substrate cleaning

how often should i change the substrate, im using aspen

Well I'm still new at this but I change her Aspen and newspaper once a week,or when she poops other than that I dont do much else substrate wise just change her water every other day.

I use paper in my tubs and I change it completely when my snakes urinate and defecate.

Aspen should be changed atleast once a week, if not more. Though you really should switch to paper towels, blank paper, some bedding that will not get stuck in the snakes mouth when they feed.

I use cyprus mulch and I spot change it when he pees or defecates (usually after a shed) and change the whole thing about once a month. I feed outside his tank (which I've always done and he eats like a champ) so he doesn't ingest any when he eats. It definitely requires more maintenance but I only have the one so it's easy for me to keep up with it and provide good husbandry.

Back when I used aspen I spot cleaned as needed, and completely changed the substrate once a month... I'm not sure why people are saying once a week, the cost and time for that is crazy especially if you have more than one snake.

With substrate it allows you to spot clean but paper is so much easier. When it gets dirty you clean it and know its all clean. Spotcleaning doesnt gaurantee you get everything. If you have just one snake then its cheap to replace substrate every 2 weeks or so but i would be paying 200 bucks a month in aspen if i had to do that lol.

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

Back when I used aspen I spot cleaned as needed, and completely changed the substrate once a month... I'm not sure why people are saying once a week, the cost and time for that is crazy especially if you have more than one snake.

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:number1: This.

I only used aspen for a short period of time, and only when I had one snake. When I made the move to an RBI rack system I dropped the aspen in favor of paper.

when i feed him i put 2 or 3 paper towels down and just move him onto it and he eats there so no wood is ingested

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

Back when I used aspen I spot cleaned as needed, and completely changed the substrate once a month... I'm not sure why people are saying once a week, the cost and time for that is crazy especially if you have more than one snake.

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x2

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Originally Posted by warlord

when i feed him i put 2 or 3 paper towels down and just move him onto it and he eats there so no wood is ingested

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Not a good idea...I've seen snakes injest paper towels while eating...That's much worse than a piece of bedding.

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Originally Posted by coldbloodaddict

Not a good idea...I've seen snakes injest paper towels while eating...That's much worse than a piece of bedding.

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It's ok if you are watching the whole process in my opinion but as you said they can ingest the paper towels accidentally... so leaving them alone is risky.

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Originally Posted by coldbloodaddict

Not a good idea...I've seen snakes injest paper towels while eating...That's much worse than a piece of bedding.

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Exactly why I just switched over to unprinted newspaper, which btw, works like a charm. I change them out when the snake urinates or defecates.

I used to use aspen and spot cleaned and did a complete change once a month. More often than that seems unecesary. Now i used newspaper but when theyre shedding i put some damp cypress mulch in the tub to help them out. Im sure its not a bad thing but i dont like misting the newspaper because then it gets all soggy and im afraid it will stick to them or something.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

I used to use aspen and spot cleaned and did a complete change once a month. More often than that seems unecesary. Now i used newspaper but when theyre shedding i put some damp cypress mulch in the tub to help them out. Im sure its not a bad thing but i dont like misting the newspaper because then it gets all soggy and im afraid it will stick to them or something.

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There isn't any problem with misting newspaper, just don't overdo it.

where can I find it?

Ive tried home depot, lowes, and ace hardware and even a local gardening company and nothing.

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

It's ok if you are watching the whole process in my opinion but as you said they can ingest the paper towels accidentally... so leaving them alone is risky.

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Once started it is hard to get it out, little snakes it isn't so much an issue but large snakes ... I have 13 snakes to feed watching each one would take three and a half hours, forgetting the time to prep warm and zombie dance and that is only 15 min an animal I have a few that are very slow and one who often takes at least 2 pick it up and re warm and new zombie dances before she figures it out.
I use a coco coir product it is easy to spot clean and faster than a full clean paper takes every poop pee. In the end it doesn't really matter there is no this is best and everyone uses it there is no clear option it is what works for you.

I change it all every month or so... depends on the animal some are messy and it might be sooner and some clean and it may go longer. This time of year with the hunger strikes it is farther apart.

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

Once started it is hard to get it out, little snakes it isn't so much an issue but large snakes ... I have 13 snakes to feed watching each one would take three and a half hours

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I didn't say it was practical lol

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

There isn't any problem with misting newspaper, just don't overdo it.

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Ya i get this but i usually do 2 squirts with a mist bottle and it seems like the paper gets really wet. When i used aspen, cypress, or reptibark the water seemed to soak into the substrate more. My worry is i dont want her sitting directly on water bc she'll get scale rot or an RI or something...