Substrate

[zeke]

I'm looking at changing my python flooring to bark chips and it seems that it would be cheaper to get it from bunnings but I'm not sure as if it could cause any issues with them or not?

 

[disintegratus]

I'm not sure. I know the coco peat from bunnings is fine, but I'm not sure about bark chips. I'm trialling pine shavings (kiln dried and dust extracted), and so far it's okay, it looks heaps better than newpaper but the snakes don't seem to like it much(I've only had them on it for about 3 days), so I think I'm going to take it out. I want to use coco peat for the pythons but I don't know how to dry it out thoroughly. I oven dried the batch I'm using for the shinglebacks, but that took forever and I burnt it a bit, so it made the kitchen smell manky for a while. I don't think I'm allowed to dry the coco peat in the oven any more:|

 

[moussaka]

Be very careful with bark chips, they can have sharp corners and edges which can hurt your snakes, especially if they're accidentally swallowed.

 

[disintegratus]

Actually, that's something I didn't mention as well. I fed all mine yesterday, and I was concerned about them ingesting the pine shavings. I don't have feeding tubs, so I emptied their water bowls and positioned them so they were eating in the water bowl, or turned their hides upside down and used them. Worked a treat

 

[wokka]

I'm not sure. I know the coco peat from bunnings is fine, but I'm not sure about bark chips. I'm trialling pine shavings (kiln dried and dust extracted), and so far it's okay, it looks heaps better than newpaper but the snakes don't seem to like it much(I've only had them on it for about 3 days), so I think I'm going to take it out. I want to use coco peat for the pythons but I don't know how to dry it out thoroughly. I oven dried the batch I'm using for the shinglebacks, but that took forever and I burnt it a bit, so it made the kitchen smell manky for a while. I don't think I'm allowed to dry the coco peat in the oven any more:|

How do you tell if the snakes like it?

 

[Silhou]

Ive heard stories of bark chip shards getting underneath the snakes scales or splinters in their skin and have even heard that it can cause infection and kill them. :S I'd be very careful.
You can get woodshaving specifically designed for reptile use im fairly sure, I think that'd be the best option.

 

[JrFear]

i thought pine was toxic for snakes?

 

[Silhou]

Snake Habitat, enclosure and Snake Bedding Substrate - Superb Odor Elimination | Kritter's Crumble Australia, anything like this would be good, a few pet shops around you might sell it.

 

[disintegratus]

How do you tell if the snakes like it?

Whether they're happy to slither around on it or even just sit and chill, or whether they try to stay up off the ground any more than normal, or sit on top of their hides rather than inside them etc. They all seem to have gotten over their initial issues though and I've seen most of them just curled up on the pine.

i thought pine was toxic for snakes?

I thought that it was the phenols released from the pine that made it toxic, and dust could be an issue for respiratory infections. I know that's the problem with rodents, but since this stuff is kiln dried and dust extracted, the phenols aren't a problem, and neither is the dust. I haven't been able to find any information one way or another, but I've put my rodents on this stuff and their breathing/sneezing has actually gotten a lot better compared to the paper pellets, so I figured I'd try the snakes on it. If anyone does know definitively, I'd love to hear it, but so far, so good

 

[notechistiger]

Yes it's fine. As long as their food is dry then they shouldn't ingest it. I use pine chips in my enclosures. Only thing I can say is make sure it's totally dry before putting it into enclosure, else you might have a fungus problem like I did

 

[reptalica]

Kritters Crumble for mine. Shop around though as their is a marked difference in pricing around the traps.

 

[whyme]

What substrate do you use now?

 

[zeke]

i use astro turf at the moment by ive noticed some of my snakes have some scale damage from it.
i got 2 bags for $40 and it did 2 4 foot tanks and a 3foot

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

 

[rockethead]

how did astro turf hurm your snakes scales?

 

[zeke]

well it only happend to acouple of my snakes but they must of been when they got under it and from them trying to dig under it

 

[rockethead]

yer it is bit rough under it

 

[McFly]

I use sand out of the river my snakes love it
It's a fresh water river an people say it can be bad not using a substrate that is sterilized so I go down get 40 kg at a time (3months worth) and use my crab cooker to boil it for about 15 mins when boiling keep stirring with my paint stirrer on a drill and that's it free n easy

 

[pythoncrazy]

have u tried the sun?

I'm not sure. I know the coco peat from bunnings is fine, but I'm not sure about bark chips. I'm trialling pine shavings (kiln dried and dust extracted), and so far it's okay, it looks heaps better than newpaper but the snakes don't seem to like it much(I've only had them on it for about 3 days), so I think I'm going to take it out. I want to use coco peat for the pythons but I don't know how to dry it out thoroughly. I oven dried the batch I'm using for the shinglebacks, but that took forever and I burnt it a bit, so it made the kitchen smell manky for a while. I don't think I'm allowed to dry the coco peat in the oven any more:|

have u tried using the sun?

 

[Spider178]

The cocoa peat stuff from Bunnings is the same as Kritters Crumble without the hefty price tag, I just dry mine on a tarp in the sun.

 

[mareebapython]

i have bark for my jungle python and havent had any problems.