Sayonara to Aspen...

I am really sick of using aspen. whenever I took my snakes out, they would coil around a small bit of it, and it'd get all over my house. I had aspen on my couch, and even lodged in the leg of my pair of pants. This caused much discomfort at a baby shower I recently attended. :)
I am now returning to newspaper. It ain't that pretty. But it does not have to be swept up on a daily basis, or get caught in the carpet and get painfully stepped on at three AM by your bare foot. Anyone else with me on this?

LOL, I've been in agreement with that all along. My new guy came in with substrate of pieces of corn cob about the size of really chunky kitty litter but no dust. It's looking like a good loose substrate alternative to me so far, as it's scoopable, dustless, odorless, non-pine/non-cedar, and doesn't stick to him at all when picked up.

I like my substrate like I like my women - attractive and moist :P

I got tired of Bark. I'm using reptile carpet now. Easier to clean and better for my darling.

Bah - your bark is worse than your bite.

LOL! You okay today morning Smulkin?https://ball-pythons.net/modules/cop...cratchchin.gif

Yeah - falling way behind in my caffeine consumption quota though, bro. It begged to be posted - though it really doesnt make a damn bit'o'sense. Can someone grab me a cuban coffee, por favor?

I'm gonna go get me an expresso on my way to a work meeting :)

I like the reptibark and don't seem to have any trouble with it
When the bp soils it I change or should say scoop just like kitty litter then just replace area with a little clean. No mess No sweat
I have been debating maybe going to the carpet but every time I change anything in his tank he freaks for like a week:)

I have been using aspen bedding its cheap and i hardly read the news paper anyway and Jojo likes to push out some of the substrate from inside his hides. I got a 10lb bag for about 6 bucks at petsmart.

Ozzy just started doing that, pushing out all his bark to the opening of his hide it makes it seem like he's underground or something.
I thought maybe his hide was to small and he was making more room.

They are indeed strange little critters, but i love them :)

I have this hide that consists of a slightly curved piece of corkbark. She could jsut barely crawl in the side of it when she was smaller, and now she's just burrowed underneath of it. She has basically dug down into the bark underneath. She literally just cruises between that hide, and the warm hide, which is one of those clay dome type hides with a small opening. The clay heats up, so she can stay nice and warm in there, but not out in the open...

ive tried every substrate in the book, from repti-bark to repti-carpet. the bark, i hated, because when my snakes pooped, the runny part that most people overlook (bc its usually dry by the time you catch it) seeps into the bark, to the bottom of the tank, and is just flat out sickening. the carpet is even worse, no matter how hard you try and clean it, you're still harboring insane amounts of bacteria in it. i think people should stop thinking so much about what LOOKS good, and think more about what is better for their pet. newspaper, papertowels... arent these things incredibly practical? easy to obtain? easy to replace? just makes more sense...

Will I agree with you that Newspaper and Paper towels are easy to go. But I'm worried that she would sneak underneath on to the bare tank and burn her self. So till I get that Thermostat thingy or what ever its called, I'm sticking with carpet.

It's not that hard to clean - you can always lay newspaper (or Bounty for absorption) UNDER the bark. The only downside to newsprint (barring aesthetics) is the negligable amount of traction they can get on it. I'd venture an educated guess that snakes appreciate texture differences (NOTE before you jump my case I didnt say or imply they "liked" or "prefered" - nor am i anthropomorphizing), some like to burrow, Betty will wiggle her chin on it every time she settles down.

I think if you can maintain a healthy environment for your snake to thrive in whatever works for you (easiest, prettiest, display-prominent, hidden from your snake hating girlfriend - whatever) is good, regardless of your choices in enclosure or substrate. So long as you are never sacrificing function (meaning in the interest of healthy herp) for fashion, I think it's all good.

Now c'mon everyone sing the "Diff'rent Strokes" theme song:

"Now the world don't move . . "

to the beat of just one drum....
Amen to that.
that is sphagtastic.

I use the bark with newspaper on the bottom that way if the runny part hits the bottom just take the paper and pull it up and toss it... kind of a happy medium I suppose.

LOL smulkin.............................you so crazay!!!