damp paper substrate

[JAGpenguin]

Hello there. So i am having an issue with paper substrate, I put my BPs in glass tanks and newspaper susbtrate. Given that it is a hot and humid tropical country, natural temp ranges from 83 to 89 F with curtains closed. Humidity ranges from 60 to 80, but most fo the time it is in the 70s. I have no issues with smaller snakes under 500 grams. But with my oldest snake that has gone above 1000 grams, I notice that when I pick her out from her hide, the paper under the hide would be damp, it would be dry after a few seconds if i lift the hide and the snake from it. The rest of the tank is dry. I wonder if this is normal or should I be concerned? I tried putting a fan in the room 24/7 but it doesnt do much. Please advise.

[Hugsplox]

Hello there. So i am having an issue with paper substrate, I put my BPs in glass tanks and newspaper substrate. Given that it is a hot and humid tropical country, natural temp ranges from 83 to 89 F with curtains closed. Humidity ranges from 60 to 80, but most fo the time it is in the 70s. I have no issues with smaller snakes under 500 grams. But with my oldest snake that has gone above 1000 grams, I notice that when I pick her out from her hide, the paper under the hide would be damp, it would be dry after a few seconds if i lift the hide and the snake from it. The rest of the tank is dry. I wonder if this is normal or should I be concerned? I tried putting a fan in the room 24/7 but it doesn't do much. Please advise.

I think this is just due to how humid it is where you live JAG. That humidity gets into the hide, and with the snake in there as well it just gets trapped causing your paper substrate to become damp. My only concern would be from the animal sitting on wet substrate for an extended period of time, but as I have no experience with things like scale rot, I'd rather leave that to more tenured keepers to comment on. Are you finding this to be a constant issue? There are a handful of other keepers here who live in high humidity areas in the U.S. that could probably suggest something better than paper to use.

[JAGpenguin]

I tried putting the fan to max speed and reduce the size of the water bowl so less surface area for the water. It has gotten better but still not completely dry. This is a constant issue with 1000 gram snakes. but not the little ones.

[Albert Clark]

Consider using unprinted newspaper. Maybe place the paper towels on top of printed newspaper? Finely shredded aspen or sani chips mixed with a small amount of Eco earth.

[Bogertophis]

I think it has to do with the type of paper you're using. If it's newspaper (with or without print), or something similar, it has no texture so any moisture tends to make it flat & sticking together- just as tissue paper does, only that's thinner. IF that's what you're using, & if there are layers, try adding some texture between the layers- a little aspen, or Carefresh* maybe? (*if it's available where you are- it's hygroscopic. https://www.chewy.com/carefresh-smal...ding/dp/122289 )

I use paper towels (Bounty brand specifically) to line my tanks, with a thick layer of paper shreds (mixed with Carefresh in some cases), & Bounty has both texture & strength due to what is added to the "paper"- that increases absorbency but also adds some breathability. I don't care for & never use "newspaper" to line my tanks because of how the paper itself "behaves" with moisture, & also because snakes need traction- newspaper is slippery. Your best bet is if you can find some paper with better texture, or as I said, add something between layers.

I can see why you'd worry about the snake laying on damp substrate all the time in a cool hide.

[Bogertophis]

I have no idea what products are available where you are, but I know some keepers use paper products from this company "Uline"-
See the "indented paper" wrap, for example: https://www.uline.com/Product/AdvSea...ulinepaperwrap or further down the page, the "corrugated wrap".

Years back, I used to use one of their products- a thick brown paper with a course paper "netting" glued onto it as a second layer- it was nice to trap snake feces on the floor of my tanks.
Of course they weren't thinking about that use at all- just making packing materials. Anyway, you may have similar products available there from another source- just giving you ideas.

[JAGpenguin]

Thanks for all the advice. I am using unprinted news papers right now. But paper towels are an option as well. Reptile shops here have exo terra coco husks mostly. But I can always import from amazon or ebay. I bought all my hides from amazon straight from USA and the hot shot for mites from ebay. I will try the proposed solutions soon. Thanks

[Bogertophis]

By the way, when I mentioned that I use a thick layer of paper shreds (on top of a lining of paper towels) in most of my tanks, much of that is clean paper from my mail & business papers that I run thru a shredder (the kind they sell in office supply stores). But I usually mix things into that, depending on which snake it's for- some (that need less humidity) get Carefresh mixed in, but for others I mix in other commercially-sold "paper-shred" products sold for small pets (just for better texture overall). I've used Carefresh for many years, & over that time it has changed- it used to be soft & fluffy, but now it's very compressed- so much so that you have to manually separate it- that's partly why I actually prefer mixing it with my own paper shreds- to add fluff, but it's the Carefresh that is most absorbent.