Anyone here use ASPEN?

[mckittie]

I was recommended to use ASPEN substrate. I bought a 20 gal. long tank yesterday and lined it with ASPEN. When I got up this morning the humidity was at 0!!!!!

Do you use this and if so how do I get the humidity to stay up? Can I wet it?

[tmartin2347]

I use it for my boas and the humidity if fine, but they are in racks.

Try using cypress, it holds humidity a lot better when sprayed down.

[mckittie]

I was using moss with coconut blah blah in it and that was perfect, but then I was told that was not for snakes that require desert heat and to use this ASPEN crap. I'm probly gonna switch back today.

[Shadera]

I use aspen for my animals. If humidity dips too low, I mist a little. You can also try moving the water bowl closer to the heat source, and make sure your substrate isn't too thickly laid down.

[mckittie]

The bag says to put two inches down and it's roughly two inches in his tank, but still not working out. I just misted and the humidity shot up to 86 then back to the 30's minutes later!

[Jeff Krupa]

What kind of enclosure do you have ? Glass tank, Plastic tub? These are a much bigger factor in my opinion. I use aspen in plastic tubs and have no humidity problems.

[TheMolenater2]

I use it in my tub and tank. But if you are using it in a tank, you'll need some spaghnum moss or something for humidity.

[roosterman2173]

I use aspen for all of mine with no problems. If I had to guess I would say you are using a glass tank with only a screen top. You should cover 2/3 of the top to hold in the humidity. Some use plastic wrap I have lexsan on top of mine and it works great.

[mckittie]

I have a glass tank and screened top, But do cover atleast 2/3 with cardboard.

On a side note, I have the heat lamp sitting right on top of the screen, Do you think this will cause the screen to break or set fire?

[roosterman2173]

No. It's metal and should not be a problem for you but the cardboard will suck up all the moisture that hits it. Cover it with foil or plastic wrap.