Pet Owner vs Breeding

[cchardwick]

I'm sure there are lots of ways to take care of a ball python. I started with aspen bedding, it was hard to keep moist, it molded, and the snakes would get it stuck in their mouth when they struck and missed a rodent. So I changed over to paper, that worked great for my mite infection, I thought it was much better than aspen but I couldn't keep the humidity up, I'm sure paper is the cheapest, especially if you can get it for cheap or free. Then I switched over to coconut husk (Reptichip) and I love it on all fronts. However, I still see pro breeders with thousands of tubs using paper and humidifiers to keep the room humidity up. However, with paper I had really bad smells when they went to the bathroom, coconut husk solved that problem completely, and it lasts for months instead of days or weeks. I'm not saying that aspen or paper is any better or worse, I've experienced all three and coconut husk is just better for me.

There are lots of different substrates and lots of different opinions. Really the only way to know which is best is to try them out for a month or two and see if you like them better or worse. I thought aspen was the best and never even considered changing up when I first started, but trying different setups is really helpful, you can then share your successes and challenges. And often times I change my mind LOL. For example, I really love to feed all fresh kill and not live or frozen thawed, its totally safe, immediately available and always the right temperature and my snakes love it, and using CO2 is fast and painless for the rodent. However, taking care of my rodents is a lot of work and if I get burned out I may switch up to all frozen thawed like some of the pro breeders LOL.

I'm convinced there's no right or wrong way as long as your snake feels safe, is kept humid and is eating OK (unless he is fasting LOL).