straw/hay

im tired of having to completely change the newspaper everytime it gets a little wet or someone leaves a little present, and i went to my local stores looking for substrates and because i live in BFE IA where everyone and their mother farms, theres a lot of hay and straw available at really cheap prices. would either one be ok to use with my BPs? and then i also saw that pine is ok as long as its been kiln dried and i found some of thats pretty cheap. holding humidity isnt what im worried about i just need something thats easy to spot clean but also safe for my snakes. any advice is welcome.

Try Aspen. It's pretty cheap too.

I wouldn't use hay/straw I would be afraid of there be little creatures in it and your snake could potentially cut/impale him/herself on it. As toddnkaya said check out aspen. You can get it in big bags for really cheap online... like a 8 cubic foot bag for <$50

I wouldn't trust pine even if it is kiln dried. Even the scent can cause reactions. And hay/straw really isn't safe for the reasons TheAnalogue gave. Aspen and cypress are both good for spot picking and both are readily available online.

You could also shred the newspaper too.

Hay molds, both are very dusty, both have bugs. Neither would be easy to spot clean. I wouldnt use pine at all. 100% cypress mulch is great.

so straw and hay are out then and so is pine. ive tried aspen before and everyone tends to store the bags outside so it gets completely soaked and when i tried it in the tubs it shot the humidity up to like 95%. i tried drying it but with it getting cooler, that doesnt work. cypress is also kept outside so i imagine it would to the same but ill try to see if one of the farm stores has any sitting inside. shredding the newspaper is a good idea so ill try that if i cant find anything else. thnx for the ideas.

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Originally Posted by Evenstar

I wouldn't trust pine even if it is kiln dried. Even the scent can cause reactions. And hay/straw really isn't safe for the reasons TheAnalogue gave. Aspen and cypress are both good for spot picking and both are readily available online.

You could also shred the newspaper too.

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+1

you can use Aspen for small animals as long as its kiln dried - and its cheaper then the stuff marketed for reptiles. I like coco-husk but its not always available .

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Originally Posted by pbjtime8908

so straw and hay are out then and so is pine. ive tried aspen before and everyone tends to store the bags outside so it gets completely soaked and when i tried it in the tubs it shot the humidity up to like 95%. i tried drying it but with it getting cooler, that doesnt work. cypress is also kept outside so i imagine it would to the same but ill try to see if one of the farm stores has any sitting inside. shredding the newspaper is a good idea so ill try that if i cant find anything else. thnx for the ideas.

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aspen shot up your humidity? I'm not using tubs but my humidity didn't change at all when I switched from newspaper. also if you buy it online it won't be wet :cool:

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Originally Posted by TheAnalogue

aspen shot up your humidity? I'm not using tubs but my humidity didn't change at all when I switched from newspaper. also if you buy it online it won't be wet :cool:

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it did but it was also a little wet even after trying to dry it. i mean it was nice to have aspen that was wet whenever i had just the one bp in a tank ad needed to keep the humidity up but when put in tubs it didnt work so well. im gonna go looking around today and see if i can find dry stuff at one of the farm stores.

You can buy aspen online fairly cheap, then you don't hav to worry about it being wet or pricy.

The pet store I go to has 20 pound bags for $10. I just don't like aspen cause it clings and then falls on the carpet and then an Itch to vacume... but is easy to spot clean, and can even hid some waste, I use it when I go out of town so my mom don't have to clean when I am away unless she sees it on top.