Shredded newspaper anyone?

I've temporarily switched to using newspaper while my BP goes through a round of injections for an RI. Switching was recommended as a way to reduce possible irritants to the snake's airways.

So my first attempt involved putting down a number of sheets in an interleaved fashion - like all of the photos I've seen. I then replaced all the furniture and dialed in the temperatures. Humidity was hard to keep up initially but I added a few balls of soaked paper towels which helped. The problem is my BP did seem too happy with it. Even though his furniture was all back in the same places he did not return to his regular routine and would no longer use his hide. So I called the guy back and asked him "how much newspaper" and he said "a couple of inches". LOL - I was struck speechless as I tried to wrap my mind around trying to jam a couple of copies of the Houston Chronicle straight into the cage. Anyway, it turns out he was referring to shredded newspaper.

I added about an inch of coarsely shredded newspaper and it seems like my BP likes it. It kind of tramples down in the places he goes but stays fluffy in other spots and after a little while kind of makes a little nest. (He did always like to burrow down in his substrate). I think it gives him more security kind like grass might in the wild.

Does anybody here have experience with shredded paper?

I haven't used shredded newspaper. I use a couple of sheets of regular newspaper and my "burrower" still manages to get in between the sheets when she feels like hiding. :)

i lay down a page, which is two sheets, then put my thermostat and thermometer probe down, then another page of paper. so four think layers total. i don't think an inch of newspaper would work very well. it would be to think to let the heat in and you would end up running your UTH very hot just to get the top of the news paper warm enough. the shredded newspaper works, but when you mist to get the humidity it kind of turns to mush. so i just use plain old newspaper.

when you say your BP didn't seem happy with it, it seems to me thats because you took away all the scents he previously knew. now it's like his in a new place with new smells. so expect him to explore his "new" are a little then he'll be back to his good old self.

hope this helps.

I tried it once in one snake tub and the first time that they soiled it, the shreds of paper turned into a wet gross paste that stuck to everything in the tub. Never again!

If you like the idea of loose substrate then you might just want to stick with aspen shavings or sani-chips.

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Originally Posted by Kagez28

i lay down a page, which is two sheets, then put my thermostat and thermometer probe down, then another page of paper. so four think layers total. i don't think an inch of newspaper would work very well. it would be to think to let the heat in and you would end up running your UTH very hot just to get the top of the news paper warm enough. the shredded newspaper works, but when you mist to get the humidity it kind of turns to mush. so i just use plain old newspaper.

when you say your BP didn't seem happy with it, it seems to me thats because you took away all the scents he previously knew. now it's like his in a new place with new smells. so expect him to explore his "new" are a little then he'll be back to his good old self.

hope this helps.

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To clarify, the shredded portion of the paper is very loose and fluffy. at any point if you were to smash it down it would only be equivalent to a few more thicknesses of paper. So, in the areas he frequents its "trampled" down and roughly equivalent to just having a few sheets of newspaper. The borders of that area remain fluffed up and it kind of creates a little nest area.

It definately could have just been disruption like you say. He did change his behavior back pretty quickly after I added the shredded though. I don't have really closed in hides for him so I think he's always relied on the ability to nestle into the substrate a bit as a way to adjust for that. Maybe the shredded paper kind of added that back in for him.

It doesn't seem to bother him but since I had never seen anybody do it I was curious if there might be some unforseen consequences.

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

I tried it once in one snake tub and the first time that they soiled it, the shreds of paper turned into a wet gross paste that stuck to everything in the tub. Never again!

If you like the idea of loose substrate then you might just want to stick with aspen shavings or sani-chips.

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yikes! Hopefully I'll be able to just lift the sheets I have underneath and pull everything out at once.

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

I tried it once in one snake tub and the first time that they soiled it, the shreds of paper turned into a wet gross paste that stuck to everything in the tub. Never again!

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yep...me too.

been there, done that...never again!

Sent you a PM

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

I tried it once in one snake tub and the first time that they soiled it, the shreds of paper turned into a wet gross paste that stuck to everything in the tub. Never again!

If you like the idea of loose substrate then you might just want to stick with aspen shavings or sani-chips.

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yes! newsapaper gets nasty and cant hold humidity well at all. if it gets wet your snake may have headline news printed on it's white belly! aspen is way better. (in my opinion).

I use newsprint.

just not shredded.

i don't have a problem with that.

I used shredded and it made a huge mess.

just wanted to clarify.

newsprint is way easier to clean as long as it is laid in flat pieces.

:)

I don't use really finely shredded. Its more like little strips about 1/2" wide and 2" long.

I can see the mess issue though. Maybe I can wean him down off the shreds. I definately experienced the humidity thing which is why I had to add in some wet paper towel wads.

I've never used aspen and I don't recall seeing it in the stores around here. Is it soft? If its what I think it is it always looks like sharp little wood splinters to me (in photos)

If you choose to use newspaper/print, a couple of sheets of newspaper on the bottom of the cage and then some loosely crumpled balls of paper filling the in the gaps between the hides is a system that many people find highly effective when keeping ball pythons in enclosures vs. racks.

For hard to humidify cages, a humid hide does the trick.

I've been using unprinted newsprint for a long time now and I love it.

As far as changes go ... a healthy ball python kept in the proper conditions is a very adaptable animal ... just not quickly ... most often it takes several weeks for them to settle into any new environment (even a current environment that undergoes a slight change) ... once settled they are fine.

"Ball patience" is a skill many new owners don't grasp for a long time. ;)

Hope this helps.

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

If you choose to use newspaper/print, a couple of sheets of newspaper on the bottom of the cage and then some loosely crumpled balls of paper filling the in the gaps between the hides is a system that many people find highly effective when keeping ball pythons in enclosures vs. racks.

For hard to humidify cages, a humid hide does the trick.

I've been using unprinted newsprint for a long time now and I love it.

As far as changes go ... a healthy ball python kept in the proper conditions is a very adaptable animal ... just not quickly ... most often it takes several weeks for them to settle into any new environment (even a current environment that undergoes a slight change) ... once settled they are fine.

"Ball patience" is a skill many new owners don't grasp for a long time. ;)

Hope this helps.

-adam

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Where do you get unprinted newsprint? Is there a risk from the ink you think? (that puts you on the brink with its stink when you wash it in the sink?)

Newpaper ink is vegetable based, so no harm from it. Many keepers, including Adam from past posts he's made, just prefer not to have "black" albinos or dirty snakes at all, for that matter, from the wet ink.

I use printed paper, but am beginning to see that I may be moving to unprinted, because my snakes' bellies are always "dingy" from crawling on wet or damp newsprint, either from overturned water bowls or normal urination.

I'm not sure where Adam gets his, but you can purchase it from Uline:
http://www.uline.com/Group_290.asp?s...ed%20newspaper

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Originally Posted by bearhart

Where do you get unprinted newsprint? Is there a risk from the ink you think? (that puts you on the brink with its stink when you wash it in the sink?)

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there is nothing wrong with printed newsprint.

it can just leave marks on the belly if it is wet.

I try to keep my tanks clean and free of any water or dampness.

but I have never noticed anything on my snakes and I have been using it forever.

I am not sure where they get it. someone else may have to chime in on that.


*Robin you have quicker fingers than I do!!!*

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Originally Posted by jeffnme

*Robin you have quicker fingers than I do!!!*

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I type all day long placing purchase orders and writing to vendors! :P

Cool. well the paper this is meant to be temporary but I'm considering changing. I have been using spagnum/fir and haven't had any reason to be dissatisfied so far. But, nobody seems to use it and it wasn't even in the last poll so I wonder if there is something bad about it. It holds water well but once it gets really wet then it seems to hold the moisture forever. Also it's a very dark brown and I'm liking the look of a lighter substrate.

You should be able to find a fine shred aspen at most pet stores. Walmart also sell a very nice fine aspen in a compressed bag for around $4.00 (it goes a long way with only one snake). Just make sure with any natural substrate that you are buying what you think you are buying...avoid anything that is a "mix" or a marked "pet bedding" without indicating exactly what's in it. Many of these are cedar mixes.

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Originally Posted by Kagez28

i lay down a page, which is two sheets, then put my thermostat and thermometer probe down, then another page of paper.

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That sounds a little dangerous to me. If the snake dislodges your tstat probe you could cook your snake. I would keep the probe outside of the enclosure between the UTH and the tub/tank. That way your snake has no chance of moving the probe.

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Originally Posted by bigballs

yes! newsapaper gets nasty and cant hold humidity well at all. if it gets wet your snake may have headline news printed on it's white belly! aspen is way better. (in my opinion).

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Just to clarify, I use unprinted newsprint sheets. I was saying that one time I tried shredding it, and like Meme, we found it to turn into a gross paste when soiled.

I like the idea of completely cleaning a cage every time it is soiled, and its not really economical to do that with Aspen. So, unprinted newsprint gets my vote.

I had trouble with shredded newspaper! when the snake slithered around, it would move some of the shreddngs into the water dish. Then the water absorbed into it and gets all into the other newspaper and you end up with soaked substrate and an empty water dish!
There is no substrate that tops newspaper in my opinion. Aspen.. cypress.. they hold in moist fecal matter and urate. I would go broke replacing all of those substrates completely every time a snake pooped or urated. And I do not want any phantom smells lingering. With newspaper; I put in a few sheets. The watery portion of the urate/feces sinks into the (gutters) in the 41-QT sterilite tubs I use, or into the newspaper. It is So easy to just wrap it up, toss it out, and bleach the tub out and start anew. No leftover substrate that's steeped in poop!
I do use shredded aspen now when I have an expectant laying female; I had one egg get marked by newspaper and while it might not be dangerous, I do not like it. And I like to think that the females enjoy some extra cusiooning in their egg-filled discomfort. I will toss in a handful and spritz it with water to help with humidity duing a shed, but with the way my tubs are in the rack this is hardly necessary.

Once in awhile, the ink does come off of the paper onto the tub floor. I just wipe it off during cleaning and it it no big deal. I never see it on my snakes!

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

Once in awhile, the ink does come off of the paper onto the tub floor. I just wipe it off during cleaning and it it no big deal. I never see it on my snakes!

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I used printed newsprint until I got an albino...you don't realize how much ink actually gets on them until you have a snake that shows it. I started using unprinted right after that.

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

I used printed newsprint until I got an albino...you don't realize how much ink actually gets on them until you have a snake that shows it. I started using unprinted right after that.

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I was thinking that actually. I guess with a lucy, or an albino, i would be more apparent on their whole body..
I prefer using the Classified sections and not parts with large, inky pictures though. Because it does get onto the tub floors, and while it is not had to remove, it is still there. :)

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

I had one egg get marked by newspaper

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yea...I got one of them! lol

but my girl threw me for a loop and I wasn't expecting them to be here till 7/21.

I don't normally leave aspen in the bp's tanks but I was....planning on putting some in there for her to nest on.

Lucille is a tricky lil girl!

:rolleyes:

no matter. I am sure it will be fine ;)