Trying out a new substrate...Herptopia

[Sauzo]

The chunky form of that Caribsea stuff looks pretty good but DANG, it's $30 for a 24 quart bag!! That would be like $360 every month or so in just substrate!! Not to mention, I already overpay on my food as I haven't gotten around to getting a small chest freezer and just ordering 6 months food at a time online.

[zina10]

Yeah, its quite expensive !!

There is also a chunky form of that Kritters Crumble stuff. Saw it on Amazon. I ordered the "fine" because that is what I was trying to find..hehe.
The fine was $15.99 incl. prime shipping for 21 quarts. So again, not a real savings over Herptopia. But there is that prime shipping...
I'm getting it on Wednesday and then I will make a side by side comparison of those 2 !

Edited to say, the "coarse" Kritters Crumble costs the same then the fine. In the pictures it looks a lot like Reptichip. Some people mentioned in the reviews that it arrives somewhat "moist". (the fine stuff anyway). The Herptopia was completely dry. I will update

[Sauzo]

Yeah, for me, ReptiChips is just much more economical as I go through around a brick and a half a month which amounts to about $30. Plus I like the chunkier stuff as it just seems there would less stuff having a chance of getting into the nostrils of my snakes when they decide they want to make tunnels haha.

[jmcrook]

I think my next bedding trial will be either pro coco or Plant !t coco chips. Both seem to be in the exact same size and package as reptichip but for $11/block vs $15-20/block. I'll be sure to post reviews once I try it out, which might not be for a bit. I've still got a block and 1/4 of reptichip left before I'm out


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[zina10]

I had to order dog food anyway, so I added a small bag of Zoomed Eco Earth loose to the order !

I will compare all 3 (Zoomed, Herptopia, Kritter) and then I will update The Zoomed would be cheaper then Herptopia, but if it does have more dust or more of that ultra fine stuff, then I will stick with Herptopia. I don't really like that powdery, fine stuff.

I should just put Reptichip through some kind of shredder to make the chunks smaller and then I would be happy, LOL !!

[zina10]

I think my next bedding trial will be either pro coco or Plant !t coco chips. Both seem to be in the exact same size and package as reptichip but for $11/block vs $15-20/block. I'll be sure to post reviews once I try it out, which might not be for a bit. I've still got a block and 1/4 of reptichip left before I'm out


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You are right, it is the same stuff ! And if I had stayed with Reptichip I would have went with the Plant it coco chips. Even cheaper

[ShaneSilva]

Just bought a brick of pro coco to try it out. I've used zoo med eco earth before and liked it. No mold issues or anything but one time my retic missed his rat and got a mouth full of eco earth. He couldn't get it out on his own but a q-tip got it out easily.

[zina10]

Here is a quick update for whomever may be interested Here is the promised comparison.

I purchased the Zoomed Eco Earth loose substrate and the Kritters Crumble "fine". I didn't get the Caribsea because it costs more then any of the others, so its not interesting to me.

In the picture you will see.. left top: Zoomed Eco Earth, right top: Kritters Crumble fine, left bottom: ReptiChip, right bottom: Herptopia




As you can see, the Zoomed Eco Earth loose substrate is extremely fine. Just a fine powder. Doesn't absorb as well as the ReptiChip or Herptopia.

The Kritters Crumble is quite strange. Its mostly very fine but has many of these short, fine "splinters". They look like the "hairs" of the coconut that are in the other coco substrates, but they are "stabby" for lack of better words. When you hold it in your hand and close your wrist, it feels like very fine splinters. A very uncomfortable feeling. Also, the Kritters Crumble arrived "moist". Not a fan of the smell either, both the Kritters Crumble and the Zoomed didn't smell as pleasantly "earthy" as the Herptopia and ReptiChip. They didn't smell bad per say, just different. Didn't test absorption of Kritters Crumble because it arrived moist and quite frankly I don't like it anyway.

The ReptiChip is quite chunky. Not a lot of dust once moistened to loosen it up. Absorbs well.

Herptopia is chunkier then Zoomed Eco Earth, yet it is soft and fluffy. Not powdery. Doesn't compact down easily. Not a lot of dust. Absorbs well.


Side by side of Herptopia and Reptichip




Side by side of Herptopia and Kritters Crumble"fine"




Side by side of Herptopia and Zoomed Eco Earth loose




I've been using the Herptopia in all of my tubs for a few days now. Had a few "clean ups". It absorbed the urine VERY well, just a small dark spot and some urates. Very easy to spot clean because easy to see what part was soiled (darker). With the aspen up to a quarter of the tub would be "soaked". (mine know how to open the flood gates..) Cut down on smell, I normally could "smell" when a snake made a mess on the aspen. Not this time.




The snakes don't seem to mind the change. The first day they "burrowed" a bit, now they are resting. Didn't keep them from breeding, either. Fed the little one, she ate just fine, no problems. The big ones get fed on Sunday.

Everything said and done, I do like Herptopia a lot. Especially for the tubs. I also like Reptichip, but more so for the big display cage. The big chunks just make spot cleaning a bit more difficult, because the chips range from light to dark colored, so its harder to tell which ones have absorbed urine or are just naturally darker. I just grab a bunch of substrate around the mess to make sure I get it all. Plus the Reptichip has to be wetted down to expand and then stays moist for to long to be used in my tubs. Even just slightly moist raises the humidity to high in my tubs. I prefer dry substrate to start with, so that I control the humidity by how much and where I mist. For the cage the Reptichip is perfect, though.

While the Zoomed isn't a bad price, I don't like the consistency and smell. It also doesn't absorb as well and packs down to much. I mixed the bag into my Reptichip substrate container, so that it doesn't go to waste.

Now, the Kritters Crumble I dislike in every way. So much so that I'm just going to toss it. I don't even want to mix it in with my other substrate. This spikey feeling is just unpleasant and I don't want any of those splintery things ending up in my snakes vents, noses or wherever else.

Still hoping Herptopia will add larger bags to their inventory and offer shipping discounts, but unless some problems come up (in which case I will update) I am pretty sure I'm sticking with it for my tubs !

Hope that helps for anyone that was interested to see the differences in the "coco" substrates.

[Craiga 01453]

Thanks for all the info!! I use ReptiChips and am happy with this substrate, but I'm thinking I will look into the Herptopia after reading this. Thanks again!

[zina10]

Update:

I promised to update as time went on, so here we go.

I still like Herptopia for the fact that it isn't as chunky as Reptichip and because it arrives expanded and dry.

But I have found one issue that is both a positive but also a negative for me. It is fluffy and doesn't compact down, which is nice.

However, because it is SO fluffy and light, the heavier snakes tend to push it around and aside and then lay on the bare tub. My smaller snake doesn't do this, though.

So I have decided to try something else. I've mixed my Reptichips with Herptopia. About 50/50. (I already had a brick of Reptichips expanded in a big container) I'm hoping this combination will perform better for me. So far, I like it.
I'm just going to have to expand a brick of Reptichip and mix it with Herptopia. And then let it dry out for a few days before using it.

If anything changes, or I run into problems, I will update

Oh, btw. If I should be so lucky to end up with hatchlings, they will probably be on Herptopia, rather then the mix.