Substrate

Hey everybody just looking for some advice on substrate. Open to anything that holds moisture (not too much though), looks somewhat decent, and doesnt get my snake dirty. I'm currently using zilla forest mix and it holds moisture great but it's getting my snake dirty (he's an albino so it's not hard), and when he splashed water out of his dish it turns it into mud. Thanks 😁

I have used paper towels, aspen and cypress mulch. I liked them all but have ended up for right now using paper towels. But if you looking for something aesthetically pleasing then cypress mulch looks nice, holds water well and is easy to spot clean.

There are a few threads about substrates, try searching and see if one of those threads can help you out.

Greg

Orchid bark every time for me ... I use it in all my 17 vivs .

Looks amazing , shows up the colours and patterns of all the snakes , holds humidity if you require it but can be used for dry conditions equally as well .

Plus it's re-usable if you are on a tight budget . I put loads of old orchid bark in a big tub , pick out all the obvious bits of crap and whatever , then give it a good wash in diluted F10 , then drain off and let it dry naturally or even in the oven if you want it sooner .

The problem with substrate and humidity... the dirtier the better. The two best nice looking substrates are the coconut husk and cypress mulch. Coconut husk is the most dirtiest but it does a better job holding humidity then cypress mulch but cypress mulch does okay if sprayed at least once a week. The biggest issue with soaking the substrate for humidity purposes is if you keep the snake on constant wet substrate you are risking scale rot. The best healthy way of adding humidity (IMO) is providing a humid hide or getting a humidifier. Providing a humid hide Or section using either moss or coconut husk, placing it on the hot spot of the cage (make sure the snake has somewhere to cuddle up on the heat pad) will provide humidity through out the cage, give your snake a place to curl up to for extra humidity, and will leave out the risks of scale rot. My snakes are in tubs and humidity in my area is naturally around 50-60% but when they are in shed, I soak some coconut husk in a tupperware container and set it inside the tub on the hotspot to create extra humidity. Works like a charm and I can continue to use the newspaper and avoid the dirtiness of the coconut husk itself.

I used aspen shavings for a while and it worked well, but I found it didn't hold humidity very well. I am now using Coconut Fiber substrate and my snake loves it. Its soft and doesn't smell bad and it hold humidity well.

I do have a humid hideout on his cool side, and I also have a humidifier/fogger that I use to keep the moss in the hideout nice n humid without it being wet. I guess what I'm really looking for is a nice looking substrate that will not get him dirty, I can deal with adding humidity as I have a humidifier and an extra timer I can put it on

I would recommend kritters crumble (coarse grade) or similar coconut husk chips. This has all of the benefits of Coco fiber but is a lot less messy. To me it is the best looking substrate as all of the chips are relatively uniform in size and shape and it is extremely easy to clean and smells great. I switched off Cypress due to it getting all over tub walls and snakes and this has definitely solved that problem.

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Originally Posted by MalachiJ

I do have a humid hideout on his cool side, and I also have a humidifier/fogger that I use to keep the moss in the hideout nice n humid without it being wet. I guess what I'm really looking for is a nice looking substrate that will not get him dirty, I can deal with adding humidity as I have a humidifier and an extra timer I can put it on

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Then I would suggest using Aspen shavings. They are littery, but they don't get your snake dirty. I haven't found that the coconut fiber gets him "dirty" either. I just have to brush it off if he burrowed into it. But by no means did I have to wash my snake using either of those. Aspen is definitely a good choice, IMO, if you're able to control humidity with those extra tools.

So just to clarify you want something pleasing to your eye, that may no be as beneficial for the animal because they will get "dirty"? You would rather have to constantly mist, fog, adjust humidity so an animal that lives on and in the ground doesn't get dirt on it?

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Originally Posted by beeze

Then I would suggest using Aspen shavings. They are littery, but they don't get your snake dirty. I haven't found that the coconut fiber gets him "dirty" either. I just have to brush it off if he burrowed into it. But by no means did I have to wash my snake using either of those. Aspen is definitely a good choice, IMO, if you're able to control humidity with those extra tools.

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Aspen can and will eventually mold with high humidity in an enclosure.

What I'm using now gets dirt under his scales. I have the proper equipment to keep his tank humid with NO substrate. Just because you can't afford nice things doesn't mean I can't ;)

Thanks much appreciated!

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Originally Posted by MalachiJ

What I'm using now gets dirt under his scales. I have the proper equipment to keep his tank humid with NO substrate. Just because you can't afford nice things doesn't mean I can't ;)

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Cant afford nice things? I build all my own cages, utilize some vision cages, provide naturalistic environments for all my animals to simulate their native environment, constantly research the species I am keeping in order to perfect their husbandry, and am financially stable enough to support my hobby. Your initial post was that your snake was an albino and got dirty easy. Using paper towels, newspaper, and wood shavings create no benefit for the animal they are all used to make life easy for the keeper. People constantly over look proper husbandry because they want something aesthetically pleasing to their eye. IMO if you have to constantly mist an enclosure daily, and utilize a fogger than the husbandry isn't dead on because the environment is drying out too quickly. But hey what do I know...

I obvious don't want to use newspaper or paper towel, I said something that looks nice and won't get my snake dirty.

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Originally Posted by MalachiJ

I obvious don't want to use newspaper or paper towel, I said something that looks nice and won't get my snake dirty.

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I understand you don't want you use newspaper or a paper towel, it was an example. Again looking nice and keeping a snake clean don't always mesh with owning a reptile. If you want zero mess then by all means use aspen, it is about as clean as it gets, just be ready to constantly change it out because with misting and fogging it will mold. All other wood substrates will generally have some sort of particle that will get on the animal, and will eventually have to be changed out. I really don't know what other answer you want. It is an animal that drags its entire body across the ground it will get substrate on it no matter what you use.

I HATE aspen. I know some people on here use it successfully, but I hate the look of it, it doesn't hold moisture well, and those sharp little pieces get stuck to everything. They would even get stuck in the corners of my garters' mouths (several of mine like to rub their faces dry after drinking).

Some people use eco-earth, and it seems to work fine, but does get kind of messy when at the humidity you'd want for a BP. I only use it for tropical enclosures where it's constantly pretty soaked or things like tarantulas that you never really do a lot of handling or tank changing. I do keep my turtle on it because she has to dig, and there is always a trail of it across the floor whenever I get her out.

I use newspaper for my garters, because I have several that don't have perfect seals on their mouths, and anything dusty or particulate would always get stuck to their gums. I even had a couple mouth infections from it. Plus, they really seem to like having the different layers paper to hide under. I wouldn't recommend it for a BP because of the humidity needs though. That and there's really no in-between; it's either dry or soaked.

For my BP I use cypress mulch. It holds humidity well and will occasionally get some debris on the snake, but it's worked well for me.

Thank you, doesn't have to be the cleanest thing ever but what I have now is just plain messy and dirty. Gets under his scales, and has to go.

Okay, fwi- people on this forum care about their animals, that's why they're on the forum! So talking down on somebody like that won't get a good reaction. Especially when you make assumptions.

I cleaned-up a few posts in this thread as deemed appropriate. Please keep on topic going forward, everyone. :colbert:

There are so many options, personally a nice clean white paper towel floor looks great to me.
Try different things and see how it goes BUT remember to keep it clean and professional here please.

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Originally Posted by Eric Alan

I cleaned-up a few posts in this thread as deemed appropriate. Please keep on topic going forward, everyone. :colbert:

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

There are so many options, personally a nice clean white paper towel floor looks great to me.
Try different things and see how it goes BUT remember to keep it clean and professional here please.

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Understood