Substrate

Does substrate have anything to do with how temperatures run inside your cage? Does some substrate have a tendencies of staying warmer or cooler?

Yes
Were you looking for a more detailed answer? I can elaborate if you'd like...

Not that I know of, but some types of substrate can have a substantial effect on humidity levels. I could imagine that the density of the substrate would affect heat. The main variable of heat distribution in an enclosure is simply a heat source.

My current heat sources are a UTH and a light bulb. I am successfully able to maintain proper hot side temps running anywhere between 93-95 degrees. Although I would like to warm up the cool side, and ambient temps slightly. Right now my snake is housed in a 40 gallon breeder which I hate! I can't wait until I buy a rack system!

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

Yes
Were you looking for a more detailed answer? I can elaborate if you'd like...

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I would like a substrate that would be able to keep my cage more warmer

You should look into paper based substrates, they let the heat from UTH's through really well. They don't look as nice but they are much easier to keep clean and handle temperatures better.

The paper based substrate options include:

Paper towels, butchers paper, newspaper, and corrugated wrap.

I personally use corrugated wrap, it looks the best out of the paper based substrates in my opinion

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...t/IMG_0230.jpg

This is where I get mine:

http://www.papermart.com/Product%20P...x?GroupID=4608

Just use a thiner layer in the hides mine basically jus have a small amount in the hides and a banked pile outside the pile holds tons of heat and the interior is just enough to absorb liquids. Remember with a rack it generally need a heated room it makes them complicated it is not the be all end all answer just a new set of issues.

What aaron said then i what you want^ IMO paper based substrate would be your best bet. But the bark substrate could work fine too. You just have to get the depth of the layer right. I use switched from newspaper to sani chips recently and really like the look of them better. As far as heat i have not noticed a difference. If the snake is feeling cold then theyll just push all the substrate out of the way anyways. The hotspot is still 88 degrees no matter what haha

Would aspen or cypress mulch work fine?

You can make them work, but you will need to keep the substrate layer nicer 1/2" thick. Paper based really is the only way to get the heat from a UTH to the surface without loosing most of it.

How do you keep proper humidity levels with paper substrate?

You mist the cage with a spray bottle, and cover part of the screen top

Paper is hydroscopic it absorbs water from the air dropping RH. If you choose to use a paper substrate the easiest is to buy a humidifier. Compromising ventilation for RH is not a good idea.

When I was using conventional tank systems I used coco coir it holds more water than any other substrate I have seen. I would 'bank' the substrate making a deep thick layer over the cool end and thin layer over the warm end. Under the thick layer I had a shallow tray (baking dish in my case) The substrate filling and totally covering the tray. I would push a hole (finger) deep into the thick layer and fill the tray with water. This would be adsorbed by the substrate and moisten the under layer but not the top layer. As the water mass evaporate the RH increases especially under the cool hide (where typically the snake will spend most of its time) I re filled the tray every 7 to 10 days in the summer (35% RH average) and 5-8 winter (10%rh average) I did not need to restrict ventilation or mist.

There is no magic fix just variations everything has a pro and con or there would be no debate. Misting IMO simply does not place enough water mass down (safely) to be effective more than 12-24 hours at best and in very dry conditions it is only a few hours. With out a automatic system or altering the room misting is not a solution just a temporary fix.

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Originally Posted by Druzy

How do you keep proper humidity levels with paper substrate?

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Use a tub or rack system.