What's everyone using for substrate these days?

Most of my snakes are on paper, but I'm going to be going on a cruise early next year and gone for about 10 days total. I was thinking it would probably be better to have some sort of absorbent substrate for whoever ends up messing their cage. I do have a pet sitter lined up but idk how comfortable I am asking them to remove a snake and clean a cage, I'd prefer to stick their duties firmly at "change water".

for everyone i have i use a mixture of raw peat, jungle earth, cocofiber, and a pinch of sand - i’ve wanted to mix in riverbed gravel, small stones and other sorts of things like i’ve done for the jungle arachnid species i’ve kept but idk how well that would do with the amount of cleaning and changing of substrate you have to do with snakes but presently that’s what i use but i am always looking for better recipes - would like to go full bioactive once i get the adult enclosures set up

I use reptichip or comparable chipped coconut husk. Cut off feeding about a week before you leave and you should be good with minimal messes that are adequately absorbed into the bedding.

Roughly 3:1 or 2:1 reptichip and cypress mulch is what I use. It holds humidity well and personally I think that it looks really nice too.

Newsprint sheets. It very safe, easy to clean up and affordable. I will never use anything else. I get my from Uline.

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Originally Posted by leosantare

Newsprint sheets. It very safe, easy to clean up and affordable. I will never use anything else. I get my from Uline.

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The main issue I personally have with non-printed newspaper is the fact that it sometimes doesn't give snakes a lot of traction and doesn't hold much humidity. However, I have only ever used newspaper for a brief amount of time in a quarantine set up plus what I have heard from other people. I prefer paper towels if anything personally.

Orchid/ Repti bark


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by leosantare

Newsprint sheets. It very safe, easy to clean up and affordable. I will never use anything else. I get my from Uline.

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Terrible option, in my opinion. Not only is there no traction for snakes, but it's not that absorbent- everything that comes out of your snake just lays there on top for them to keep sliding through, whereas other substrates allow urates & fecal matter to sink in, with less contact for the occupant. Newsprint is cheap, but you get what you pay for- it's not the best for the animals.

I don't need to use humidity-retaining substrates for what I keep (though I do provide humid hides as needed). What I do is line the floor of most of my tanks with white paper towels (I like Bounty), then a layer of paper shreds (clean business papers shredded by me), then a light layer of Carefresh (very absorbent & also drying- ie. hygroscopic).

The paper towels offer traction & are very absorbent- they also allow me to roll it all up for disposal when I need to clean up.
The paper shreds allow heat to rise easily through them- I use UTH- and the shreds offer traction, security (for snakes that like to burrow, like my TX Longnose), & they absorb urates/fecal matter.
The Carefresh adds traction, absorbs moisture like crazy from urates/fecal matter, and also slightly weighs down the layer of paper shreds.

Some of my snakes (the largest ones) use indoor-outdoor carpet instead (the backless kind) cut to fit* their tank; it can be spot cleaned or hand-washed as needed (disinfected too) almost infinitely- it never seems to wear out, if you're "green-minded" & hate buying & disposing of tons of cage litter. It allows UTH heat to rise easily thru it (& is not flammable as paper is), offers traction, & after hand-washing, dries fast, OR it can be shaken out & reinstalled quickly while damp to add humidity. It comes in nice cage colors (green, brown, tan, gray) so it looks nice IMO. It absorbs much better than newsprint too ;) but depending on the size you're using, you'll need to hand-wash it either in your bathtub, or in a laundry sink (which is what I use). It doesn't allow snakes to burrow unless they just go under it, so I wouldn't use it for snakes inclined to burrow (like kings & gopher/bull snakes). For the right kind of snakes, it will save you lots of money on substrate- just saying.

*What I like to do is cut the carpet (easily cut with good scissors, btw) so it's about 2-3" bigger than the cage floor on every side. Then I cut a square (2-3") out of each corner, so that when I install it in the tank, the sides easily fold up about 2-3", allowing the floor portion to remain flat, & all sides have a border that encloses wastes, & offers a bit of privacy too. ;) You can find this kind of carpet sold in Home Depot or Lowes & other home improvement stores, often sold by the foot on huge 12' wide rolls. Do some figuring ahead of time- may I suggest using graph paper. It's not expensive, & practically pays for itself. Let me know if you ever manage to wear it out. :D

Textured kraft paper can be an acceptable floor covering in limited circumstances -- QT, small neonates that haven't eaten yet, snakes one wants a fecal sample from. Even though it is more snake-friendly than newsprint, it is a similarly a poor choice for reasons mentioned above.

I like reptichip for those snakes that need RH/moisture levels above ambient, and aspen chip for those that don't. Reptichip has the additional virtue of being a waste product (from coconut production). I'm trying out Jungle Mix for a couple snakes who could get by fine on either of the other two choices I mentioned, and I'm not sure I see any advantage, and JM is wickedly overpriced for what it is.

Depends on the snake. My Green Tree python never touches the ground, so for him I use those absorbent puppy pads. They're nice because I can mist them as part of maintaining the humidity levels he needs, and they are super easy to change out - which is good because he loves making a big mess in his water bowl and then sloshing around.

For any snake that spends any time on the ground at all, I provide pretty deep substrate of various types. I just can't see any good reason to deprive them of the texture, scent, and opportunity to burrow or just root around if they want.

For the Brazilian Rainbow Boa it's cypress mulch mixed with sphagnum moss, with a deep layer of leaf litter on top. I also add a layer of leaf litter for the Kingsnake and the Dumerils.

For most of the rest it's varying combinations of coco chips (I prefer ViaGrow from believe it or not Home Depot over Reptichip. It breaks down into smaller chunks and has a softer/finer overall texture) mixed with sphagnum moss and ReptiSoil or organic top soil.

The sand boas get more of an arid mix, though not pure sand.

Editing to add that while I don't use repticarpet as a main substrate, I always have it on their basking shelves to give them something to grip.

I use newspaper and I'll tell you why. First, it's cheap and convenient. Personally, I walk past half a dozen newspaper boxes on my way home that offer it for free. I can grab as much as I want whenever I want. Second, it's clean and easy to store. I live in an apartment. Space in very limited and loose substrate is bulky and messy to work with. That might not be a big deal if you have a work area that you don't mind getting dirty. I don't. I work in my kitchen, dining room and living room. Lastly, it's so easy to swap out. When your snake soils it, you crumple it up, throw it in the garbage, and lay down a new sheet. It's a piece of cake.

I'll also argue too much is made about it's lack of traction and absorbency. I have never witnessed either of my snakes struggling to move across it. Even if snakes can't get traction on newspaper, between the hides, water bowls, branches and other clutter in the enclosure, there is plenty of things they can get traction on. I've also never found either of my snakes sitting in a puddle of urine. My BP would retreat to the other side of the enclosure until I cleaned it up. My Children's python makes so little urine, not only is the newspaper able to absorb it, but it has usually completely dried up before I even discover it.

I'm not arguing that newspaper is the best substrate. I can and do use repticarpet and I love it for all the reasons Boger mentioned above. I'm just saying it can be an acceptable substrate under the right circumstances.

Summed up, Large Dehydrated Coco Fiber/Coir is going to be at most peoples local garden supply. Sold in bricks about the size of a boot box. Hydrated, it is a wheel barrow load. Can mix indoors in a large storage bin. I use it because the price is great. $15/per... Also, it holds moisture GREAT. Resists mold. Eliminates odors. Easy to scoop out solid matter. It otherwise stays clean, just gets topped off with fresh, and misted as needed. It works as well for green tree pythons as it does Short tail pythons. STP’s seem to love it. They mat down deep and dish out their hides good.

I also like using a large thin piece of slate stone for the ball pythons. At a shallow depth, directly on the bottom to get as much heat as possible. My thermostat probes are attached to it. Then place it on bottom and bury it shallow. They’ll sweep it off just like they like it. The probe sets on top which is often also in direct contact with snake.