Bye Bye Bark!

Hello sweet Reptile Carpet :D Humidity holding at 56% and she seems happier!

I'm back to astroturf myself........was trying out crushed walnut, but it kept trying to mold on me!

I myself have always used repitle carpet. Heard to many horror storys about feeding on ceder and all the others.

Yah, paper and carpet are the way to go. It reduces the risk of mold and other bacterial infections.

Oh man....I hate carpet, lol. Its a PITA to clean. Bacteria can get down in the fabric and you'll never really get it out. I'm sticking to newspaper, lol.

well, by repti carpet I'm sure it's some sort of astro turf kinda deal yeah? I am wondering... I think I may switch to carpet... what is a good carpet to get (I know get 2 so you can clean one) - Raj did carpet raise or lower you humidity?

Get a newspaper....they're only .50 ;)

David, you pay too much. ;) I get the freebie papers. The snakes don't care if it's in Korean. But Jonah, reptile carpet is carpet.

David has a good point in this. Never thought of it like that. As for reptile carpet Jammin Jonah you can find it in any pet store. Its just basic green cage carpet. I got mine for under ten bucks and it fits my 55 gallon. They sell it in any size under that haven't seen any bigger than that. As for getting to I just use papper towels as bedding until they are washed. Hope this helps.

I went with the carpet cause I use an undertank heater. I was afraid if I used news papers that my baby would get burned. Jonah my humidity is now holding steadily around 59%. It was a lot lower for some reason when I had the bark

If your heating pad is hot enough to burn the substrate or snake, you need to have it rigged to a thermostat 24/7. Also remember not to place the cage directly on top of the heat pad...always allow a small gap of space for air flow so the heat can escape enough to not be a fire hazard.

I got the spacers :)

*thumbs up* Good deal man. :D

I use Lizard Liner by ESU. It's a green felt like carpet. Seems to potentially snag less than other reptile carpets. Looks nice, can feed on it and easy to clean. I don't wash in the washing machine - I've heard others say there's didn't last as long when they did that. I clean with hot soapy water, rinse, disinfect in Nolvasan/Virosan, rinse and dry. I keep a spare on hand so it can go right in the cage while the dirty one is being cleaned for the next week. I love the stuff!

Thats the one that I'm using too kelly.

Sounds alot like mine and I wash it and its held together fine for me. But we all have our own cleaning methods.

I'm a repti-carpet fan. When dirty, I just throw it in the washing machine (double rinse it to get all detergent out) and it's ready to go again.

How do you clean yours Raj? I was surprised to find out on another forum that the reason some people didn't like it is because they said it fell apart - that's when I found out they were throwing it in the washing machine. I never even thought to throw mine in the washing machine.

That would be a mistake. The force of a washing machine would rip anything apart. The best way is to gently hose it down and let it dry in the sun.

i used repti-carpet, my snakes all hated it. they couldn't move backwards on it, scales would rip.

Newspaper,safe, absorbant,disposable,cheap, you can layer it to limit the amount of heat that seeps up (realy should have a lampdimmer/thermostat though) crumple a sheet up and it becomes instant cover for the snake to crawl around under,sorta like leaves.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Wizill

i used repti-carpet, my snakes all hated it. they couldn't move backwards on it, scales would rip.

---

Yeah I noticed that about the repti-carpet, but the Lizard Liner doesn't have loose or freyed pieces that can get stuck or snag on them. I also like that you can buy pieces already sized for your tank but even if you cut it down it still doesn't have freyed edges.

For like 3.50 they have this amazing substrate called eco-earth, awsome stuff. If you need higher humidities and want a naturalistic looking substrate, use it.

I use astro for all my ball pythons, the lizards get eco-earth :)

I wash my repti-carpet in the washing machine all the time and it does not come apart. I would never put it in the dryer. I'm sure it would shrink and get all uneven. But the washing machine is completely safe with Repti-carpet.

Hmmm, maybe it depends on the machine? I'm not sure why others had that problem. I've never tried the machine because I clean and disinfect my carpet weekly. Not sure how I'd disinfect it in the washer. I do throw mine in the dryer to dry and have had no problems with it.

Bleach in the washing machine would disinfect. :) Maybe if you do it on the gentle cycle, there would be less chance of tearing up? Or maybe Ken got lucky and got some particularly sturdy carpet? :lol:

Repti-carpet does look to be more sturdy than my Lizard Liner. Forgot about bleach, but I'm such a wienie I'm too scared to use bleach on any of my reptile stuff. I still do it (hesitantly) on my fish deco,but that's because I haven't found an alternative. I once disinfected some aquarium deco with bleach and let it air dry for awhile. I thought for sure it was all gone, but discovered it wasn't after I put the deco back in the tank and the fish started having a reaction to it and dying. I had to quickly get as many fish out of the water into another tank. I know others have success with bleach, but I'm a wuss. I prefer sticking with something I don't have to worry about screwing up (I'm good at that). Besides, with the Nolvasan/Virosan I don't have to make sure it's totally dry and rinsed - it's safe.

Could you toss some Nolvasan/Virosan in the washing machine like you would bleach? But really...so long as you have an established routine that works for you, it's silly to look for ways to change it, huh? :) I'm always on the lookout for the simplest way to get things done.

I was just wondering the same. My concern would be the possibility of it mixing with my clothes and detergent, etc. I'm a worry-wort.