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13-May-07, 10:50 AM
|  | Seller | Join Date: Sep-06 Location: BrisVegas! Age/Gender: 20  | | | Subtrate Help- Litter Or Gravel
Hay guys,
Just wanting opinions on Subtrate for BHPs. Ive had them on sand before, but id rather feed in the enclosure, so i switched to newspaper, but its just too ugly, as im going for a natural look. I was thinking that paper pellet kitty litter or gravel/river stones. If kitty litter where can i get it from and whats it look like (any examples)? Also if gravel ive heard of snakes swallowing stones, but they live in the wild with millions of stones and pebbles etc and dont swallow them. Whats your opinions?
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13-May-07, 10:56 AM
| | Suspended | Join Date: Dec-03 Location: NSW south coast | | | |
never use sand or gravel they are to cold , can create bacterial problems ,news paper is best or breeders choice cat litter.
Mick
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13-May-07, 11:04 AM
| | Seller | Join Date: Sep-06 Location: BrisVegas! Age/Gender: 20 | | | |
I wasnt too sure on the gravel. The sand was actually quite hot, under the basking light, and they loved it!. They will be heated and fed all year round this year, and ive heard breeders choice cat litter makes the enclosure dry, is this true? is there a wood pellet variety? Im not going back to newspaper, it defeats the natural look im going for.
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13-May-07, 11:17 AM
|  | Subscriber | | | | |
be careful with breeders choice, it can dry out the enclosure and as bhp's like to burrow you can also have dust troubles, be very watchful if using it, specially in their eyes,
i know newspaper looks ugly, but have you tried getting the end of rolls from the local paper printers, this is just white newspaper, lol, might not be as nice as gravel and kitty litter, but it does make your enclosure look clean and is a lot safer, just my opinion,
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13-May-07, 11:31 AM
| | Seller | Join Date: Sep-06 Location: BrisVegas! Age/Gender: 20 | | | |
Yeah i know, they just hide underneath it and it goes everywhere. What about some sort of mat, like marine carpet? What about gravel, 5mm-10mm stuff not that tiny stuff?
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13-May-07, 11:38 AM
| | Subscriber | | | | |
i can't help with either of those, but i'd be more leaning towards the marine carpet then the large gravel, i'm thinking about trying the carpet out in my new cages,
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13-May-07, 01:43 PM
|  | Seller | Join Date: May-06 Location: Somewhat Ashamed To Say On This Site Now! Age/Gender: 24  | | | Quote:
Originally Posted by sxc_celly  so i switched to newspaper, but its just too ugly, as im going for a natural look. | are you trying to benefit yourself or the snakes?
personally i use newspaper in some enclosures, but mostly i use astro turf...
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13-May-07, 01:47 PM
|  | Subscriber | Join Date: Oct-05 Location: QLD Gender: | | | |
i use newspaper, i dont see how kitty litter or gravel looks natural, stick with marine carpet or newspaper, may not look natural but better for your snake
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13-May-07, 01:55 PM
| | Seller | Join Date: Sep-06 Location: BrisVegas! Age/Gender: 20 | | | |
MoreliaMatt, im trying to benefit myself and my snakes, newspaper is not natural at all to them. Them hiding in and amongst newspaper doesnt seem all that natural, and i dont like the look of it either. Im thinking of using gravel or marine carpet now, a ive heard kitty litter drys out the enclosure. Thegravel is the river pebble used in fish tanks about 5mm-7mm. Also does marine carpet go out of shape? Does it sit flat and can snakes still get under it? What are the pros and cons of marine carpet and gravel.
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13-May-07, 02:00 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Mar-06 Location: Brisbane Age/Gender: 23 | | | |
I know lots of ppl dont like sand, but why dont you just stick with that and feed them outside the enclosure?
You could also very carefully position some larger rocks(they must not be able to move or fall to hurt the snake) and you could feed the snake on them.
Someone was talking about rock tiles in a recnt thread on here too, i think it might have been chris1 but im not too sure. They looked pretty good.
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13-May-07, 02:05 PM
| | Seller | Join Date: Sep-06 Location: BrisVegas! Age/Gender: 20 | | |
I think i might just stick with the sand yes lol. Ill have to buy a larger tub for them to feed in. I think sand would be fine for my bhps as they naturally live on sand. Newspaper just looks aweful i think, as im setting them up with plants and branches to look and feel natural, well as natural as i can get. Ive got a huge 80kg bag of super fine white sand, ill just use that  . Chris1 used slate piled up, i loved the look of it, i might try it myself and tap around and bang it abit once it done to make sure its stable. Any ideas for connecting a branch to the enclosure? Its been choped so its flat at one end. ve thought of super glue or a nail.
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13-May-07, 02:12 PM
|  | Sponsor | | | | |
i run b/c and have had no problems at all with any of my animals due to the substraight all shed well no
blockages as some may have you belive
Have you herd of screws they work for holding things together
mmm You say you dont want to use newspaper cause its not natural but you want to use carpet imo a snakle is more likely to come across paper that carpet go figure
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13-May-07, 02:15 PM
|  | Sponsor | Join Date: May-04 Location: Melbourne | | | |
Fish tank gravel used to be the substrate of choice and can work well if it is kept clean. It actually buffers the heat well in much the same was as tiles do.
Personally I use breeder choice but I have raised platforms in the enclosures which they can bask or be fed on.
Snakes eyes are dry and covered with a scale. There should be no issue with them and substrate... well no more issue that with any other scale on their bodies.
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13-May-07, 02:25 PM
| | Seller | Join Date: Sep-06 Location: BrisVegas! Age/Gender: 20 | | | |
Thanks herptrader, gives me something to think about. Mr-magic you didnt have to be so blunt, im aware of screws, nails/screw its the same idea. I meant any other ideas, and if i dont want newspaper please stop, and just accept i dont want newspaper. Ill have to decide between sand and breeders choice...
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13-May-07, 02:36 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Nov-04 Location: Fraser Coast Gender: | | | Quote:
Originally Posted by sxc_celly MoreliaMatt, im trying to benefit myself and my snakes, newspaper is not natural at all to them. Them hiding in and amongst newspaper doesnt seem all that natural, and i dont like the look of it either. Im thinking of using gravel or marine carpet now, a ive heard kitty litter drys out the enclosure. Thegravel is the river pebble used in fish tanks about 5mm-7mm. Also does marine carpet go out of shape? Does it sit flat and can snakes still get under it? What are the pros and cons of marine carpet and gravel. | IMO i found that the carpet was a pain in the butt to pull out wash etc when i had so many snakes. I had to keep spare matts for every enclsoure, which got ridiculous.Gravel that you buy from the pet shops needs to be throughly washed as i once bought a bag of it and found little macroinvertebrates in it and it was filthy so i never bothered using it. Litter has been known to get caught in the snakes throat making them choke to death as it blocks their windpipe. I have found that using Breeders Choice i twice got paper mites so never bothered with it again. I have used Oz Litter which looks great, that you can buy of Strictly Reptiles, but same again, you run the risk of it getting caught in the snakes throat. Newspaper while it might not be natural to them is probably the easiest and most hazard free substrate to use. Just my experience.
Simone.
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