Problem with Aspen, anyone else????

I keep all my ball pythons in a rack system and use chipped or shredded aspen as substrate. we have noticed a couple of our balls consume the aspen during feeding along with the rats. Yesterday my wife had to use tweezers to remove a pretty large piece that was lodged in my female lessers mouth. It was stuck in there pretty good. Has anyone else had this problem and should I be concerned about this problem???? Thanks

Substrate ingestion is not really a problem. Getting stuck in the mouth can be a problem, especially with the bigger chunks. Usually they either swallow it or spit it out.

I personally use paper towels for substrate.

I once had a BP that got a little bit of aspen in his mouth. He didn't have any problems passing it at all. I only use newspaper now because it is more convenient for me and I don't have to worry about my snakes getting substrate in their mouths when I feed them.

I have seen this more often with f/t prey...they tend to be moist and let the chips stick to them.

Are you using the big aspen chips? I use shredded aspen and haven't had any issues, my bp probably eats a little here and there but it's not a problem, they will pass it like everything else.

I personally wouldn't feed on aspen, but that's just me. I prefer newspaper or paper towels, they are fool proof.

I dont feed on aspen because I remove my BP from hsi tank and put him into a shoebox with paper towels. I did however make a rack and I am going to be using newspaper for the substrate instead of aspen. Thats what I hear is safest and easiest to use for snakes so you should give that a try. As far as being dangerous, I doubt it, it will probably pass as long as the chunks arent too big.

I have had a lot of problems like that with aspen, not even to mention my humidity issues. I switched to eco- earth expandable dirt, and they may ingest a little substrate, but it's when it gets stuck that is causes problems. I like eco- earth because first, there are no large pieces, and second, it holds humidity very well.

A snake's digestive tract is pretty much a tube, and some big stuff can pass through...unless they get a whole bunch of it in there at once, I don't think an aspen chip or two on the food is really dangerous.

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/snake-anatomy.gif <--not many places for stuff to get stuck.

Eco-Earth (coconut fiber) bedding has been the culprit in quite a few skin infections, because it's hard to dry it out completely, and a damp substrate is bad for ball pythons.

I have been using newspaper, but I'm seriously considering a switch to aspen just to save on labor. It's easier to scoop soiled bedding than to move the water bowl and move the snake and then change the newspaper and put everything back.

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Originally Posted by SlitherinSisters

I prefer newspaper or paper towels, they are fool proof.

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Not quite. They can swallow paper towels. Believe me. A few years ago I caught one of my hatchling het clown females with about 90% of a sheet down. Got to her just before she finished the last little bit. I have also seen a green tree python hatching die from swallowing a paper towel.

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Originally Posted by pfan151

Not quite. They can swallow paper towels. Believe me. A few years ago I caught one of my hatchling het clown females with about 90% of a sheet down. Got to her just before she finished the last little bit. I have also seen a green tree python hatching die from swallowing a paper towel.

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I actually had a nightmare that my snake was eating paper towel. Strange!

I have never actually heard of a ball python eat paper towels. usually they are smart enough to let go...maybe not! :giggle:

Second that--I 'rescued' a paper towel from the throat of a hatchling ball python as well, he had about a third of it down. They can be a good substrate, but you have to WATCH it. I wouldn't call it safe.

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

Second that--I 'rescued' a paper towel from the throat of a hatchling ball python as well, he had about a third of it down. They can be a good substrate, but you have to WATCH it. I wouldn't call it safe.

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Driving in a car isn't always "safe" but that doesn't keep us from driving cars :)

Nothing is completely "safe" but sometimes, the benefits outweigh the risks.

We switched to shredded aspen about 6 months ago. Since then we've had 3 different snakes develop RI's. We've switched back to paper and will not to aspen again. Is it the primary cause? I can't say for sure. But we never had problems before the switch and it was very finely shaved and I'm convinced was a contributor to these RI's. If it is the aspen, I'm sure its a result of how this particular brand we buy is produced. I'll be even more convinced when its been a few months and we don't have any more instances of RIs (PLEASE!).

Been feeding snakes on shredded wood substrate for along time. No RIs and I've seen a lot of wood ingested, yet had zero problems.

It's one of the fantabulous forum conventional wisdom tidbits that holds almost no water - the dreaded gut impaction from ingestion of substrate.

Everyone casts dire warnings about it and makes a big fuss, yet no one has ever really documented or had an issue with it. Even vets rarely (if ever) see it.