Shredded newspaper anyone?

[bearhart]

I've temporarily switched to using newspaper while my BP goes through a round of injections for an RI. Switching was recommended as a way to reduce possible irritants to the snake's airways.

So my first attempt involved putting down a number of sheets in an interleaved fashion - like all of the photos I've seen. I then replaced all the furniture and dialed in the temperatures. Humidity was hard to keep up initially but I added a few balls of soaked paper towels which helped. The problem is my BP did seem too happy with it. Even though his furniture was all back in the same places he did not return to his regular routine and would no longer use his hide. So I called the guy back and asked him "how much newspaper" and he said "a couple of inches". LOL - I was struck speechless as I tried to wrap my mind around trying to jam a couple of copies of the Houston Chronicle straight into the cage. Anyway, it turns out he was referring to shredded newspaper.

I added about an inch of coarsely shredded newspaper and it seems like my BP likes it. It kind of tramples down in the places he goes but stays fluffy in other spots and after a little while kind of makes a little nest. (He did always like to burrow down in his substrate). I think it gives him more security kind like grass might in the wild.

Does anybody here have experience with shredded paper?

[darkangel]

I haven't used shredded newspaper. I use a couple of sheets of regular newspaper and my "burrower" still manages to get in between the sheets when she feels like hiding.

[Kagez28]

i lay down a page, which is two sheets, then put my thermostat and thermometer probe down, then another page of paper. so four think layers total. i don't think an inch of newspaper would work very well. it would be to think to let the heat in and you would end up running your UTH very hot just to get the top of the news paper warm enough. the shredded newspaper works, but when you mist to get the humidity it kind of turns to mush. so i just use plain old newspaper.

when you say your BP didn't seem happy with it, it seems to me thats because you took away all the scents he previously knew. now it's like his in a new place with new smells. so expect him to explore his "new" are a little then he'll be back to his good old self.

hope this helps.

[elevatethis]

I tried it once in one snake tub and the first time that they soiled it, the shreds of paper turned into a wet gross paste that stuck to everything in the tub. Never again!

If you like the idea of loose substrate then you might just want to stick with aspen shavings or sani-chips.

[bearhart]

i lay down a page, which is two sheets, then put my thermostat and thermometer probe down, then another page of paper. so four think layers total. i don't think an inch of newspaper would work very well. it would be to think to let the heat in and you would end up running your UTH very hot just to get the top of the news paper warm enough. the shredded newspaper works, but when you mist to get the humidity it kind of turns to mush. so i just use plain old newspaper.

when you say your BP didn't seem happy with it, it seems to me thats because you took away all the scents he previously knew. now it's like his in a new place with new smells. so expect him to explore his "new" are a little then he'll be back to his good old self.

hope this helps.

To clarify, the shredded portion of the paper is very loose and fluffy. at any point if you were to smash it down it would only be equivalent to a few more thicknesses of paper. So, in the areas he frequents its "trampled" down and roughly equivalent to just having a few sheets of newspaper. The borders of that area remain fluffed up and it kind of creates a little nest area.

It definately could have just been disruption like you say. He did change his behavior back pretty quickly after I added the shredded though. I don't have really closed in hides for him so I think he's always relied on the ability to nestle into the substrate a bit as a way to adjust for that. Maybe the shredded paper kind of added that back in for him.

It doesn't seem to bother him but since I had never seen anybody do it I was curious if there might be some unforseen consequences.

[bearhart]

I tried it once in one snake tub and the first time that they soiled it, the shreds of paper turned into a wet gross paste that stuck to everything in the tub. Never again!

If you like the idea of loose substrate then you might just want to stick with aspen shavings or sani-chips.

yikes! Hopefully I'll be able to just lift the sheets I have underneath and pull everything out at once.

[MeMe]

I tried it once in one snake tub and the first time that they soiled it, the shreds of paper turned into a wet gross paste that stuck to everything in the tub. Never again!

yep...me too.

been there, done that...never again!

[Montee]

Sent you a PM

[bigballs]

I tried it once in one snake tub and the first time that they soiled it, the shreds of paper turned into a wet gross paste that stuck to everything in the tub. Never again!

If you like the idea of loose substrate then you might just want to stick with aspen shavings or sani-chips.

yes! newsapaper gets nasty and cant hold humidity well at all. if it gets wet your snake may have headline news printed on it's white belly! aspen is way better. (in my opinion).

[MeMe]

I use newsprint.

just not shredded.

i don't have a problem with that.

I used shredded and it made a huge mess.

just wanted to clarify.

newsprint is way easier to clean as long as it is laid in flat pieces.