Viewing Tank - help with substrate ideas

We finally got Valentine into her new and fabulous home. :pinkele: It's an amazing viewing cage and gives her waaaay more space.

We were using the coco husk in our tank before but it has the grated lid so it was necessary to keep the humidity up. Well now that we put the coco husk in her new cage the humidity is just way to high. Is there anything (besides leaving the tank open which we have been doing) that we can do to absorb the humidity? Just a temporary until we figure out what substrate to purchase.

We are going to switch to a new substrate - we dislike the aspen bedding and were thinking of switching to the repti-bark...any positive or negative reviews on the repti-bark? Or any other ideas? (not into paper towel or newspaper since it's a viewing cage).

Thanks in advance!

The reptibark definitely keeps humidity better than the aspen but I haven't used coconut husk so I'm not entirely sure how it compares. Aspen is pretty bad at keeping humidity though.

What's is your humidity at with the coco husk?

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You can use any substrate you want, it doesn't matter if it doesn't keep the humidity.

I provide a humid hide for both my royals, my female is always in it but my new royal not so much as I say he is new to still getting used to everything,.. it took my female 2 weeks to figure out where the whole was haha

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For our tanks (glass display) we noticed that just aspen was too dry and kept terrible humidity so we mixed it with the coconut husk about 50/50 and right away we noticed our BP's were much happier and the humidity was much better, plus we don't have to water it down as much. The aspen helped make it lighter and fluffier so they could burrow more

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Originally Posted by chrid16371

What's is your humidity at with the coco husk?

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Once we close the doors it jumps back up to 99 and the doors will actually fog up if left unattended for 8 hours. We were hoping the husk would dry out a bit but it just really retains the moisture so well which was great for our old cage but we have officially decided to switch to the repti-bark. It looks nice and seems to have decent reviews. I hate aspen.

In my experience, if you just use the coconut husk, it comes extremely moist and dries out in the tank after a few days. My glass tank has a closed lid, and fresh coconut husk would send my humidity over 90%. What I ended up doing was getting a tub and poking holes all over it and using that to dry out substrate to be used in tanks as needed. That way the humidity stays int he 60 area.

Wow 99!!! Only thing you could do if you wanted to use coco husk still would be to dry it out first and then take a dry humidity reading then mist a little and wait 15 minutes for hygrometer to adjust and repeat until you reach desired humidity. Depending on the drying process you decided to do it wouldn't take to long. If you like the looks and function of the reptibark then it would save you the time but if the coco husk is more visually appealing to you in a display cage then I would take the time to dry it.

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What sucks imo is that I love the look of the coconut husk when its has that nice deep rich brown color.. but when it dries out, it just looks meh. I was a little disappointed the first time I used it and it turned to a light brown dirt. But it definitely needs to be dried in advance or you will get fogged glass. Picture of the enclosure?

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Originally Posted by HanabiraAsashi

What sucks imo is that I love the look of the coconut husk when its has that nice deep rich brown color.. but when it dries out, it just looks meh. I was a little disappointed the first time I used it and it turned to a light brown dirt. But it definitely needs to be dried in advance or you will get fogged glass. Picture of the enclosure?

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I agree with you completely - we always had rich with moisture before and looks nicer when it's a rich deep colour. I also don't like the idea of Valentine ingesting it once it's dry it acts like a dust almost. I wouldn't want to breathe dust in all day so letting it dry out that much isn't an option either lol I think the reptibark looks pretty nice I just worry about lost urates and poops blending in or burrowing underneath it :confusd::weirdface...

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Originally Posted by HanabiraAsashi

What sucks imo is that I love the look of the coconut husk when its has that nice deep rich brown color.. but when it dries out, it just looks meh. I was a little disappointed the first time I used it and it turned to a light brown dirt. But it definitely needs to be dried in advance or you will get fogged glass. Picture of the enclosure?

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I am embarrassed to admit I don't know how to post pics in a forum LOL but I will put one up in my images.

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Originally Posted by Snoopyslim

I am embarrassed to admit I don't know how to post pics in a forum LOL but I will put one up in my images.

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Dont feel bad, I never figured it out either, the image tag for pictures of my camera's resolution would destroy the thread. But that tank is amazing, what is it if i may ask?

I have some of the same decorations, i tried using the coconut hut for my ball but she refused to use it.

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Originally Posted by HanabiraAsashi

Dont feel bad, I never figured it out either, the image tag for pictures of my camera's resolution would destroy the thread. But that tank is amazing, what is it if i may ask?

I have some of the same decorations, i tried using the coconut hut for my ball but she refused to use it.

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Lol thanks - I searched all over looking for the best tank I could buy in Canada. The man who made it was featured on Dragon's Den - Cornel's World is the business name I believe. http://cornelsworld.com/

The dimensions are 4x2x18 inches.

Funny your ball wasn't all about the coconut - Valentine prefers that on her cold side over many tried hides. We just ordered a few new hides but are going to keep the decor relatively the same so it's not over crowded. We found a really neat piece of wood on the beach I want to add but it's large so I'm trying to figure out how to disinfect it...might just put it in a bleach bath and pour boiling water over it.

With leaving the doors open while we are home the coco husk is drying out yay but still plan on switching at the end of the month...no point on disturbing a clean tank.

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Originally Posted by Snoopyslim

Lol thanks - I searched all over looking for the best tank I could buy in Canada. The man who made it was featured on Dragon's Den - Cornel's World is the business name I believe. http://cornelsworld.com/

The dimensions are 4x2x18 inches.

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I seen someone on here a couple months ago who bought either the 4'x2'x18" or the 4'x2'x12" from them and said the same thing about being featured on dragons den so I took a look and was going to buy one until I seen they were in Canada and I was bummed out lol they really are beautiful cages!

You can disinfect and then bake the wood in the oven to get rid of the impurities.

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Originally Posted by chrid16371

I seen someone on here a couple months ago who bought either the 4'x2'x18" or the 4'x2'x12" from them and said the same thing about being featured on dragons den so I took a look and was going to buy one until I seen they were in Canada and I was bummed out lol they really are beautiful cages!

You can disinfect and then bake the wood in the oven to get rid of the impurities.

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Lol that was me ! We finally got it and have her in it :P too bad you aren't able to order but trust me living in Canada the price of reptile supplies is steep and shipping is too much for me to order from US website even like LLL reptiles I can't reasonably order from. Plus y'all have much more options haha

thanks for the tip but I already got in trouble from my hunni for putting wood in the stove lmao he thinks I'm a walking fire hazard :D hence the odd boiling water method

Hey there! Don't know if you've upgraded your substrate or anything, but I use repti bark for my terrarium, it's a 20 gal breeder, and it holds my humidity perfectly. It hovers between 55-60. I covered 2/3 of my screen lid with aluminum foil and leave the 1/3 area for a heat lamp if I need to raise ambient temps which most of the time I don't really since it's hot here in NC. So if I don't need to use that, I just cover the exposed part with a hand towel and the humidity will stay at 60%. Seems like you don't have any problems humidity wise, but maybe put it in a room with more airflow? As for urates and poop, it's not very difficult to spot. Mine took one the 3rd day he was with me and left it right in the middle of the tank lol. Also very easy spot cleaning plus it has a nice smell to it (the repti bark, not the poo LOL! :P) I haven't seen any urates or anything like that in the tank, but I'm sure it'll have a distinct smell apart from the ReptiBark so it should be easy to tell. :)

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Originally Posted by jbzapanda

Hey there! Don't know if you've upgraded your substrate or anything, but I use repti bark for my terrarium, it's a 20 gal breeder, and it holds my humidity perfectly. It hovers between 55-60. I covered 2/3 of my screen lid with aluminum foil and leave the 1/3 area for a heat lamp if I need to raise ambient temps which most of the time I don't really since it's hot here in NC. So if I don't need to use that, I just cover the exposed part with a hand towel and the humidity will stay at 60%. Seems like you don't have any problems humidity wise, but maybe put it in a room with more airflow? As for urates and poop, it's not very difficult to spot. Mine took one the 3rd day he was with me and left it right in the middle of the tank lol. Also very easy spot cleaning plus it has a nice smell to it (the repti bark, not the poo LOL! :P) I haven't seen any urates or anything like that in the tank, but I'm sure it'll have a distinct smell apart from the ReptiBark so it should be easy to tell. :)

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Thanks we have been switched to the reptibark for a month now and I LOVE IT. It's all around friggin awesome lol will never try another substrate again.

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Originally Posted by enoughbubbles456

You can use any substrate you want, it doesn't matter if it doesn't keep the humidity.

I provide a humid hide for both my royals, my female is always in it but my new royal not so much as I say he is new to still getting used to everything,.. it took my female 2 weeks to figure out where the whole was haha

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He said it right. As long as the hides are humid is what matters the most. I use aspen. In the cage is 45 ish humidity in there hides well into 55 60 area. Id go and get some probe thermometers from reptile basic http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermometers/TH-100/ cause i thought i had issues and i dont

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I keep mine in a dedicated room and it stays at about 47%. I have a rack and use reptichip in all the tubs. When they go into shed I just mist the chip daily until they are done. It is easy to keep up with...just like having scoop-able cat litter. It comes in a brick so you wet it down and it expands nicely. I change it out about every 3 months or so.

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Originally Posted by Snoopyslim

Thanks we have been switched to the reptibark for a month now and I LOVE IT. It's all around friggin awesome lol will never try another substrate again.

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Glad to know it's working out well for ya! :)

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Originally Posted by Lacey

He said it right. As long as the hides are humid is what matters the most. I use aspen. In the cage is 45 ish humidity in there hides well into 55 60 area. Id go and get some probe thermometers from reptile basic http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermometers/TH-100/ cause i thought i had issues and i dont

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No offence but from your posts it seems you do have issues. I have probes in my hides and if you read the thread my problem was that it was too high due to a substrate.

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Originally Posted by Lacey

He said it right. As long as the hides are humid is what matters the most. I use aspen. In the cage is 45 ish humidity in there hides well into 55 60 area. Id go and get some probe thermometers from reptile basic http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermometers/TH-100/ cause i thought i had issues and i dont

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No offence but from your posts it seems you do have issues. I have probes in my hides and if you read the thread my problem was that it was too high due to a substrate.

None taken. But my issue are not from humidity really. Im coming to see mines from damaged scales from rubbing from what the vet told me. My humidity is between 50 and 60 in both hides. Im just saying it cause i used cypress when i thought i was having a issue and turn out switching to cypress wasn't needed. But it was just advice gl to u

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Originally Posted by Lacey

None taken. But my issue are not from humidity really. Im coming to see mines from damaged scales from rubbing from what the vet told me. My humidity is between 50 and 60 in both hides. Im just saying it cause i used cypress when i thought i was having a issue and turn out switching to cypress wasn't needed. But it was just advice gl to u

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When your snake has scale rot you have husbandry issues in general and that same vet also told you to use a reptile carpet? Which I've never seen recommended on this site. That same vet also told you scale rot is present and didn't give you anything to fix the problem. You continue to ignore the pros advice about setting up a simple tub. I'm irritated by your posts, sorry not sorry, when you're green and don't yet have a healthy snake, I don't think you have any business giving advice.

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Originally Posted by blk02ssmonte

I keep mine in a dedicated room and it stays at about 47%. I have a rack and use reptichip in all the tubs. When they go into shed I just mist the chip daily until they are done. It is easy to keep up with...just like having scoop-able cat litter. It comes in a brick so you wet it down and it expands nicely. I change it out about every 3 months or so.

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Reptichips come in a brick? I know the eco-earth coconut husks come in bricks, but I buy it in the big bags. I comes pretty dry so the humidity isn't real high when you put it in. It is sort of the consistency of between saw-dust and dirt to me, it is easy to spot clean, but I hate how it clings to everything ( hides, water bowls, etc.) So I will probably use aspen or rep-ti-bark next.

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Originally Posted by ballpythonsrock2

Reptichips come in a brick? I know the eco-earth coconut husks come in bricks, but I buy it in the big bags. I comes pretty dry so the humidity isn't real high when you put it in. It is sort of the consistency of between saw-dust and dirt to me, it is easy to spot clean, but I hate how it clings to everything ( hides, water bowls, etc.) So I will probably use aspen or rep-ti-bark next.

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Yes it comes in block. You open it put it in a tub and soak it. It expands and makes about 72 qts. Check it out. It is not dusty and doesn't cling to anything. reptichip.com