How far does aspen bedding go?

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-Adam-

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Just wondering how much bedding people use. I'm looking at a ~25L bag of aspen for $50 which seems like the standard price, however it looks like the whole bag would be required to fill a 120x60 enclosure.

Does it expand when opened (ie, is it vacuum sealed), or is it standard expectation to dish out $50 per bedding change on a 120x60 or 4'x2x enclosure, or am I looking at having it too thick. I wanted a little bit of depth so my snake can burrow and explore.
 
Yeah, some of the substrate options can get very expensive. I found that with Aspen to be honest.

If you weren't keen on the super sterile paper towel setups then you do have some options. First off you can try coir peat for $2.05 a block from Bunnings: https://www.bunnings.com.au/brunnings-9l-coir-power-coir-peat-brick_p3023170
This stuff expands to a decent amount, the only downside is it will be saturated and will need substantial drying time. I use this stuff for a Stimmy. Just be careful which ones you grab as some have slow release fertilizer in them. This one is fine.

Some people also use a mulch mix from Bunnings. I am not 100% sure which one it is so I won't link anything there.

Another option I suppose is soil. I have a planted enclosure running for an SWCP with a soil I mixed up (grabbed a bucket load of clay/soil from the Wheatbelt last I was up that way, plus some bags of topsoil from Bunnings (avoiding fertilizer)). Soil would allow for alright spot cleaning and removal of mess and so on, but can be a little bit of a chore for a full clean. Also may not be the best choice for certain species I suppose. Also doesn't really allow for sterile enclosures doing it this way, not as easily anyway. If you are wanting to plant it then it also becomes a lot more work, for example using pond liner in the bottom of the enclosure and up the sides, a proper drainage layer, a mesh barrier to stop soil getting into the drainage layer, grow lights, etc.

Sorry for the semi-rant. I am sure you will get more useful advice.

Edit: Just noticed my profile pic is from when I tried Aspen.
 
Yowsers. Here I was reading about people comparing pricing on food and I was more concerned about food prices - when it seems aspen bedding will be more expensive than the food! o_O

I don't mind paper towl (in fact - it's looking more attractive now!). What I liked about the Aspen is that it absorbs odour, easy to spot clean, and gives the snake the ability to burrow a little and feel more safe, but at $50 per bedding change I feel confused as to why it's so popular.

That Coir Power Coir looks like an interesting option. How do you normally dry it and when you say substantial time for drying - are we talking weeks, months, etc?
 
I bought some of those coir peat bricks.. let me tell u they expand... alot and also take forever to dry! I had to leave it on a tarp for almost 2days for it to be completely dry in the sun
 
Breeders choice cat litter is what I use and is always another option (somewhat cheaper) and is odorless etc.
 
Yep, when I do the coir it ends up taking about the week to dry (I live near the sea, and surrounded by swamps so higher humidity I guess) and there is nowhere I can actually put it that gives sunshine for the entirety of the day in my yard. For the actual drying process, I tend to leave it in a tub (holes drilled in bottom to try and help with drainage) somewhere that will get afternoon sun.

I tend to put up with the nuisance though due to how cheap it is.
 
I like aspen,but then I only have Antaresia's so my biggest enclosure is 90cm,so about $25. My Pygmy Banded have chipsi in a 60cm about $20,but I might give the coir peat another go as I still have 4 bricks sitting around.It's amazing how much a brick expands, it fills a 20l bucket for $6
 
Indeed I quite like the idea of Aspen, just not the price sadly. If I could get it cheap in bulk then I would 100% use it. To be honest, if it were available (and cheap) I would use Cypress Mulch more specifically, but that seems to be a more American thing.

So for now, Coir or Soil for me.

Now that reminds me I need to decide on substrate for another SWCP I'm nabbing this weekend. Newspaper for now I guess ;)
 
Hi Blighty,

First off you can try coir peat for $2.05 a block from Bunnings: https://www.bunnings.com.au/brunnings-9l-coir-power-coir-peat-brick_p3023170
This stuff expands to a decent amount, the only downside is it will be saturated and will need substantial drying time. I use this stuff for a Stimmy. Just be careful which ones you grab as some have slow release fertilizer in them. This one is fine.

At $2 at block I thought I'd go and grab a couple of these to see what they're like, however I'm a little confused. You mention that it is saturated and will require substantial drying time.

The blocks I got (which are the same item number as your link) are completely dry.

Do you mean that it needs to be saturated (by myself as per the instructions as though I'm going to use it in the garden) and then I need to let it dry out again, or should these have been wet from the beginning?
 
Hi Blighty,



At $2 at block I thought I'd go and grab a couple of these to see what they're like, however I'm a little confused. You mention that it is saturated and will require substantial drying time.

The blocks I got (which are the same item number as your link) are completely dry.

Do you mean that it needs to be saturated (by myself as per the instructions as though I'm going to use it in the garden) and then I need to let it dry out again, or should these have been wet from the beginning?
They should be bone dry, chuck em on a tarp or in a bucket and LIGHTLY wet it... too much and you will wait 5 years
 
Thanks @Herptology. I'm not sure what you mean by lightly wet it. I started off by placing the block in a tub and broke it up as best I could, and then put in 1L of water which seemed to do nothing. I increased to 4L, and then 8L of water and mixing it in with my hands turning it over on itself yet half of it was still bone dry with the other half damp but by no means saturated.

In total I ended up putting 14L of water before I got the whole lot moist. (Again, mildly damp - not saturated). And it expanded too - I'd say the expanding to 30L claim on the box is a fair statement!

Now I have it spread out thin on tarp in the shed. I guess a week or so should have it evaporate and I'll see what the end result is like.

Does 14L of water sound about how much you would use aka (lightly wet), and would the above technique sound correct?

Given that $2 makes 30L, vs $50 for 24L of aspen - I'm pretty keen to see how this stuff turns out and if it will be a suitable alternative.
[doublepost=1570346755,1570339208][/doublepost]OK - looks like I made a bit of a mistake. I thought it was damp and not saturated, but after going back it's actually quite wet - a lot more than I reported.

I ended up finding some video's online that deal with similar stuff. I think there's dedicated product of the same thing in America called Reptichip.

Apparently I need a litre of hot water at the very most for what we're trying to achieve.

So I ended up doing a second batch using hot tap water (60°c) and putting a small amount on (maybe 50ml at a time) and letting it soak through.

I found that a lot of the coir ended up falling apart without the need for moisture if I started pulling at it and rubbing clumps back and forth in my hands in the same way you'd break up a clump of dry but solid piece of sand.

So the second batch I have is warm and humid - but has very little wetness to it. I can say this more confidently as I can stick my hand in the tub, movie it around and pull it out without any coir sticking to my hand. (I can't say that for my first batch!) :oops:

So I guess the second batch would be safe to use after a couple of days laid out and drying. It may even be safe enough to use on a shedding snake that wants a bit more humidity straight up - I'm not sure.

FWIW - My local Bunnings didn't have this stocked in and weren't going to according to the staff so I asked for it as a special order. I got a few in (at $2/ea it would cost me more in fuel and parking to go down and get one at a time :D) and it seems as though they now have some additional stock they must have purchased when getting mine in to start with. :)
 
Yeah, if I recall I usually use a jug or two of hot water but cannot remember the exact amounts off the top of my head. You essentially just leave the block to soak for a while and it will begin to expand a fair amount. Once it has seemingly soaked the majority of the water up I will begin to break it up with my hands. Sometimes I find the middle section extremely dry and will add some more water, but I tend to just see how I go. Too much water and it becomes a soup you need to wait out.

It expands really well as you have noticed.
 
if I remember rightly I used about 5 litres of warm water the first time I soaked a brick ,starting with 2 litres and adding a bit more as I broke it up as I was trying to avoid soup. I didn't want to make it too wet as it wasn't going in the garden and it filled a 25 litre bucket and then had to wait for it to dry before use
 

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