Substrate with UTH

[VooDooDoc]

I use repti-heat cable as the UTH of my tank, and am looking for a new substrate option. Obviously I want something that will still let the heat through.

I've used aspen and it works out OK, I switched to paper towels to allow heat to penetrate more. The problem with paper towels is there really is no spot cleaning. My snake pees (seems to be doing a lot lately) and I gotta take everything out to put down new towels. Its not a big deal for me, but when I'm out of town I need something the pet sitter can easily scoop and move on. I don't want her to have to mess around with taking the snake out to replace everything.

I have some repti-bark from when I tried that a long time ago, I could go back to aspen, or try something else. What about this Carefresh stuff I've seen mentioned on these forums a few times. Is this the right thing: http://www.petco.com/product/113567/...t-Bedding.aspx

I can always crank up the thermostat to get the right surface temp but I don't want to have to set it too high in case my snake decides to dig down.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Any non-paper substrate is going to block out some heat. I would probably go with aspen as it seems to block it out the least. Just keep the substrate layer to 1/2" thick or less and you shouldn't have any problems.

[barbie.dragon]

I wouldn't use carefresh because I had a very bad experience with them (when keeping chinchillas). The carefresh came with a bunch of mites. Mites Mites everywhere. I know they don't affect snakes but still.. If you have furred pets be careful!

[AdamF]

I wouldn't use carefresh because I had a very bad experience with them (when keeping chinchillas). The carefresh came with a bunch of mites. Mites Mites everywhere. I know they don't affect snakes but still.. If you have furred pets be careful!

Mites don;t harm snakes?????
Since when

[RestlessRobie]

X2 on the aspen easy to spot clean and all my snakes tend to just push the aspen out away from the warm spot and bask on the enclosure floor

[barbie.dragon]

Mites don;t harm snakes?????
Since when

Only snake mites affect snakes. These mites weren't snake mites, so no. It wouldn't hurt the snake. But it made my chinchilla super itchy! He lost quite a bit of fur...

[VooDooDoc]

Went ahead and switched back to aspen. Makes friggin mess but oh well.