Much Confusion with Substrates

[snakeaholic]

Ok right now there is pine bark in my enclosure. I was thinking of switching to cypress mulch wich I found at home depot. Its does'nt look very comfy. It was a large shred and looked dry (are you sure it holds humidity well). Also saw that they had Eucalyptus mulch also, is this stuff good too. Most likely I'll go with cypress since thats what alot of you use.

[SatanicIntention]

Ack! Pine mulch is not good for any animal, please get that out of there. Cypress mulch is awesome, but it will need to be baked before use to ensure that all "travelers" are gone I baked the amount I was going to use in deep cookie sheets, in the oven at about 300 degrees until it was completely dry. It holds humidity wonderfully, so only a slight misting is needed(if you mist-I haven't had to). If you are concerned about the large shred, look for double-milled cypress mulch. It's much more finely shredded, and is softer. Anything wooden that you buy needs to be baked regardless of where you got it.

Good luck with it. You may want to put a few single sheets of newspaper underneath the mulch in case the snake moves it around and ends up sitting on the bottom of the enclosure. Don't want him/her getting burned.

[JamminJonah]

Pine is a poor substrate because:

[EDIT]

Before exploring some of the options you have for substrates let’s first clarify what should NOT be considered a valid or safe choice. Under no circumstances should you keep these animals on pine or cedar. Pine, cedar and other phenol containing woods contain toxins which can cause significant health problems in a variety of herps and other animals and should not be used. Aspen on the other hand is a safe non-phenol containing wood substrate readily available as bedding. Your choice on substrate should be something readily available and one which lends itself to easy spot cleaning and other cage maintenance chores. You should check your enclosure daily for odors or more visible signs or waste and remove them – replacing the substrate when necessary.

Some viable options for substrate include but are not limited to:

* Repti-Bark or Jungle Bark type chips
* Newspapers/Newsprint
* Carpet (harder to maintain)
* Cypress Mulch
* Coconut Husk-based substrates
* Bed-a-beast, Care-Fresh or similar products that do not pose impaction risks

That wonderfully written caresheet - in its entirety - can be found here
http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=52

[/EDIT]

Pine/Cedar Shavings: This is the best substrate to AVOID. This is usually what mice and hamsters are kept on. The small particles of dust that are produced by these shavings are very irritating to a snakes lungs and mouth, and the volatile oils that are present can be very toxic to snakes.

more good info:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...=4&SourceID=56

http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/guine...odshavings.htm

For now it would be good just to switch to newspaper if you have some old newspapers available- anything to get that pine out ASAP.

Are you interested in any pet store available bedding? There are some good substrates available from many pet stores - I myself am a big fan of coconut husk bedding (Jungle Litter). You can also use newspaper, paper towels, or astro turf *though use of astro turf depends on where you get it and you MUST clean it VERY well with bleach or virosan or something to that effect!

[SatanicIntention]

I agree with you Jonah, there are alot of other beddings out there. Don't forget about aspen, it works well, but can be quicker to mold if not cleaned fast enough or there is too much humidity. There are ALOT of beddings available at the pet store, but they can be a little overpriced, especially when you can find the exact same thing at the local garden center/WalMart/another section at the pet store. Plus, the ever-FREE newspaper Worked great when I used it, but then I decided I needed to spice up the enclosure a tad, so I went with the Cypress mulch from Home Depot. It was very cheap, maybe $3 for a big bag.

A funny thing that happened the other day at Petco. An employee was helping this poor, unsuspecting guy(who is in the Army) out, picking out stuff he would need. Employee hands this tiny bag of aspen litter that might fill the bottom of a 10-gallon 1", and the cost was $7 for this tiny bag. When the employee left to go get something, I went up to the guy and told him he could find the exact same thing, but MUCH bigger and cheaper, in the rodent department. He said a good round of 3 "Thank You" 's and they proceeded to walk over there. hehe, darnit, the Petco employee didn't get the sale...

[strikerratt]

Aspen shavings Repti-bark forest floor bedding Astroturf or reptile carpet Newspaper and paper towels is a good substrate but if you use Aspen shavings Repti-bark forest floor bedding that you feed your snake in a separate enclosure

[daniel1983]

but if you use Aspen shavings Repti-bark forest floor bedding that you feed your snake in a separate enclosure

You can still feed your snake in its enclosure if you are using a loose substrate. A snakes digestive system can handle a little substrate. Just think about what these guys accidentially eat in the wild...twigs...leaves...grass. A lot of breeder use loose substrates and feed inside the enclosure....no big deal.

Personally, I have used aspen, repticarpet, carefresh, and newspaper. I like newspaper the best. It is cheaper and easier to clean then all of the others in my opinion. Hope that helps

[justcage]

Disposable cage liners... Awsome stuff

[PrincessErica]

I'd be careful with eucalyptus mulch. I know the leaves of the eucalytpus are toxic to almost all animals, so I'd imagine that a mulch made from the wood might be a little on the risky side. I don't know for a fact though, just seems to make sense.

[elevatethis]

Get your snake off the pine or it is going to come down with some respitory issues pretty soon...did u ever read a caresheet before you got your animal?

[Ginevive]

Yeah, pine is bad. I have a rat that I rescued from a pet store, who was kept on pine. And it was pine that was cleaned regularly, but still she sneezed pretty bad for a few weeks. I have her on that wood fiber kitty-litter type stuff now that contains no pine, and the sneezin has stopped.
If pine could do this to a rat, I shudder to think what it could do to snakes. You should get some cypress; I use it and it is great.