ReptiChip vs. Reptile Prime Size Comparison

[Sauzo]

The way I see it in a nutshell. Coco fiber such as eco earth or reptile prime is great for bedding, humidity and waste absorption, but it is costly, and for keepers with multiple snakes, paper substrate will always be the most economic and simple solution.

I refuse to use paper. It provides next to no grip and whether it is BS or not, i have heard in boas, it can cause pancaking where after years of being on nothing but a slippery gripless floor, they flatten themselves to try and create the most contact area they can. After years, their body kind of gets set to being like that instead of the nice tall bread shape.

But anyways, I dont mind spending on good substrate. I was spending like $100 every 2 months on substrate for my snakes when i was buying the 24 qt bags of Zoo Med aspen. The kicker for me is the Reptile Prime would be $210 every couple months lol.

And coco fiber isnt costly really. Look at Eco Earth, Reptichips, Pro Coco and other stuff. It is the exact same stuff as Reptile Prime but a fraction of the cost and more than a fraction of the shipping. I cant really comment on the Reptile Prime as i havent gotten my bag yet but just looking at the speel and listening to Brian talk about it, it almost sounds like he is just trying to milk it for cash. But anyways, enough of my 'thoughts' on it.

ReptiChips has worked fine for my snakes and so has aspen which i will probably just stick to but like i said, i do like to try different substrates so i can get an idea of all the stuff. That is mostly what i am trying to get to although i did kind of get side tracked with his the lack of easily available contacting and the crazy shipping price method which i still cant wrap my head around lol.

And Eco Earth sucks. The stuff is either too wet or too dry which makes it dusty. Also if you let it dry out, it acts like cypress and doesnt want to reabsorb water very readily. And with it being like coffee grounds, it gets in the pits and mouth of snakes burrowing. That's why i hate the stuff. Now the only down side to ReptiChips is it is a little on the big side to me which allows my big boas to bury their pisses as they push their tail under the stuff to piss. Also being how big the pieces are, it allows liquid to kind of drain to the floor. Aspen is the happy median to it as it packs down enough to catch liquids, doesnt get stuck in pits or mouths unless eaten of course and doesnt stay wet so wont build up bacteria or cause skin issues for the snake from sitting on wet/damp substrate 24/7. The Reptile Prime seems to be a nice median between the coco stuff.