Even Substrate distribution

[AkivaSmith]

No matter what I do, my snake always makes a bare area in the tub. I put a nice even 1 inch cover of aspen on the bottom and by morning there is at least one huge mound of aspen in one corner and a bare patch in the other.

Is this common?

[tmlowe5704]

No matter what I do, my snake always makes a bare area in the tub. I put a nice even 1 inch cover of aspen on the bottom and by morning there is at least one huge mound of aspen in one corner and a bare patch in the other.

Is this common?

sure is. Every single one of my snakes does it

[juddb]

Thats what they usually do... Maybe you should put paper towels underneath the aspen

[frankykeno]

Yep some of ours always did that when they were on aspen. Some of mine still mess with everything even though they are now on newspaper. I swear some of my snakes are frustrated interior decorators! LOL

[jglass38]

As long as you are measuring your temps and setting them at the surface of the tub, no worries. That is one of the reasons you don't measure temps on top of the substrate (when using a loose substrate).

[muddoc]

Jamie said it best. My sentiments exactly. I always measure temps on the tub surface, to minimize the risk of a burn to the animal. Even if it is a little cooler on the surface od the substrate, don't worry. These snakes have evolved over many thousands of years to be very efficient at sensing very small changes in heat (i.e. they will move the substrate to get to a little warmer area if that is what they desire).