Substrates

[Robilyn]

Hey guys. Right now I keep my snakes on newspaper, and they seem quite happy. However I was thinking about setting up a cage as a display, and wanted to use something more aesthetic. I have heard conflicting information about wood shavings. Are pine shavings (like the type used in rodent cages) an acceptable substrate? I know better than to use cedar, but I don't know about pine/aspen/etc. Thanks!

[KLG]

I'm not a big pine fan, due to the oils involved. Aspen can be OK, as long as you have good ventilation.

What species are you looking to set up? You may want to consider cypress mulch as an alternative, or even plain, unprinted newspaper.

K~

[JasonBrennan]

I use cypress mulch in alot of my cages. Holds humidity well, looks MUCH nicer than newspaper, and it fairly easy to spot clean. However, it will get spilled on the floor in front of your cages (no matter how hard you try to avoid it) and if you have a carpeted room, it can be a pain to pick up.

I agree that pine should not be used.

[Robilyn]

What species are you looking to set up?



I have a pretty nice enclosure for my little borneo (at least while she's little, lol), just not with a very attractive setup.

[jawbone]

I've heard people say to just gt the cypress mulch at home depot. Is that OK? What about bugs and crap?

[Eliot]

TWO QUESTIONSl:

WHERE DO YOU GET PLAIN UNPRINTED NEWSPAPER?

DO YOU FEED ON CYPRESS MULCH?

[charles]

Go to the place that prints the newspaper and ask if they have any end rolls ( whats left of the paper on a roll they can't use ) they will usually give it to you or sell it real cheap . I feed on cypress some people worry about ingestion but in three or four years of feeding on it I have never had a problem with it .
Charles

[Anonymous]

I use a mix of flax and coconut husk. A layer on the bottom of the husk keeps humidity fanstasticly and the flax is great for spot cleaning.

Just out of curiosity, you not have a fish and chip shop with any style over there? Thats where i get my unprinted paper from.

[Eliot]

Fish and Chips shops?
No I haven't seen one of those in my area for about 18 years.

[SMsnakes]

I have just switch to aspen. Its working out great.
Easer than the paper I was using before. It changed from cleaning every 2 days now to once a week. I spot check every day. Works great when you have Large number of snakes. Yes no mater what you will get some on the floor. :biggrin:

[sidneydawson]

I like the look of cypress. However, god forbid you get a bad batch. Mites love it. You might want to look into using Provent-A-Mite as a preventative measure. Works great, and its supposedly safe for the animals. I've also heard of people treating cypress via some time in the oven, but I can't say I've tried that. Good luck!

[Biscuit71]

I use Aspen on my Dumerils and Sand Boas.. seem to love the stuff as they can hide under it anytime they want.

[Robilyn]

Just out of curiosity, you not have a fish and chip shop with any style over there?


Aaahh, fish n chips...quality stuff! Unfortunately, the US is largely devoid of quality fish n chip places, in my experience. I enjoyed it a good deal when I was in Britain, though.

[Loktai]

Come up to new england, I live in Worcester MA, tons of fish and chips places. I can think of about 10 decent ones a short drive from my house and at least 2 I could walk to. I LOVE IT! :-D

[Robilyn]

Lol apparently it's just Colorado then! I'll have to make a roadtrip sometime, I guess ;-)

[Rbraczyk]

Has anybody heard about bonemeal? If so, is it a good substrate?

[PadraigC]

yea bonemeal, its crushed up bone powdery horrible substrate probably

[nevermind]

i always freeze my cypress mulch that i get from agway

[liljon140]

I just swiched over to cypress myself my snakes seem to like it. It is holding my humidy a little on the highside but it wa damp when I got it and hasent had but 2 days to dry out some. Humidy is around 65-68% I would like to see it hold about 60% for my snakes but the extra 5% I dont think will hurt them as they were in the shedding process all last week. Ny culbrids burrow in it and seem to like it also. I got mine from wal-mart and treated with PAM(equate bedding spray same thing) and have had no problems withs mite or other bugs. Not super easy to spot clan and hold odor is my only problem with it but it does look good.