lining the bottom of an snake enclosure

[MichaelJaynes]

hi,
i was just wondering what is the best to line the bottom of your enclosure with, i want something that looks as natural as possible but that wont endanger the snake. any ideas

 

[Acanthophis]

What do you mean by lining the bottom of the enclosure?

If you mean substrate well I find Breeders Choice cat litter great, it looks pretty nice and is very absorbant!

 

[serpenttongue]

I line the bottom of my enclosures with contact (used for covering school books) I pick the one with the wood grain design on it. Once this is layed i put Dr Harry's cat litter over the top( occasionally i'll use breeders choice) or newspaper. Make sure the contact is rubbed down well, especially in the corners.

 

[michaelh]

What's wrong with newspaper?

 

[sxereturn]

It looks like ****.

 

[Guest]

Red desert sand.

 

[Guest]

Re: RE: lining the bottom of an snake enclosure

Red desert sand.

Too messy. Breeders choice is the bomb!!

 

[Sdaji]

If I had a dollar for every time I've seen this debated..... :roll:

lol :lol:

I'm a newspaper boy The choice is black and white.

(geez I'm funny :roll: )

 

[herptrader]

Re: RE: lining the bottom of an snake enclosure

I line the bottom of my enclosures with contact (used for covering school books) I pick the one with the wood grain design on it. Once this is layed i put Dr Harry's cat litter over the top( occasionally i'll use breeders choice) or newspaper. Make sure the contact is rubbed down well, especially in the corners.

I can see this leading to grief. All of my enclosures are now tiled with ceramic tiles. It is surprisingly cheap and easy to do.

http://www.herptrader.com.au/TiledEnclosure

Breeders choice is my substrate of choice.

 

[peterescue]

RE: Re: RE: lining the bottom of an snake enclosure

I was a big BC fan but after cutting open reptiles on a course recently and finding wads of BC in there guts I am dead against it.
I now use newspaper and shredded paper. I find I clean more often but it takes a lot less time. Im also willing to give the marine carpet a go.
Peter

 

[jungleboy]

RE: Re: RE: lining the bottom of an snake enclosure

I use astroturf in all my snake enclosures. Its cheap and to clean it u just get in out every now and then and hose it down... Not sure about looking natural... but then BC doesnt exactly look natural either i dont think.

 

[moosenoose]

Re: RE: Re: RE: lining the bottom of an snake enclosure

I use astroturf in all my snake enclosures. Its cheap and to clean it u just get in out every now and then and hose it down... Not sure about looking natural... but then BC doesnt exactly look natural either i dont think.

Thats a good point about BC JB. What in nature looks like it? :lol:

I'm actually using BC now and find it fine to use if the snake eats by hanging off her branch. If she brings her pray to ground I often feel a little concerned about her ingesting it (as Fuscus mentioned).

I'm in the process of starting to build a new enclosure and I am considering incorporating the ceramic tile base and heat strips as Trader mentioned. I think I will also be giving the astro-turf a go. The good thing I have found about BC is it's absorption. With heat lamps blaring the last thing you need is an enclosure clouded with snake widdle :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Fuscus]

Re: RE: Re: RE: lining the bottom of an snake enclosure

I often feel a little concerned about her ingesting it (as Fuscus mentioned).

Peter said it, not me.
I started off using marine carpet, the animals smelt of urine so I swaped to BC. It can look clean but you can get wetish patches underneath and out of site, possible bacteria breeding grounds. Also I had resperitory problems with some of the snakes which the BC dust MAY have contributed to. Plus it was difficult to maintain humidity. Now I use newspaper, and since I read a lot of internet news the only reason I by the local newspaper is for the herps to crap on.

 

[Jas]

I use brown paper. You can buy it at any automotive spray painting supply shop. It costs about $20 for an 18 inch wide roll. I have 19 enclosures and I change the paper every week at least and the roll I bought over 4 months ago is only down to around half way. Looks much neater than news paper I think.
Cheers

Jas...

 

[Paddy]

substrate

at least using newspaper gives the reptiles something to read during the day, i get the irish newspapers every now and then so foriegn news is kept up to date also!
but BC has its advantages too.

hey herptrader, i like what you did with the cage you acquired. one quick question about it - using the tile cement under and above the heater doesn't in any way affect the heaters ability to work does it? is there any chance it might give off fumes when the heater is on?

just wondering as i like the idea and may borrow it sometime in the future? if that is okay with you, of course!

 

[Fuscus]

I use brown paper. You can buy it at any automotive spray painting supply shop. It costs about $20 for an 18 inch wide roll.

I wondered where you would buy that from. Thanks for that;

 

[ashley_morris22]

RE: substrate

whats bc?

 

[Fuscus]

Re: RE: substrate

whats bc?

Hey, thats the fishboys line :twisted:

 

[herptrader]

Re: substrate

hey herptrader, i like what you did with the cage you acquired. one quick question about it - using the tile cement under and above the heater doesn't in any way affect the heaters ability to work does it? is there any chance it might give off fumes when the heater is on?

just wondering as i like the idea and may borrow it sometime in the future? if that is okay with you, of course!

The red paint was oil based and I suspect gives off more fumes than the tile goop. It was a good three weeks before anything was put in there... and the diamond that has lived in the enclosure for a few years now is thriving. For the enclosures I have just tiled I have allowed about a week after (cement based) grouting before putting animals back into them.

The tile goop is suffiently dense to conduct the heat to the tiles well... certainly better than a paper based substrate alone.

The heat from the heat tape probably helps the tile goup clear its fumes quicker.

 

[trader]

RE: Re: substrate

whats bc?

Bristish Columbia :wink: kiddin...

'Breeders Choice'