So what kind of substrate do you prefer and why??

8) Hello all you snake people!!
Its the EyeLashViper here and I was wondering what kinds of substrate you all prefer and why - I myself prefer alfalfa pellets as they make a good substrate.They are safe if accidentally swallowed ( no impactions in the snake ) and they hold humidity well - they are cheap ( a big ten pound bag costs me about five dollars...) and it is easily replaced and cleaned in the enclosure. However, this is only my personal preference and I was interested in hearing about alternative substrates. :wink:

Lets talk about substrates...maybe there is a better type of medium than what I am already using !!!!!!! :P :P :shock:

EyeLashViper

I've only used reptibark, and it's been great for me so far. Holds humidity well, easy for spot cleaning(just clean the area that the soiledness was, and replace a bit of reptibark), and its reusable. Just put the reptibark in a bucket of water and bleach solution and soak for a bit, then resoak in clean water, then air dry. I just buy a new bag though. Easier, lol.

In the future when I have more snakes to care for, I'll probably just go the simple route and use newspapers.

I use newspaper i can get 7 newspaper for 1.50 a week and i have a ton of them left over. I replace the newspaper whenever it get soiled. I havent had a proble with temps or humidity in my rack either.

I use a mix of Bed-a-beast and coconut husk.

I use cypress mulch. It holds humdity in really good and it looks natural in their enclosures. I have also used repti-bark. It looks good and does holds the humdity but not quite as good as the cypress mulch.

Forest Bark, Newspaper, Aspen, Sphagnum - a variety depening on the species. Keep our balls on paper though - with the right size water dish in sterilite no humidity problems to speak of.

I use newspaper because it's free, degradable, and easily replaced. Sometimes I use paper towels when I haven't had time to go by and raid the Mundo Hispanico and Creative Loafing stands for free papers. The only humidity problems I have are with too much humidity.

Paper towels and newspaper here too. The ease of cleaning does it for me and the fact that its basically free dosent hurt either ;)

i use repticarpet. it looks good, feels good, tastes good...no, no i'm kidding. :P i like it because it is durable, super easy to clean, and i don't have to worry about buying more substrate when it gets soiled. i have two pieces, so while one is getting cleaned i put in the extra piece. occasionally nellie will leave me some urates and i KNOW that she is going to leave me some feces within a day or two and so i will just put down paper towels until she finishes her business. she has a habit of leaving me presents two days in a row instead of all at the same time, so if i think that is going to be the case then i spring for the roll of bounty. humidity isn't an issue for me at all either, so i don't require a substrate that holds it in, and i can pretty much achieve a good high level during shed times just by misting.

I mix reptibark and coconut husk. Some times I reuse the reptibark portion, but I have to sift it out first so this is not often. I like the ease of spot cleaning, the appearance, how it holds humidity, and that the reptibark has been helpful in Kitty's shed. He moves the substrate where he wants it then moves about it when he is in shed, he rubs against othe things of course but I have seen him do this so I keep the reptibark.

ESU Liner here, isn't there already an active on topic about substrates??

We use Cypress Mulch. At 4$ a bag, with at least five bags a week, it's the cheapest and most sensible substrate for us to use.
Any animals in isolation do go on unprinted newspaper. (we get big roles for free at the newspaper company) One roll lasts about six months.
Thanks
Rusty

I was using aspen with some of the "expandable" substrate to hold in humidity better, but I gave up on that. I'll be using the rest of that until it's gone. In the meantime I've been stocking up on the free campus newspapers :)

Newspaper with a couple of layers of paper towel on top.

Oh right, I forgot to mention that I use a room humdifier to keep my humdity up these days.