bedding poll

newspaper, paper towels, or aspen?

Paper towels or newspaper

Newspaper

Ive used everything and the best thing Ive used is blue scott shop towels , I buy them by the cases through amazon

Paper towels.

I use paper towels, they are cheap and easier to use in my opinion.

I think this has alot to do with size of collection.

If I only had a handful of babies, papertowels.

If I have a large collection, like I do, newspaper. FREE, clean, easy, efficient.

I also believe Cypress Mulch is a much better choice than Aspen for Balls, and that is what I would use for a medium sized collection, or a manageable CLOSED collection where I would almost never have to worry about mites.

Out of thoise 3? Newspaper. But I use kiln-dried pine.

I like breeding newspapers, sometimes the offspring come out as a nice mix between the comics and the entertainment sections. I have a really nice local het. sports that I produced last year.

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I voted aspen, I used to like coco-husk but I moved to aspen recently just because of the availability. I get 8 cubic feet for $15.00, as opposed to a third of the size of cocohusk. That and I use Aspen for my rats too. Its just easier.

Cheers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by decensored

I like breeding newspapers, sometimes the offspring come out as a nice mix between the comics and the entertainment sections. I have a really nice local het. sports that I produced last year.

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I voted aspen, I used to like coco-husk but I moved to aspen recently just because of the availability. I get 8 cubic feet for $15.00, as opposed to a third of the size of cocohusk. That and I use Aspen for my rats too. Its just easier.

Cheers.

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Never pair a comics with a missed connections... When you do that you hatch out something like me lmao! Oh and het for sports of course too!

For "bedding" my BPs prefer, a temperpedic mattress with sleep number system.

Figured I couldn;t give same answer I did for this same poll two days ago

Aspen, I only have one snake, and it makes spot cleaning easier.. I vaccum the cage of aspen before I wipe it down.

My corn is on aspen.
My bps in my rack are on newspaper.
My Bp in a PVC enclosure is on reptibark

Aspen, front access cages and carpet do not mix. I tried the Aspen and didn't like cleaning the floor every time I opened the cage. I'm liking Eco earth right now but have a feeling I will end up at paper pretty soon.

honestly neither, news paper if free and easy and papertowls are easy to yeah but i prefer cypress mulch over any other bedding choice BY FAR first its super easy to spot clean 2 it is much cheaper then aspen if you go to lowes or home depot about $3.50 per 3 cubic feet bag and lets face it it looks WAY better then any of those other three
but thats just my $0.02

I prefer coco coir products the price I pay for it is hard to beat about 3-5¢ a cleaning. (3 cu.ft for $4.00)

I am sure this comment will be unpopular but making informed choice is important. The positives for the animal of paper towel over say indented paper is marginal perhaps non existent. The hazards of plain paper towel (blue paper towels I don't think carry the same issues) for sub adult and adult snakes is quite serious. Accidental ingestion of paper towel is a very serious health emergency. It remains the only substrate I know of that positively has caused the death of a snake. I can hear the comments, everything is a risk ... yes everything is a risk but what is the gain for the animal at risk? The benefits of paper towel over indented paper? Both are absorbent, soft (if that even matters) easily fit... Yes it is a exceptionally rare occurrence and yes fully supervised feeding (strike to complete swallow) minimizes the risk but what is the gain?

The evidence is on line and is compelling, I am not pointing this out to say this is better or that is but to make sure that if that is your choice you know what the risks are. Most other substrates either are too stiff to be eaten or particulate that can be digested. Wood chip substrates can get stuck in teeth ect and in some cases cut the mouth this is still a lesser concern. If you know this and use it it is your choice and your animals and time. I make this post for the few whom don't know this has happened, so they can make an informed decision.

In my tubs i use paper towel.
And i use eco-earth coco fibers in my display tank.

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I've recently been using blue shop towels! Great stuff!

Coconut husk chip/cube

An above poster brought up an interesting point. I use aspen for my rack systems, but I use newspaper for my PVC cages that open in the front. Especially for my boas, I lose way too much substrate,

Kitedemon, hey its me again! I believe that blue shop towels would actually be worse than regular paper towels because they are more absorbent. If they were accidentally ingested the animal would surely die. I remember Aaron of iherp having that problem with some similar towels.

Do you know of any cases where a snake has swallowed something like Kraft paper or newspaper? I'm just wondering if it has ever even happened. I am seriously going to switch substrates but for now paper towels are the most convenient option for me. I don't get newspapers here so no free substrate. :(

And I just can't stand loose substrate.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Kitedemon, hey its me again! I believe that blue shop towels would actually be worse than regular paper towels because they are more absorbent. If they were accidentally ingested the animal would surely die. I remember Aaron of iherp having that problem with some similar towels.

Do you know of any cases where a snake has swallowed something like Kraft paper or newspaper? I'm just wondering if it has ever even happened. I am seriously going to switch substrates but for now paper towels are the most convenient option for me. I don't get newspapers here so no free substrate. :(

And I just can't stand loose substrate.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

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You dont get newspapers...?

Just go to a convenience store and ask them if they have any leftover newspapers at the end of the night could you have them. They definetly dont sellout of ALL their papers EVERYDAY. Or go to a recycling place near you that recycles paper.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

You dont get newspapers...?

Just go to a convenience store and ask them if they have any leftover newspapers at the end of the night could you have them. They definetly dont sellout of ALL their papers EVERYDAY. Or go to a recycling place near you that recycles paper.

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I live in Chicago. Sometimes we will get like the neighborhood news but it is once a week and only like 10 pages long.. and it always seems to rain when they are delivered lol.

I suppose I could ask the gas station across the street, never thought of that.

I'd rather get unprinted newspaper or kraft paper though! I like the clean look in my tubs :)

I use Aspen Sani-Chips. I don't know if it's just been me but paper towels were a NIGHTMARE. The snakes would always tip their bowls over the second I put fresh paper towels down, I fear just to spite my OCD nature. And considering I don't get the paper delivered, newspaper wouldn't exactly be a good option either.

With the Sani-Chips, I put a nice layer in there, "bury" the bowls to give them more support and spot clean when needed. Seriously, the stuff is like cat litter and traps odors like nothing else (important considering I live in a studio atm and one "fresh one" could fill half my place up when using paper towels :rolleye2:).

Not only that but it really doesn't have to be changed that often! Because of the clumping affect, messes tend to stay isolated so you just spot clean and throw in some more substrate depending on the mess size (obviously you still want to sanitize on a regular basis but I think you get what I'm saying).

I swear I'm not a Sani-Chip salesperson.... >_> <_<

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

I live in Chicago. Sometimes we will get like the neighborhood news but it is once a week and only like 10 pages long.. and it always seems to rain when they are delivered lol.

I suppose I could ask the gas station across the street, never thought of that.

I'd rather get unprinted newspaper or kraft paper though! I like the clean look in my tubs :)

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Contact your local newspaper then and ask them if you can have the ends of the rolls. When papers are printed theres usually some left over, and obviously itd be unprinted lol. Theyre not gunna use it so you can probably get it for free! :)

Am I the only one here that uses care fresh? I know it's pricey but it is extremely easy to spot clean and also holds humidity exceptionally well when my snakes go into shed and I mist the tanks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Kitedemon, hey its me again! I believe that blue shop towels would actually be worse than regular paper towels because they are more absorbent. If they were accidentally ingested the animal would surely die. I remember Aaron of iherp having that problem with some similar towels.

Do you know of any cases where a snake has swallowed something like Kraft paper or newspaper? I'm just wondering if it has ever even happened. I am seriously going to switch substrates but for now paper towels are the most convenient option for me. I don't get newspapers here so no free substrate. :(

And I just can't stand loose substrate.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

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Kaorte, hey I am unsure about shop towels the ones I have here at my desk are quite think and heavy. Heavy enough I can't see it sticking to a rat (wet or gory) and being lifted at the same time. I am unsure. Mike has a good idea a friend by me gets roll ends free. If you have a paper converter locally they often have a variety of inexpensive papers on a roll. I use brown paper from one it is a 300 foot roll 24 inches wide for 20$ or so. That is a lot of paper.

no I have not heard of new paper being eaten. It just doesn't 'stick' to objects that are wet. It also is stiff enough to not start to bunch up so it could be swallowed. I corner maybe but that isn't an issue. A sheet is more so. I recognize it is long odds but we both know it has happened.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

Kaorte, hey I am unsure about shop towels the ones I have here at my desk are quite think and heavy. Heavy enough I can't see it sticking to a rat (wet or gory) and being lifted at the same time. I am unsure. Mike has a good idea a friend by me gets roll ends free. If you have a paper converter locally they often have a variety of inexpensive papers on a roll. I use brown paper from one it is a 300 foot roll 24 inches wide for 20$ or so. That is a lot of paper.

no I have not heard of new paper being eaten. It just doesn't 'stick' to objects that are wet. It also is stiff enough to not start to bunch up so it could be swallowed. I corner maybe but that isn't an issue. A sheet is more so. I recognize it is long odds but we both know it has happened.

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I have a cashback bonus I can use for amazon purchases, so I think I'm just going to get a giant roll of the indented paper.


I have been going through a ton of paper towels since I've been expanding my collection. Shop towels would be nice, but I would still be going through a ton of them.

Question, How many layers of kraft paper do you use per tub/tank?

No other option?!?! I use coco husk for the balls, newspaper for the burms, and run papertowels in the QT tubs.

How do you guys who use aspen handle it? every time I cleaned a tub and put in fresh bedding one of my guys who flip the freakin water bowl over and that's an instant $2 of aspen wasted lol

Kaorte when I was using paper I used just a single layer as it was quite thick. Currently I am using coco coir it is great and very messy. I love and hate it all at once.

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

Kaorte when I was using paper I used just a single layer as it was quite thick. Currently I am using coco coir it is great and very messy. I love and hate it all at once.

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Gotcha. Yeah I can't do loose bedding. I've tried aspen and cypress mulch a few times and I always went back to paper towels. I'm gonna order a big role of indented kraft paper.

I always found carefresh kind of....well odd, personally. I just don't like the amount of gritty dust that it gives off. I don't even like keeping my rabbit on it and hopefully will be switching to outdoor carpet once he's a bit better potty trained.

But from a third perspective, I'm sure it's as absorbent as the Aspen (especially Sani-Chips) but costs more. Why pay more for something if it does the same job? Especially if you're keeping a lot of animals/trying to start up your own breeding business, every single penny counts and the less money you spend on fancy bedding, the more you can fork over in food, new snakes, general maintenance and, if need be, surprise medical care. Just my two cents of course.:)

Isnt there something abrasive in carefresh bedding?

I may try something else, I just like how aesthetically pleasing the carefresh is and I also feel like the snakes would be more comfortable on it than say wood chips or paper towel, althought I know such thoughts are a little ridiculous. Nothing abrasive that I know of Mike.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RaltsXIV

No other option?!?! I use coco husk for the balls, newspaper for the burms, and run papertowels in the QT tubs.

How do you guys who use aspen handle it? every time I cleaned a tub and put in fresh bedding one of my guys who flip the freakin water bowl over and that's an instant $2 of aspen wasted lol

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Change your water bowls wider base dog bowls are what i use and they never flip them just fill them little than 1/2 way or when they get in them they will over flow and make a mess

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RaltsXIV

How do you guys who use aspen handle it? every time I cleaned a tub and put in fresh bedding one of my guys who flip the freakin water bowl over and that's an instant $2 of aspen wasted lol

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The stuff I use is Aspen Sani-Chips which allows me to bury the bowls halfway into the substrate which seems to work out, though sometimes they'll play around in their water bowls when they drink and splash it around but that's why it's awesome, because the Sani-Chips trap the water at the source instead of leaking it all through the substrate. AND, the snakes only displace enough water to just bump their humidity a pinch most of the time so it actually acts as somewhat of a lazy humidifier (at least that's how it works in my setup; maybe I'm lucky :)).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by alexr

newspaper, paper towels, or aspen?

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Free onion newspapers (I live in a college town). I can grab like 50 of them at once and last me months.

Would this stuff be ok to use? I have having humidity issues really bad and have to soak my babies to get the skin off ( its not mites). I figured it would help hold humidity up some or would it be better to use it only in a moist hide? http://www.reptilebasics.com/substra...ss-1-kilogram/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KornSnake

Would this stuff be ok to use? I have having humidity issues really bad and have to soak my babies to get the skin off ( its not mites). I figured it would help hold humidity up some or would it be better to use it only in a moist hide? http://www.reptilebasics.com/substra...ss-1-kilogram/

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You can use a small a mound of damp moss in hides to boost humidity, but I think 100% moss substrate would be a little much.

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If you're going to buy that kind of moss, just a handful of it lasts a very long time. It's also very compressed in it's packaging so I recommend buying the smallest or next to smallest package available.

i have tried the paper towel but like highvoltageroyals i too live in a small apartment and every time they go it really stinks up my apartment! So sani-chips are the best choice for me also absorbs any bad snake oder. I like how it clumps around it too makes spot cleaning real easy.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KornSnake

Would this stuff be ok to use? I have having humidity issues really bad and have to soak my babies to get the skin off ( its not mites). I figured it would help hold humidity up some or would it be better to use it only in a moist hide? http://www.reptilebasics.com/substra...ss-1-kilogram/

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Before I tried moss I'd try cococoir it is way cheaper and holds tons (too much sometimes) of water.
http://www.homedepot.ca/product/beat...0-cu-ft/937276

I just wanted to make sure if Palm Peat is basically the same stuff as Eco Earth? The reason I ask is a bag of Eco Earth is 8.8L and it costs R 90.00 here. A brick of Palm Peat that is 100% organic(no chemicals at all) and makes 9L is only R29.00 and you can even find it cheaper. If they're similar stuff, would it be fine to use the "generic" palm peat instead of the expensive Eco Earth?

I actually emailed the local importer of the Palm Peat. Apparently they get it from one supplier in Sri Lanka, and since it get's used a lot for seedlings and orchids they do not add any chemicals or additives. Apparently orchids are very fragile when they're young. In the email the sent me they actually said that some of their customers use it for rodents and spiders so clearly chemicals are not an issue. I just want to make sure that I wouldn't be missing anything by going the generic route over the branded Eco Earth.

onion newspapers? haha where are you from?

palm peat? I have never heard of. Eco earth is coco coir, it is ground coconut husk. If Palm peat is from coconut it is likely that same.

I prefer the red bark tbh but I'd go with aspen if I had to pick


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Right now I only have 3 BP's in a rack system.

Aspen is easy and effective right now!!!


1.0 - Spider / Ball Python
1.0 - Pastel, Het Orange Ghost / Ball Python
0.1 - Pastel, Het Orange Ghost / Ball Python
0.1 - German Shepherd (Kahlua)

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