Your top 3 Substrate to use?

and why? I'm sorry if this was posted already! Thanks

Papertowels. Absorbent, and easy to clean thoroughly.

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Originally Posted by DrDooLittle

Papertowels. Absorbent, and easy to clean thoroughly.

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cool

I've used aspen, repti bark, newspaper, paper/shop towels, coco blocks, and carpet.

Hatchlings I like shop/paper towels, it's easy to clean quickly and helps me keep a close eye on them.

When they're more stable as sub adults/adults aspen is my choice. They keep it pretty clean short of bowl spillage, splatter butt, etc. Have had accidental ingestions due to wet feeders, but they've all passed it just fine. Newspaper works, but I like how aspen looks :P

Repti bark stained my animal's bellies pinkish red/brown, and molded pretty easy so I'm not a huge fan of it.

Coco fiber made it WAAAY too damp in the tubs, packed down, and just got generally muddy (my bowl tipper snake had slushies every day :rolleyes: ). Hard to spot clean too (probably user error on my part, but it works great in my crested's tank!)

Reptile carpet, best left to our little leopard gecko, too much work to use with the snakes. Probably works well if you only have a single enclosure with it..


Not exactly just 3, but my experiences with what I've tried out

I agree with the above statement. I like aspen for the majority of my BPs and paper towels or indented kraft paper for my hatchlings.

I've gone through several and here are my thoughts.

Aspen Shavings - Didn't like these personally. They worked well enough, but they had a tendency to go everywhere when changing the substrate and setting up a new tub. Very cheap and readily available in most locations.

Cypress Mulch - I have most my animals on this now. I love the more natural feel of it, it doesn't float/drift everywhere when changing it out. It also hold humidity better than anything I've used. A very big benefit here in Utah where I struggle to keep any sort of humidity for long. This might be harder to find in your area or might be seasonal. I've been slowly working through 5 bags of mulch that I custom ordered through Ace Hardware.

Shipping Paper/Newspaper - I have a couple of animals still on this. It's cheap (probably free if you or someone you know takes the paper), readily available. Some people experience some of the ink rubbing off on animals, but I never had a problem with it. It is really annoying when your animals tend to spend 98% of their time UNDER the paper, defeating the purpose of it. I mainly switched to this to avoid the chance of my animals swallowing substrate while eating in their tubs, but after a lot of research and talking to other breeders. Most feed directly on loose substrate anyways because the risks are pretty low.

There you have it! My take on the 3 substrates I've tried. Hope its helpful.

Coco Chip (for BPs)
Aspen Chip (for Hoggies)
Jungle Mix + Coco Coir + Play Sand + Sphagnum (Dart Frogs)

Any images or links to buy it?

ReptiBark - my favorite. Good for humidity, have not had a problem with mold. I wash and bake it so I can reuse.

Aspen - use this on my sand boas. I would use it with my BP but I can't get my humidity right with it.

Newsprint / Butcher paper - ugh. Not a fan. They fold it over, spill water on it, climb under it. I don't like the idea if they use the bathroom on it over night, me not catching it before work and them having to deal with it all day.

I'll add newsprint would be best for new animals or sick animals so you can keep a better eye on waste and look for mites.

I have been reading and reading over the past few months on this subject. I think it really comes down to ways best for you.

Now I'm using Cypress Mulch (didn't like the aspen I had), coconut fiber (large and eco earth mixed) and sphagnum moss.

Mr. Brute check out reptilebasics.com for cypress and sphagnum moss. They also carry orchid bark which I have yet to try.