I am not sold on them growing their entire lives, there is no proof. As much as personal experience is worth, my bp will be 9 years old in September. He reached 3'7" when he was 2-3 years old iirc. He hasn't grown even a millimeter in that time. Also, boa constrictors have noticeable growth for the first 5-6 years of their life, they are extremely slow growers.

Your retic example is more evolution to combat the lack of food rather than the lack of food itself making them smaller. A snake conservatively fed will reach the size it was meant to, just as a more generously fed one will. To further complicate matters, individuals grow at their own rates and may still grow fast despite a conservative schedule.

The 8.8 L of aspen I bought for my garter was about $4-5 iirc (I'd have to double check). I can buy a set of 3 blocks of EcoEarth for $7. That's 21-24 L of substrate. Hence why pound for pound it's cheaper. Of course I'm buying all my bedding from pet stores, which may explain it. I can't find aspen in 20 qts in any pet store where I live.

I've had the exact opposite experience with EE. The only enclosure it molded in was the BRBs, where I used belly heat. I have had wood mold touching it if it lays on top, but haven't had mold if I had a branch buried in it. I guess being on top of it more humidity was held. In my set ups, humidity is released easily so I don't really encounter mold.

As far as cleaning, use a dust pan to scoop up bedding in the enclosures I can't lift and then vacuum up the rest. Otherwise I just dump it and spray out the bedding before cleaning. I don't really have a problem with it sticking to stuff or getting everywhere either.

The humid hide doesn't negate the need for RH. It should still be kept within the range (50-70%) so that the snake can still have adequate humidity even outside the hide. Inhalation of water particles is important for internal hydration, and promotes better skin health.


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