Your top 3 Substrate to use?

and why? I'm sorry if this was posted already! Thanks

Papertowels. Absorbent, and easy to clean thoroughly.

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Originally Posted by DrDooLittle

Papertowels. Absorbent, and easy to clean thoroughly.

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cool

I've used aspen, repti bark, newspaper, paper/shop towels, coco blocks, and carpet.

Hatchlings I like shop/paper towels, it's easy to clean quickly and helps me keep a close eye on them.

When they're more stable as sub adults/adults aspen is my choice. They keep it pretty clean short of bowl spillage, splatter butt, etc. Have had accidental ingestions due to wet feeders, but they've all passed it just fine. Newspaper works, but I like how aspen looks :P

Repti bark stained my animal's bellies pinkish red/brown, and molded pretty easy so I'm not a huge fan of it.

Coco fiber made it WAAAY too damp in the tubs, packed down, and just got generally muddy (my bowl tipper snake had slushies every day :rolleyes: ). Hard to spot clean too (probably user error on my part, but it works great in my crested's tank!)

Reptile carpet, best left to our little leopard gecko, too much work to use with the snakes. Probably works well if you only have a single enclosure with it..


Not exactly just 3, but my experiences with what I've tried out

I agree with the above statement. I like aspen for the majority of my BPs and paper towels or indented kraft paper for my hatchlings.

I've gone through several and here are my thoughts.

Aspen Shavings - Didn't like these personally. They worked well enough, but they had a tendency to go everywhere when changing the substrate and setting up a new tub. Very cheap and readily available in most locations.

Cypress Mulch - I have most my animals on this now. I love the more natural feel of it, it doesn't float/drift everywhere when changing it out. It also hold humidity better than anything I've used. A very big benefit here in Utah where I struggle to keep any sort of humidity for long. This might be harder to find in your area or might be seasonal. I've been slowly working through 5 bags of mulch that I custom ordered through Ace Hardware.

Shipping Paper/Newspaper - I have a couple of animals still on this. It's cheap (probably free if you or someone you know takes the paper), readily available. Some people experience some of the ink rubbing off on animals, but I never had a problem with it. It is really annoying when your animals tend to spend 98% of their time UNDER the paper, defeating the purpose of it. I mainly switched to this to avoid the chance of my animals swallowing substrate while eating in their tubs, but after a lot of research and talking to other breeders. Most feed directly on loose substrate anyways because the risks are pretty low.

There you have it! My take on the 3 substrates I've tried. Hope its helpful.

Coco Chip (for BPs)
Aspen Chip (for Hoggies)
Jungle Mix + Coco Coir + Play Sand + Sphagnum (Dart Frogs)

Any images or links to buy it?

ReptiBark - my favorite. Good for humidity, have not had a problem with mold. I wash and bake it so I can reuse.

Aspen - use this on my sand boas. I would use it with my BP but I can't get my humidity right with it.

Newsprint / Butcher paper - ugh. Not a fan. They fold it over, spill water on it, climb under it. I don't like the idea if they use the bathroom on it over night, me not catching it before work and them having to deal with it all day.

I'll add newsprint would be best for new animals or sick animals so you can keep a better eye on waste and look for mites.

I have been reading and reading over the past few months on this subject. I think it really comes down to ways best for you.

Now I'm using Cypress Mulch (didn't like the aspen I had), coconut fiber (large and eco earth mixed) and sphagnum moss.

Mr. Brute check out reptilebasics.com for cypress and sphagnum moss. They also carry orchid bark which I have yet to try.

I think this is the exact Cypress Mulch I use. I wouldn't recommend ordering it directly online and paying shipping. I called up Ace Hardware directly and they ordered into a local brick n' mortar store for me for FREE. No shipping. Plus I think I only paid like $7 a bag...

http://www.acetogo.com/product/mulch...s-2cf-ace.html

Just call up, give them that SKU number and ask for them to order it into the store. The 1st store I called didn't know what they were talking about and said they'd charge me shipping to get it into the store. The 2nd store looked up inventory in the warehouse and said it would be no problem.

coco coir (ground or chips) - cheap, easy to spot clean, and holds tons of humidity.

Sani Chips (shredded aspen) - my fav wood chip product it looks like chain saw chips small squires of aspen wood, easy to spot clean.

Newspaper/kraft papers/indented - dust free, great for rehab animals whom have cuts open wounds or burns. Cheap and clean cannot be spot cleaned.

One work of caution, paper towels (home type) have, in the past, been responsible for snake deaths. It is very serious if ingested, not common, but there is some risk involved. My vet has seen a few cases of paper towel ingestion requiring surgery to correct. For myself as I can see no advantage for the animal to use paper towel over other sheet paper products (newpaper/kraft/indented) so it is not worth the risk. (risk with no gain) Others may have their reasons I don't see that is fine but just be aware there is a slight risk.

I like aspen for the looks and easy to spot clean

Coco husk for aquariums for the humidity

Paper towel or news print for QT

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Originally Posted by arialmt

Now I'm using Cypress Mulch (didn't like the aspen I had), coconut fiber (large and eco earth mixed) and sphagnum moss.

Mr. Brute check out reptilebasics.com for cypress and sphagnum moss. They also carry orchid bark which I have yet to try.

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Thanks!

Aspen works well. I like newspaper because i get it free and i only have a few bps that are hiders. The only stuff i will never use (and i know I'm guna catch flak for this) is reptibark. I had a sub adult female choke on it a couple years back. It twisted and lodged in her throat and i had to pull it out. She didn't want to feed again for a few weeks. None of my friends have had this happen so this may just be an isolated incident but i haven't bought the stuff since and probably wont use it again.

1. Ground up lawn darts.
2. Friable asbestos.
3. Thumb tacks.

Ball, Blood, and BRB- cypress mulch. Helps my humidity and looks nice in my naturalistic tanks. The blood will borrow in it too.

Hoggy- Eco Earth. Easy to clean. My hoggy can easily burrow through it and it holds the tunnels well. I keep it dry and it can be dusty.

GTP- mixed ReptiBark and Exo Earth. I Use it very damp for humidity but don't like how it can be almost mud like so I mix it with reptibark for a better consistency. This way I don't have to use as much eco earth which gives a nice balance for good humidity.

I like Cypress for my terrariums and paper towels for tubs and my future rack system.

Coconut Husk-It holds humidity well, it looks good and it has a pleasant smell. I use this for my BP.

Aspen-It is easy to spot clean, my corn snakes like to burrow in it.

Reptibark-It looks good, but I find it harder to spot clean than the others I listed.

Thanks!

I like aspen a lot for corns, not balls. Humidity never seems manageable (at least in my tanks) with aspen.

I love, LOVE Eco Earth Coconut fiber. Nothing's better for holding humidity! If you feed F/T prey items can get a bit messy, covered in the fiber that is, but I've had no issue with it passing. If it seems to bug a sloppy eater, I stick em in another tank for feeding.

I will note that I will never use Repti-Bark again for a snake. My first little boy Sasha had a potentially deadly situation with Repti-Bark. Took the girlfriend and I over half an hour to slowly work out the piece that had become lodged over his throat during feeding. Scary, scary moment, never using Repti Bark again.


Schuyler

Thanks for the replies!