Don't use Eco Earth Loose coconut fiber substrate.

[gameonpython]

I've tried most substrates. coco fiber is sticky and messy. Too much of a hassle. Repti bark is good, except it holds onto smell. It's pretty gross when you open up the cage and all you smell is snake piss. Paper towel works alright, but it can be a bit of a hassle when the snake goes to the bathroom. It spreads everywhere, resulting in you having to do a complete cage clean. Cypress mulch is by far my favorite. It looks good, has a great natural smell, and holds humidity amazing.


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[AZBennett]

We use an inch layer of Coconut Fiber and over that a layer of Cypress. After a couple of different trial and error runs for our snakes we settled on this formula. We did a 50/50 mix of the two and it really wasn't much different than straight up Coconut. Layering the substrate seems to allow for a slower release/burn off of the humidity in the Coconut. Plus we have one snake that spends large amounts of time "playing", for lack of a better word, in the Cypress. We do not feed them in their enclosures, rather we have several Sterilite tubs that we use for feeding. Though all of our snakes are snakes that we handle regularly and are used to being moved and touched. They also now know when they are set in the tub that it is time to feed, which is interesting to watch their behavior change. Anway, I know I am a relative newb, but we have been experimenting with substrates now since we got our first snake, trying to come up with the ideal one mostly due to Arizona's complete lack of humidity. The layered system works best so far.

Regards,
Paul

[crazykent]

i am new here what is this posting of what you have ?

6.5.15 Animals
1.2 Pomeranian's
0.1.15 Tropical Fish
2.2 Snakes:
0.1 2009 100% Het Piebald
0.1 Normal
1.0 Green Tree Python
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa

[AZBennett]

i am new here what is this posting of what you have ?

6.5.15 Animals
1.2 Pomeranian's
0.1.15 Tropical Fish
2.2 Snakes:
0.1 2009 100% Het Piebald
0.1 Normal
1.0 Green Tree Python
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa

A quick and down and dirty primer is as follows.

The first number to the left of the decimals designates a Male, the middle number a Female, the far right number an unknown gender. The name to the far right is the type of animal. Therefore, this person has 1 male and two female Pomeranians, 1 female and 15 unknown gender tropical fish, 1 female Het Piebald, 1 female normal, 1 male GTP and 1 male Brazilian Rainbow Boa.

[BP2015]

For those who own a ball python like me: Many of the impaction problems can be avoided or even preventive by following one clear rule: Don't Feed your snake in it's enclosure!! When you feed your snake you should feed it in a separate feeding container such as a box or Plastic tub and for Christ's sake use tongs. Why are you feeding your snake in the enclosure in the first place? For one by doing this every time you open the cage your BP is going thinks it's feeding time and become CAGE AGGRESSIVE.

[Gio]

For those who own a ball python like me: Many of the impaction problems can be avoided or even preventive by following one clear rule: Don't Feed your snake in it's enclosure!! When you feed your snake you should feed it in a separate feeding container such as a box or Plastic tub and for Christ's sake use tongs. Why are you feeding your snake in the enclosure in the first place? For one by doing this every time you open the cage your BP is going thinks it's feeding time and become CAGE AGGRESSIVE.

Total BS myth on the "Aggressive" bit.

You think a snake knows if you are going to take it out and feed it VS take it out to handle it?

There is NO cage aggression that truly comes from feeding in the enclosure.

Tell me how many people with giant pythons, especially several of them use a "feeding tank". That would take 2,3 maybe even 4 people all day.

Also, tell me how many people who work with HOTs take their snakes out when its time to feed? Very, very risky.

This OLD myth keeps getting regurgitated by people who watch kids feed royal pythons on YouTube or don't understand behavior.

Your snake responds to smell, heat and movement. If the snake is hungry enough and you show a heat signature and open a cage and there is even the hint of prey in the air you are getting bitten. Even when you hook train, if the right set of ingredients are in place, be careful. Reason #101 to wash your hands and don't handle prey before you handle a snake.

Retic owners often open their cages with a hook because retics are almost always ready to "rock the food" due to a quick metabolism and always being ready to eat. They will fly out of their cages as soon as the door opens. That is not aggression. It is a behavior that has evolved over millions of years. Ambush, opportunistic feeding, is their way of life.

They are not going to have an inner dialog and think,,,, "Am I being moved to my feeding tank, or taken out to play?"

Then they sit nicely and wait for food in a feed tank? Explain how the feed tank does not cause so called aggression.

Once a hungry snake eats, you should not handle it again. Some do not come out of feeding mode for several hours or even days.

If you are worried about substrate ingestion, which can also happen with paper towels, use corrugated liners.

In reality it is a rare occurrence and a little debris can be broken down by large amounts of very powerful stomach acids.

[PitOnTheProwl]

For those who own a ball python like me: Many of the impaction problems can be avoided or even preventive by following one clear rule: Don't Feed your snake in it's enclosure!! When you feed your snake you should feed it in a separate feeding container such as a box or Plastic tub and for Christ's sake use tongs. Why are you feeding your snake in the enclosure in the first place? For one by doing this every time you open the cage your BP is going thinks it's feeding time and become CAGE AGGRESSIVE.

Please enlighten me on either of these WRONG thoughts?
There is plenty of dirt, leaves and other items in nature that they swallow in the wild.
Aggression on feeding in their enclosure, I have not had any problems.

[Smitty33]

For those who own a ball python like me: Many of the impaction problems can be avoided or even preventive by following one clear rule: Don't Feed your snake in it's enclosure!! When you feed your snake you should feed it in a separate feeding container such as a box or Plastic tub and for Christ's sake use tongs. Why are you feeding your snake in the enclosure in the first place? For one by doing this every time you open the cage your BP is going thinks it's feeding time and become CAGE AGGRESSIVE.

With 2 posts I sense the troll is strong in this one.

[Jhill001]

Please enlighten me on either of these WRONG thoughts?
There is plenty of dirt, leaves and other items in nature that they swallow in the wild.
Aggression on feeding in their enclosure, I have not had any problems.

I keep rat snakes (baird's a mostly docile species) and haven't noticed any difference when I fed them in separate container or their regular enclosure.

The biggest thing that triggers any inclination to bite with a smaller species snake is wiggling fingers around like how your mouse might dangle. I imagine if you wiggle your fingers in front of a ball python it'd be more likely to try and bite the person trying to pick it up than if you just went in and grabbed it.

I used Eco Earth for them when they were really small (I now use a mix of eco earth and Cyprus mulch) and they occasionally got it in their mouth but not from striking. Seeing them squirm like idiots after getting it in their mouth prompted me to just make sure I spent extra time drying the FT mouse and offering the prey in such a way that it lessens the potential for substrate ingestion IE on top of the log and not just dropping it into the substrate.

Now that I have the mixture of mulch and eco earth the mulch seems to pack the eco earth down and prevent excess dust and small particles from getting stuck to the mouse. I had previously tried sand mixed with eco earth but have found that the sand is heavier and just cakes to the bottom of the enclosure. I may try to combine eco earth, Cyprus mulch and regular old dirt with sand to try and get a good mix that might be the foundation of a bio-active type substrate.

[Reinz]

BP2015 probably read it in the PetCo brochure, so ( ) it MUST be true!