Switching from newspaper to aspen, for substrate.

I have a fairly large male normal BP and i want to swith his substrate to aspen. he lives in a large low profile tupperware storage bin. question is how thick of a layer should it be, i use and undertank heater and wonder how much heat will get to the top of the aspen. does it matter all that much. thanks:confused:

Ok from what I gathered on this site...

1-2" of bedding, and get a thermometer with a probe to stick to the tub under the substrate above the UTH. Get a dimmer/rheo/thermostat for your UTH and regulate them temps! BPs burrow, so if he's not warm enough under his hide on the hot side, he can burrow down lower. That's also why you should be regulating the UTH.
Equipment
Acu-rite Thermometer with 10' probe ($12)
Rotary Dimmer Switch - $5

Oh and I switched from Aspen to newspaper. It is WAY better IMO. I had all sorts of humidity issues, but newspaper saved the day.

I also prefer newspaper over other substrates

I prefer Aspen. i find it easyer to spot clean the having to change Newspaper.

newspaper is great you dont see allll the urin with aspen with newspaper u see it all!!! and its alot sometimes lol ill never switch from newspaper its way toooo convienent for me

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Originally Posted by van_garret2000

I prefer Aspen. i find it easyer to spot clean the having to change Newspaper.

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Easier to spot clean...really? Maybe the urate and the poop. Hmm... I had aspen and switched to newspaper, and saw just how much urine one of my BPs excretes...oh boy...it looked like he spilled half his water bowl..tell me how you spot clean that out of aspen and I'll switch back simply for the aesthetics of it.

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Originally Posted by pavlovk1025

Easier to spot clean...really? Maybe the urate and the poop. Hmm... I had aspen and switched to newspaper, and saw just how much urine one of my BPs excretes...oh boy...it looked like he spilled half his water bowl..tell me how you spot clean that out of aspen and I'll switch back simply for the aesthetics of it.

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It's because aspen is naturally absorbant so it won't spread as far. with just paper there is nothing to absorb the excrete so it spreads.

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Originally Posted by van_garret2000

It's because aspen is naturally absorbant so it won't spread as far. with just paper there is nothing to absorb the excrete so it spreads.

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Yeah but I havent been able to tell where the urine is on aspen.

I've had my BP for 2 weeks now and she just urined over a crumpled newspaper I had next to her hide. I wasn't sure if it was urine or moisture from the humidity as I have read their urine is white and hard. I'm pretty sure now it was urine from reading the "wet" replies here. I ended up changing all the newspaper in her tub and found pebbles of poop under her hide. At least now I won't start a new thread worried because my BP hasn't gone for the past month lol. Maybe those people were using aspen and didn't know ;).

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Originally Posted by eMonk

I've had my BP for 2 weeks now and she just urined over a crumpled newspaper I had next to her hide. I wasn't sure if it was urine or moisture from the humidity as I have read their urine is white and hard. I'm pretty sure now it was urine from reading the "wet" replies here. I ended up changing all the newspaper in her tub and found pebbles of poop under her hide. At least now I won't start a new thread worried because my BP hasn't gone for the past month lol. Maybe those people were using aspen and didn't know ;).

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Lucky you...I wish I only had pebbles to clean up...my smallest BP can POOOP.

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Originally Posted by eMonk

At least now I won't start a new thread worried because my BP hasn't gone for the past month lol. ).

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Snakes can go for a long period of time without going to the bathroom. THey can eat a few times before discharging it.

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Originally Posted by pavlovk1025

Yeah but I havent been able to tell where the urine is on aspen.

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It leave a bit of a whitish buildup. If you catch it early enough you can see the wet aspen but generally u just get the white.
I had trouble telling at first.

My BP generally(but not always) poops in the same spot in his tank and pees in the same spot(which is different then his poop). It;s kinda like he designated his own toilet areas.

I switch everything from aspen to papertowels as soon a summer hits, except for my Dumerils. It absolutely kills my allergies in the summer, and makes it very hard to breathe with my asthma. Usually just one cage is no big deal though.

I love aspen, but it can get expensive and kinda dusty sometimes. Also, make sure your very good about switching it out every good once in a while and spot cleaning well. It can hold and hide stuff really well.

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Originally Posted by van_garret2000

Snakes can go for a long period of time without going to the bathroom. THey can eat a few times before discharging it.

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*nodz* there has been posts lately by concerned keepers why their BP haven't gone to the bathroom yet. That's why I said maybe it was because they were using aspen and couldn't see it. I'm sure it takes a trained eye to detect it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eMonk

*nodz* there has been posts lately by concerned keepers why their BP haven't gone to the bathroom yet. That's why I said maybe it was because they were using aspen and couldn't see it. I'm sure it takes a trained eye to detect it.

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Some snakes waste is easyer to spot then others. I had trouble with mine at first but once I got it, it was easy to tell.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by van_garret2000

i prefer aspen. I find it easyer to spot clean the having to change newspaper.

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+1