Type of preferred substrate

What is your preferred substrate for your bp and why?

I use the coconut because I buy the bricks and my adult male acts different when I put him on anything else.

^ I do the same thing. I buy a brick of coco husk. I like it because it keeps my humidity on point in my terrariums. Haven't had any problems with mold either and that's pretty important to me.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

I mix coco husk and Cyprus mulch.

I love my paper towels but moving everyone to aspen for the ease of spot cleaning VS the amount of paper towels I am using now.
All the hatchlings will still start out on paper.

Several, depends a few things mainly age and activity.

For example

Hatchings. Juvies and adult at rest are kept on Aspen

Females being paired are kept on newspaper (Substrate sometimes gets in the wrong places and it can have bad consequences)

Once they ovulate females are place on Cypress (This way if I do not catch the eggs right away, the eggs stay nice and plump because of the humidity level)

I use paper towels for my bp's. Easy clean up and they tend to go underneath it, so it acts as another hide. For my rainbow boa, I use cypress mulch.

I use Kraft Indented Paper from ULine for both of my snakes. I had heard paper towels could be trouble if accidentally ingested. I cut my paper to precisely fit the cage bottoms. Easy to maintain/dispose/replace and provides consistent/manageable/monitored bottom heat at the hot spot.

paper towels for me, bugs and mites dont like paper towels so that why i like it:) I had my first mite problem a couple months ago, I will stick to paper towels forever now because its easy to see anything abnormal.

Unprinted news paper for me. It is great because it is free (for me at least) and the BPs can use it as a hide. It is also easy to see the messes and clean up. It doesn't mold if water is spilled on it. Shavings and dirt do not get all over the floor while cleaning the tubs. It is odorless. The only down fall is is that if I have an active BP (which I do) they mess up their paper almost daily which requires constant maintenance.

I'm using aspen. Where I live humidity is really not too hard to maintain and all my snakes have been having good sheds. I will admit though, I just like the look of the aspen and it's mainly for me rather than them. I also get 20 liter bags for $3.49 at my local Walmart.

Dave

BOUNTY Paper Towels EASY cleanup and absorbs tons of fluids, sound like a commercial over here...lolol :D

I'm currently between reptizorb liners and aspen. Once I get through the liners I have for 32qt tubs, I think I'm going to switch the grow-outs and males over to aspen and only use liners for actively breeding females and hatchlings. The liners are nice to have on hand for quarantine, though. Very easy to see any potential issues (mites, etc.) and keep super clean.

paper towels. sam's club sells the big packages for under $20.

I use reptile carpet in the cage and newspaper in her feeding bin. (I feed outside the cage for numerous reasons, chief being it gives me time to clean her cage and for the carpet to dry)
Reptile carpet works well for me since I have one small room in my in-laws house, so lugging a big trash can up to dispose of bedding doesn't work well. I had gerbil with carefresh bedding so I know how messy particle bedding can get.
When I move out I might get aspen shavings though- I think she would enjoy being able to bury herself in it.

For the majority, I use paper towels. Just ease of cleaning. But I go through a roll and a half on cleaning days.

Currently I am trying this out for a solution for escaping humidity in my ARS rack: http://www.reptichip.com/

Cypress mulch because it holds moisture so well.

Sent from my XT1042 using Tapatalk

I use aspen. It doesn't normally get in the water dishes, it's not too expensive and I can pick up messes without changing all the bedding. I was using paper towels before... never again. They hardly absorbed anything and I had to do a full cage cleaning every time someone decided to go. I also can't stand cypress mulch. Gets in the water all the time. Aspen is basically the only thing I can tolerate, haha.

I prefer cypress, myself, but have learned to pay more attention when bargain shopping for the stuff. "Cypress blend" was a mistake... bleh. I can find inexpensive 100% cypress in bulk on Amazon nowadays.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ghost68

What is your preferred substrate for your bp and why?

---

Orchid bark everytime ...


It's very dark colouring makes most snakes stand out apart from Black ones or very dark ones .

It holds moisture extremely well or it can be used bone dry ...

It CAN be cleaned and re-used repeatedly if you're on a tight budget ...

Slightly moistened Coco for all mine, it's really cheap to buy organic in bulk amounts and odor control is noticeable over the paper towels that I used prior for all the pythons. However in first week of quarantine I'll keep most reptiles on paper towels just for ease of noticing issues and fecal analysis. Like the idea mentioned above about using Cyprus for gravid girls, may try one this season.

I use 50 lb Bogus Paper from Uline. I get it in an 18" wide roll which is a good width for both 28 and 41 qt tubs. I have a roll holder/cutter and I cut it long enough that all 4 sides curl up on the tub walls. The nice thing is it will often keep the urates or feces from getting on the tub so clean up is pretty easy in between tub washes. A roll cost about $20 and since its 720 ft long, it last quite a while. Also I can cut pieces to the length of hatchling tubs and then tear it in half and I get 2 pieces that work great for hatchling tubs. I don't believe I'd go back to a loose substrate.

Bioactive soil and real plants. All-naturaaaaaaaal here

Unprinted newsprint paper for me. I can get as many end rolls (the remainder of a big roll that is taken off the press before it runs out) as I want, since I work at a newspaper. I fold it up about three layers thick, and just keep a stack of them folded and ready - as soon as I see a mess, I can pull the snake and decorations, grab a clean tub, and have it ready in about thirty seconds. Then go pull the dirtied paper out and clean the tub ready for next time.

My Cal Kings are on shredded aspen, though, because they love to burrow. I tried the BP's on aspen, and they seemed to not like it. Both seemed much more comfortable with just paper.

All of mine from babies to adults are on lignocel, never had problems with ingestion, It holds humidity perfectly for where I live and doesn't mold when I spray it. It absorbs waste really well. Only problem is opening a fresh 12.5kg sack is akin to unzipping a bean bag but, hey, it's nearly Christmas and Its like my snake room is a giant snow globe :)

All of mine on craft paper as its easy to replace and cheap (400ft - $15). I use coconut fiber for my one bp in aquarium as it keeps the moisture better.

Cypress mulch, cheap natural available and holds humidity. I tried that repti-bark stuff and it dried out quickly and held smell! Coco fibre is far too messy and I also worry about the dirt getting stuck in his scales with how fine it is; I don't know how valid that worry is though.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gameonpython

Coco fibre is far too messy and I also worry about the dirt getting stuck in his scales with how fine it is; I don't know how valid that worry is though.

---

I have seen neither of these issues and have used it for years...I purchase 3 block packs for around $6 and they expand like crazy when added to water...3 blocks last about a year for 1 BP and 1 corn

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ItsAllNew2Me!

I have seen neither of these issues and have used it for years...I purchase 3 block packs for around $6 and they expand like crazy when added to water...3 blocks last about a year for 1 BP and 1 corn

---

I've used it for my frogs and I just couldn't stand the stuff! It was just such a mess.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I use coco husk very wet layer and a dry reptibark layer to keep the snakes off the wet

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

Shredded cypress for my adults, more so for humidity control. Paper towel for the babies, for the simplicity of the many tubs.

I prefer coco coir (EcoEarth) because in overhead set ups it's incredibly easy to maintain, and takes very little effort on my part to provide nice, high humidities. It's also very cheap, although not on the level of bulk bedding, but I'm willing to compromise on price if it works as well as it does, especially since it's so easy to maintain and still my cheapest available option.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by erich_7719

Shredded cypress for my adults, more so for humidity control. Paper towel for the babies, for the simplicity of the many tubs.

---

Sorry shredded Aspen not Cypress

I prefer aspen, but I also use kitchen roll.

Why not the carpet?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jkcerda

Why not the carpet?

---

It's notorious for being a breeding ground for bacteria and other nastiness (yes, that's the technical term). It's difficult to clean (especially spot clean) with any frequency and a general pain in the butt to use when there are so many better options out there. Not to mention that, IMO, it just looks cheap and old-fashioned.

I use ReptiZorb liners for my entire collection here. I love them!

I used paper towels in my old setups (just tubs with heat pads taped to em, with thermostats, obviously), simply for the ease of cleaning. Now that I have rack and cleaning is as easy and picking up a tub and turning it upside down (not recommended to do inside), I use shredded aspen, with paper towels as my back up.

I use the off brand all living things carefresh. It doesn't have a scent, doesn't mold at all( I've spilled plenty of water on it when trying to fill the bowl up), packs down, absorbs spilled water/pee, and I can get it in pretty holiday colors. I only have one bp so price isn't an issue ( 5l for $12, so it's expensive)
I can't/don't use cypress/orchid mulch because it would get TOO humid. I'm in Florida and the ambient in my house right now is 40. During the summer it gets up to 70-90%. His cage stays at 50-60%, I spray weekly. I use the off brand because name brand carefresh added baking soda to some of theirs, plus it's much cheaper.
It's just dyed paper fiber, so essentially fancy, fluffy shredded newspaper. The only issue is that if you don't pack in down over the hot spot it acts like insulation. There was a LOT of trial and error over how much to have in the cage.

I use American Excelsior Aspen. I just buy a couple of the 7.5 cu ft bails at a time and that lasts me almost a year. Its easy to spot clean and just do a completely change every 2 months. Plus its finely shredded and I don't have to worry if my snakes accidently eat a piece stuck on their rat. Plus they love burrowing in it and I find my sunglow girl always stretched out under it with just her head poking up waiting for dinner.

Bioactive and real plants for all my reptiles

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

I'm cheap, so I used paper towels but changed to newspaper and now might go back to p. towels because bellies started to turn reddish. I have a friend who can get aspen for not too expensive so I might change to that, but I'll see when I get my rack fully installed. For now it is simply easier with the papers.

Aspen for my Corn snake, cause she loves to burrow, and cypress mulch for my BP, cause it holds humidity better than aspen.

been using repti chip for about 2 months now and much easier to keep my bps humidity up, much easier to find poop and pee and a bag at 15 bucks keeps my 5 snakes good (did 2x refills on 5 28's and a exotera large terrarium and a 20 gal tank) just now opening second bag for my second 41q to get filled up (first bag got the first of the 41's) stays clean pee shows up easily and poop sticks to it less but keeps it off the tubs nicely.

if your in Texas and go to shows contact J. T. from On The Ball Pythons he has the product and goes to many of the Texas shows and sells it nice guy and answered a lot of questions about ball pythons for me before i got into them.

I bought cypress mulch at a show, real wet and heavy, started to smell real bad in the bags even before I used it all up, now I'm using aspen and love it, smells great and I spray it with water heavily with a 2 gallon pump sprayer from Home Depot. Some of my balls like to burrow in it. I probably spray twice or three times a week. Kiln dried so no nasty stuff to worry about.

Cypress Mulch simply because I have heard of certain coconut brands molding.

I just started to use shipping paper from uline. Amazing product. Very cheap and very easy to keep your racks clean

We use paper towels. They're cheap and clean up is a breeze. I can usually clean all five tubs in about ten minutes.

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

I will start with paper towel, cheap and easy to clean.

I use reptichip as well. It works great. My balls love it and shedding time is a breeze...just mist down couple times a day til they shed. Never had a bad shed with this stuff. Spot cleans easily and does not mold.