be why)

i use cypress from lowes... spray some provent-a-mite in there and let it air out... 1 bag does 10 41q tubs... and it only cost $2.50 and it will last for a while as you only have to spot clean for a while

(Cut/paste from the last time I posted about substrate)

I've tried a lot of different subs but in the end I went with paper for my bps. They don't "mess" that often so its not a big deal to clean up, but they can get messy themselves. I end up soaking them while I clean up their cage (viv, not tubs).
My Ratsnakes are in aspen, but they burrow a lot and need daily spot cleaning.
With adult bp's spot cleaning can mean removing large fist sized lumps of substrate to get all the soiled sub out.
I've tried majority of subs available here.
-I found dry Eco earth was very dusty, but clumped and cleaned easy. It was also either too wet or too dusty. My bp's kept sneezing from the dust. I also found it was constantly getting their water.
-Bark, when rinsed was good but really insulated against a UTH, 1 inch deep was about all I could put in, and almost useless with so little.
- I also tried a mix 50/50 Eco earth and bark but it ended up being the worst of both.
-aspen was good but still dusty and not cheap, also an insulator against a UTH.

I ended up using news paper, its almost free (mailers), dustless, little chance of injestion, and it doesn't insulate against a UTH for more stable heat. But there's no spot cleaning, the snakes can get messy, if water is spilled its not really absorbent. But when it is cleaned up, its clean.

My biggest issue with paper is that my bp will constantly shift it around. Both hides aren't too heavy and they are fine on aspen but get moved around everywhere when I had her on paper towels.

Any tips on how to around the paper so it doesn't move around so much?

currently using repti-bark and underneath i use a thin layer of newspaper so they can't dig thru the bark and come in contact with the heater. next time i do a thorough cleaning i'll probably replace with cypress

im going to feed this weekend so i hope the change from aspen to paper doesnt upset them.

I use coco husk for Lily and it keeps the humidity up, but I've only had her for a week. The geckos are on paper towels because they poop alot and it's safer than sand.

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Originally Posted by eel588

I never liked paper products for bedding. I used Aspen for a long time before switching to Sani-chips. I couldn't find any aspen in my area that wasn't crazy dusty. Sani-chips have not been dusty at all for me. I've gone through 2 12 cubic feet bags of it ($10 each) and I don't see myself switching back. It almost clumps when wet, making spot cleaning a breeze.

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I use the Aspen Sani-chips also, and love it. Spot cleaning is easy, no sharp points or splinters, when pieces do ocassionally stick to f/t feeders they are usually knocked off by the snakes mouth as it swallows, pieces that are accidentally ingested are small enough to pass through, unlike shredded aspen that gets stuck in the carpet, Sani-chips can easily be vacuumed up. Unfortunately, my supplier has decided to get out of the business, so now I need to find a new source.

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Originally Posted by Vypyrz

I use the Aspen Sani-chips also, and love it. Spot cleaning is easy, no sharp points or splinters, when pieces do ocassionally stick to f/t feeders they are usually knocked off by the snakes mouth as it swallows, pieces that are accidentally ingested are small enough to pass through, unlike shredded aspen that gets stuck in the carpet, Sani-chips can easily be vacuumed up. Unfortunately, my supplier has decided to get out of the business, so now I need to find a new source.

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5 buck flat rate shipping, no matter how many you order. A buddy of mine and I went in together and got 2 bags of sanichips and about 8 bags of aspen. ea bag was boxed and shipped with its own tracking number. everything shipped for 5 bucks total.

http://www.nationalpetpharmacy.com/P...c-Foot-Bedding