Substrate

Here's the question. I use turf for the substrate. Is this okay to use? If not, what do you recommend?

Turf as in the carpet stuff right? It's fine, there's really nothing wrong with it other than it will be a pain. You'll have to send it through the washer a lot. BPs can have some nasty poops that will soak into the carpet! If you aren't as concerned with the look, newspaper and paper towels are great.

Yes, the carpet stuff. I usually just scrub the heck out of it in the bathtub.

Well if you don't mind doing that, there's no reason you can't use it!

i'm temporarily using 1/2 cypress blend mulch and 1/2 newspaper -
mulch = warm side so i can moisten it for humidity
paper = cool side
i will be switching to exo terra forest bark next month...
i really like the aesthetically pleasing look since my bp is in a somewhat-display cage.

If you don't mind cleaning out the carpet turf then there's no problem with it, I find that coconut chips/husk is a really good substrate too because it holds humidity well and it looks aesthetically pleasing, but paper towels are always nice too, so easy!

How difficult is it maintaining hygiene with stuff like that?

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Originally Posted by TheWinWizard

How difficult is it maintaining hygiene with stuff like that?

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With the coconut you just spot clean wherever you see pee/feces and then once every couple weeks you take it all out replace it, then once a month I take everything out and deep clean all the stuff.

Paper towels you just take out the dirty stuff and throw it away, clean the soiled things, and put in clean paper towel.

Thanks for the info.

What do you guys think about that sandi flake stuff they were showing on snakebytes?

I would definitely use newspaper or paper towels. I currently use newspaper and it works great for me. When i see poop, i replace ALL the newspaper with NEW paper. It doesn't look so awsome if your trying to make a display cage haha. But oh well, i like to let me BPs know whats going on in the outside world :P :D

I used to use newspaper, but momma thinks it's tacky and the turf looks purty.

With the coconut or the repti-bark, any concerns if the swallow some of it while feeding?

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Originally Posted by Nikolai

What do you guys think about that sandi flake stuff they were showing on snakebytes?

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Do you have a link to it?

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Originally Posted by BroknBusted

With the coconut or the repti-bark, any concerns if the swallow some of it while feeding?

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I have different tanks for feedings so there are no problems;)

Gahh, it's driving me crazy... I remember seeing the episode, but I can't find it on youtube. However I don't think they would advertise something they know to be a faulty product so it should have at least decent quality

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Originally Posted by Nikolai

What do you guys think about that sandi flake stuff they were showing on snakebytes?

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the sandi aspen chip I likethem but man I need at least 3 bags when I do my tubs and at like 20 bucks a bag I go thought an easy 150 a month with 21 snakes lol.. and I don't put it down thick it just me.
I been using aspen shavings from pet store it like 25 bucks and a bale ( i refer to it it compressed 4.0 cubic ft ) willl alst me enough to do everyones cage at least 2x. Plus I can dump it out in the yard to use asa base befoer I get mom's mulch each summer ( it pack down and kill most the weeds befoer the mulch is needed and i save from the trash

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Originally Posted by BroknBusted

With the coconut or the repti-bark, any concerns if the swallow some of it while feeding?

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It depends on the feeding style of your snake. Mine likes to strike with the prey in the air, so it doesn't roll in the substrate, and small amounts aren't the end of the world. If they get too much in their mouth, they'll spit it out and clear their mouth out usually.

However, I would be a little more stressed if it's the type of snake that likes to have their prey laid out on the ground, because they kind of scoop it up onto the prey. Either way though, they aren't generally dumb enough to swallow a lot of bark :P

I recently switched to paper towels and I really like it. It provides a nice contrast so when Gene is out of his hide I can see him really well. It's pretty neat!