Swallowed substrate.

[Aedryan Methyus]

This is one of the biggest reasons I use newspaper and refuse to use substrates...

[RamMac]

This is one of the biggest reasons I use newspaper and refuse to use substrates...

I had my snakes on paper before, but I did not like how much the snake room would stink with feces and urates. Aspen chips being so small and how they clump together when wet (in this case from blood) was the contributing factor in this case.

[Sauzo]

Imo the pros of a substrate outweigh the only con it has and its not like it happens every time you feed. Be aware though, i have talked to people who has kept their snakes on newspapers for years and they said the snakes started to take on a more flattened pancake look to them since they could never get grip with newspaper, they would flatten themselves out to create as much surface area to try and compensate. Now whether this is BS or not, I have heard it from a few guys. Snakes naturally dont live on a slick surface. It would be like you doing nothing but walking around on hardwood floors in socks. After years of it, i imagine you would lose some of your skills at walking on a solid non slip surface.

[Aedryan Methyus]

Imo the pros of a substrate outweigh the only con it has and its not like it happens every time you feed. Be aware though, i have talked to people who has kept their snakes on newspapers for years and they said the snakes started to take on a more flattened pancake look to them since they could never get grip with newspaper, they would flatten themselves out to create as much surface area to try and compensate. Now whether this is BS or not, I have heard it from a few guys. Snakes naturally dont live on a slick surface. It would be like you doing nothing but walking around on hardwood floors in socks. After years of it, i imagine you would lose some of your skills at walking on a solid non slip surface.

That makes sense and it's definitely something to consider and I also feel that the snakes would be much more comfortable on substrate. Smell hasn't been an issue for me, though. I check in on my snakes several times a day and the moment I notice urine or feces their tubs get washed out with dawn dish soap and get fresh newspaper immediately. In more messy situations (like when my Bloods set off poop bombs) the snakes will also get a bath before being returned to their fresh tubs. I have actually been planning on experimenting with artificial grass/astroturf. That seems like it would be ideal to me. It's relatively cheap and it seems like it would be easy to clean. I just want to see how many cleanings it will stand up to. Have you or anyone you know of ever used it, Sauzo?

[Randall L Turner Jr]

The astroturf option use to be fairly common among a handful of keepers. Some loved it, some hated it. I'd be sure to buy quality material to make sure it'll stand up to being vigorously washed.

[Sauzo]

That makes sense and it's definitely something to consider and I also feel that the snakes would be much more comfortable on substrate. Smell hasn't been an issue for me, though. I check in on my snakes several times a day and the moment I notice urine or feces their tubs get washed out with dawn dish soap and get fresh newspaper immediately. In more messy situations (like when my Bloods set off poop bombs) the snakes will also get a bath before being returned to their fresh tubs. I have actually been planning on experimenting with artificial grass/astroturf. That seems like it would be ideal to me. It's relatively cheap and it seems like it would be easy to clean. I just want to see how many cleanings it will stand up to. Have you or anyone you know of ever used it, Sauzo?

I don't know any breeder who uses the stuff. To me it would seem more work than worth.

I mean you have to have at least 2 'floors' per cage as when it is soiled on, you need to wash it and dry it or it will become a bacteria breeding ground.

Also. depending how its made, if it is like the reptile carpet with each strand of the flooring being a loop, if a snake struck and missed or for any reason got carpet in the mouth, it could break or pull out teeth.

So to me, its just more work lol. If I was going to go to anything that was along the lines of quick fold and dump flooring, I would go with corrugated cardboard liners in the big roll. Give grip while also allowing fluids to drain into the valleys so the snake isn't sitting on piss.

https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail...Flute-24-x-250 This is the 24" wide stuff so if you have wider cages, obviously you would get the wider roll