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  1. #1
    BPnet Senior Member ckuhn003's Avatar
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    Paper Substrate to Control Humidity

    Two weeks in and i'm still battling high humidity in my pvc enclosure (mid 80s - high 90s). I spoke to the cage maker and he said the best substrate to use for pvc cages is either newspaper or the brown paper that comes in rolls at Home Depot. The pvc enclosures capture humidity so well that any time the snake urinates and/or splashes water it can cause a spike in humidity (especially when using Reptichip or a cocoa substrate like I was).

    Anyone have an opinion on going the newpaper or brown paper route? I know it's not the most attractive but I'm thinking it can get me in the range I need to be in. Then maybe in the winter I can switch back when it's not so humid.

  2. #2
    BPnet Senior Member AbsoluteApril's Avatar
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    I use both dunnage (unprinted newspaper) and single face corrugated for ease of cleanup. The 'brown paper' is probably kraft wrap, I find that to be too stiff for my liking.
    I could possibly see it helping lower humidity since it doesn't do anything to hold/capture humidity.
    Another thing that helps lower humidity is more air flow in/out of the cage. I'm battling this in one of my stacks and once I move, I'll be drilling a bunch more holes in the caging which I expect to help with the issue.
    If you want to stick to a loose substrate, try aspen instead.
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  3. #3
    BPnet Senior Member ckuhn003's Avatar
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    Re: Paper Substrate to Control Humidity

    Quote Originally Posted by AbsoluteApril View Post
    I use both dunnage (unprinted newspaper) and single face corrugated for ease of cleanup. The 'brown paper' is probably kraft wrap, I find that to be too stiff for my liking.
    I could possibly see it helping lower humidity since it doesn't do anything to hold/capture humidity.
    Another thing that helps lower humidity is more air flow in/out of the cage. I'm battling this in one of my stacks and once I move, I'll be drilling a bunch more holes in the caging which I expect to help with the issue.
    If you want to stick to a loose substrate, try aspen instead.
    Can dunnage and/or single face corrugated easily be picked up somewhere? Is printed newspaper a bad idea?

    As for air flow, I notice that when I open the cage door the humidity drops pretty well. But i'd like to stay away from drilling holes into my enclosure.

    Do snakes seem to have a preference (apen vs paper) or is just what's convenient for us?

  4. #4
    BPnet Senior Member AbsoluteApril's Avatar
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    Some packaging suppliers online sell it, such as uline, freight might be pricey. You may have a local source, would probably take some searching around. I work for a packaging company currently so I haven't had to source it. No, nothing wrong with printed newspaper, I just prefer unprinted dunnage because it won't leave stains on albino snakes.

    As far as preference, I can't really say. I've kept the same snakes on either at different times and haven't noticed anything. I would assume they prefer aspen because most snakes will burrow from time to time.
    I use the paper because of the number of reptiles I have it makes for a much easier clean-up and less hassle. I like being able to quickly clean an entire stack of 4x2 cages.
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