Quick Ideas about substrate

[littleindiangirl]

I think the turf is so... Unappealing. The problems with germs, doesnt hold humidity, your snake cant burrow... Not for me.

We use newspaper and cyprus mulch for the rack, but for a display cage I LOVE the compressed coconut bark. I just commented to chris about that tonight. It's pleasing to the eye because its very natural looking, it holds humidity well, its naturally mold resisitant, you can tell when you need to mist it down, and one little brick fills up a whole bucket when expanded. It's easy to spot clean urates, and you can tell where the pee is too because it's darker. And something else, the poo gets covered with it and makes it easier to pick up. Also, if ingested, it should break down and not cause any problems like impaction. Coconut bark all the way!!

[Elvyra's Keeper]

I just got some cypress and put it in the cage. The overall temp is at 84-85d, and on the bottom where she is one the warm side is at 91d, before I put down the cypress. I can't get the cypress to warm to above 87d. I'm afraid to raise the temp of the UTH because I know they like to burrow and I don't want her to lay on the glas and burn herself. What should I do?

Also, I have these two digital thermometers (which also read humidity) and when I put one on the glass, it reads about 85d with 54% humidity, but if I have one laying on the ground right under the other, the one on the ground reads 87d and 69%-72% humidity. What should I go by and if I get an acurite, will it read the bottom of the cage and not the side?

[Noek]

Tim-

Thanks for the good advice. I decided to ditch the turf after all. It looks good, but why take the chance. I'm back on paper towels and I think I'll stay with it as long as the humidity holds

Looking forward to tomorrow, I'll post up pics.

[Elvyra's Keeper]

I would much rather use paper towels (easy clean-up) but I couldn't hold any humidty.

[OhClueless1]

I am using coconut bark... I like it well enough but as soon as I get these tubs straightened out (gave up for now till after xmas) I am going to switch to paper towels I think. The coconut works good in the glass tanks and holds humidity but with four tanks running it can get expensive.

[Noek]

It has been a challenge so far with holding humidity using paper towels as substrate, but I do like the 'clean' look it offers.

[dsirkle]

I think that Aspen is the most commonly used substrate for good reason. But it's hard to argue against the price of yesterdays newspaper (especially if it is somebody elses newspaper).

[K80tik]

i've used coconut, aspen, cypress, paper towels and newspaper.
coco bark=pretty good, just to much of a hassle to expand and dry before putting it in tank. you dont want it soaking wet.

aspen=good, but as stated that its hard to see the actual urates sometimes. *im blind as well i guess*

cypress= love it! smells good. easy to see "presents" and easy to clean. just gets expensive filling a big tank.

paper towels= pretty good. sanitary, easy to clean, cheap to a point and the white paper towels on a dark colored snake looks nice.

newspaper=as said is free, easy to clean, but not visually appealing. i used 2 layers of newspaper with paper towels on top just to soak up any extra "runs" off the urates.

i talked with some friends on astro turf and they said they agree about bacteria, but one friend suggested getting about 4 pieces of it all pre-cut for the tank. when snake Urates or poops, take it out. wash it with water hose and disinfect it. hang it outside to dry and after that just leave it somewhere where it can fully dry with no humidity. after you use the other 3 say every week that 1 has been sitting for 3 or 4 weeks not being used. rinse 1 last time then put some reptile relief or P-A-M and place in tank. he said it doesnt smell and you limit bacteria. i dont know. havent tried it. i plan on doing it this weekend so i guess ill see. just my 2 cents

[Elvyra's Keeper]

I'm using cypress mulch, which I got this HUGE bag at walmart for $2.24. I think it's pretty inexpensive. My only problem is that it's really wet and I had to bake it at 350d for about 2-3 hours before it dried.

[Noek]

(especially if it is somebody elses newspaper).

lmao