The Great Substrate Debate

[Edan2000]

OK, Friends, Romans, Herpophiles lend me your substrate wisdom (and ears)

Getting lots of crossed wires on this one.

What substrate should be used?

News paper is recommended. Can this include fresh Photocopy paper?

Some say the pellets used for rabbits / cats but I have heard this can dry the hatchling out. Astroturf or bark are other options. Everything has pluses and minuses. Seems like sand is not recommended.

What do you all use / recommend?
I would like to get a nice balance between aesthetic and snake comfort.

Also why is just about everything the snake encounters in the wild not acceptable in captivity. Snakes don't get nice News Paper and Astroturf in the wild!

 

[pythonss]

substrate

hi
the differance between wild and captive situation with substrates in hygeine...natural substrates tend to be very hard to keep clean in captive situations. the animals in a cage cant leave the area if its poluted where as in the wild they dont really have a home and be restickted to a small area.

picking a substrate shouldnt really be done on how it looks as the first require ment..
think about ease of cleaning and animal health in the first instance
then visual effect last.

we use paper during the summer and breeders choice during the wintre. while the papers far from natural if the cage has good furniture you will take the focus away from the paper anyway..

they are both easy to clean , value for money, and easy to obtain..

of course with our choice we have also had to think about the number of cages that require attentions as well.
cheers paul.

 

[dan_lizard]

I use breeders choice with my carpet, and have never had any problems with it.

 

[moses]

I have started with simple woodchips then added some moss to hold some moisture and help the humidity. The side effect is the smell of the damp dank enclosure. I have not used paper yet, but will try it when I clean out the terrarium.
Moses

 

[Hawkeye]

The other issue with natural substrate is that you cen very rarely be sure whats in it. Woodchips sound like a good idea as long as it is natural wood. From refined wood (ie stuff that you would use to light fires with) may have chemicals etc etc.)

Also captive bred snakes don't know what their natural environment looks like anyway so essentially they don't care and you are fussing around to make YOU feel happy. :lol:

I use Breeders Choice (recycled paper kitty litter) and that is easy to manage/clean/obtain etc etc and the snake seems fine with it. My only issue was that the batch I have was damp and has racked up the humidity too high but that is a batch issue I think.

Cheers Hawkeye

 

[Gregory]

Paper by far is the best. I have used A4 printer paper in the smaller plastic enclosures and I got a big bundle of plain white newsprint for the larger enclosures. It's easier to maintain with paper and aesthetically it doesn't look as bad as you'd think.

Cheers, Greg

 

[Magpie]

Instead of reccomending BC, I reccomend PC - Personal Choice! All depends on how much effort you are willing to put in and how much you want the 'natural' look.

 

[Edan2000]

No Denying that I would like an enclosure that would suit both the snake and myself. But the snake comes first.

Does anyone have ornate / decorated vivariums? Or are you all using bare minimums?

I would like to see what interiors people may have designed.

Cheers,

Edan

 

[Magpie]

You want elaborate? Check out Nicole's gallery. Although I think she hasn't fully decked them out in those photo's. Me, I use bare minimum, but I now have 9 enclosures and counting.

 

[lutzd]

:shock: The old substrate debate! :shock:

Personally, I use the Breeders Choice recycled kitty litter. I buy in large 13KG bags.

I've been using it for more than a year with no problems of any type. It's easy to spot where the snakes have done their "business" and I just hit that spot with the vacuum cleaner.

Can't beat it I reckon, but others think differently. You'll probably get as many opinions as there are members here, so it's really a personal choice.

 

[sobrien]

I also believe it's down to personal choice and what reptile your keep!
I know we're talkin pythons here but I use sand for beardies, BC for bluies and newspaper for my new carpet. people use all of the things we're talking about and have had successe keeping and breeding with all of them. Your choice.
Sim

 

[Fangs]

You use a vac to clean snakey poops Lutzy?hehe

We use BC for all our snakes and never had any probs.

 

[ackie]

i hav always used breeders choice for all my snakes.
it warm, soft and hygenic

 

[africancichlidau]

I used to use newspaper and it did a good job. However, when my snakes started getting smarter than me due to all the reading they were doing I decided to look for an alternative. What I came up with and what I still use is marine carpet. I cut two pieces for each enclosure so cleanup time is a cinch. Just pull the old one out and put the new one in then wash the old one and its ready for next time. I can thouroughly reccommend it for snakes and it looks pretty good too

 

[Pinkie]

I use snake carpet, bought from the petshop.

 

[Vat69]

I just use newspaper. My enclosures have branches and what not, but they're not elaborate. I used to have fake vines, but the snakes just used to squash them,so I was forever trying to fix them, then just gave up. :roll:

 

[Hawkeye]

I use snake carpet, bought from the petshop.

Pinkie, I am disgusted.....carpet made of snakes.....thats terrible! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

(explains why they are called carpet pythons tho')

Cheers Hawkeye

PS: What is snake carpet anyway???????

 

[kerry]

warning - coconut fibre substrate

I would advise strongly aganst using coconut fibre substrate (comes in a hard block from the pet shop and swells up when wet). I had a eastern small botched who died as he had so much of it in his tummy :cry:. It got in his water and he drank it.

 

[Stevethepom]

i`m guessing snake carpet is just astro turf....you know that fake grass stuff they use on hockey pitches n stuff.....sure pinky will let you know for sure later

cheers
STP
Leader of the Love the Glove Party

 

[Nicole]

broken glass and pasta sauce...
nah, just kidding, I use the BC all round...