Bought Timberline cypress mulch blend from Lowes for 2 bucks, went home baked like half the bag and then let it cool off. Put it in a tub with with my lesser and right then figured out that I HATED it. The hardwood mulch was WAY to long and sharp and it held humidity for my tubs WAY too much.
When the Burm gets bigger, I will switch him over to cypress but other than that all my BP's and burm are going on papertowels until I can order some unprinted newspaper.
The Blues will be on the reptibark b/c I love that stuff and now 1 bag will do both cages.
Hope this helps out any searches in the future.
Conclusion:
Aspen
Appearance: Looks nice and pretty for about a week or 2 then you have to change it
Humidity: Holds it about as well as paper towels
Absorbency: Good spot cleaning substrate
Cost: Petsmart the bag is 12 bucks for a HUGE bag
It was to dusty for my liking so that is why I switched, Kaytee seems to be the best
Reptibark
Appearance: IMO is the best looking substrate, I love the dark look
Humidity: Holds humidity like a champ, prob around +20% compared to Aspen
Absorbency: Good spot cleaning substrate
Cost: 18 bucks for a bag that will only fill about 3-4 41 qt tubs
Down fall is it's cost and doesn't absorb water as well as I would like, kinda pools on the tub floor
Cypress Mulch (HD or Lowes)
Appearance: Looks good, just like normal mulch
Humidity: Is always wet, too humid for me
Absorbency: Amazing
Cost: CHEAP
Hardwood/blend mulch pieces were to large for smaller snakes, if the bark is handy I would grab that.
Paper towels/News print
Appearance: Great, but has to be changed daily with bowel movements
Humidity: Holds decent and can be misted to up humidity during sheds
Absorbency: Needs to be changed after bowel movements
Cost: Printed is free, unprinted is cheap, paper towels well people know the cost
Most keepers end up with this........
Reply With Quote