Substrate

I have read a lot about toxic substrates, so I was dismayed to find that my local pet store does not carry any Aspen substrate like has been recomended to me. All they had was stuff that specifically said on it "not for use with snakes" and this stuff called "Bed-a-Beast" which had snakes listed in appropriate animals to live on it. It came in a condensed block which expands in water but it does not list any materials, just says "all natural materials from an annually renewable source. it has quite small pieces in it.
Does anyone have any concerns or know anything about it?
Thanks,
Bryce

PS. I am getting my snake in about a week so he's not on it yet.

I use that stuff, and I've heard other people recommend it. It does make the cage very humid, so you have to be careful to squeeze as much water out of it as possible. Aside from that, it looks good and my snake seemed to like it better than normal wood chips. However, DO NOT FEED INSIDE THE VIV. I would normally recommend seperate feeding to people using the normal wood chips, but a lot of this stuff would stick to the mice and can't be that healthy for the snake. They would end up eating more substrate than they would mouse.

at the bottom of my tank there is butcher paper and ontop of that there is aspen shaving. That has worked well for me.

i use beech chip for my little friend, i got from my local dealer. this seens fine

As of the last few months, just during the summer months while I have all my snakes at home instead of my classroom....I am using shredded strips of paper towels!!!

Works for me!! And the snakes seem to like it!!!

I use a paper towell folded in half for my hatchlings, which fits perfectly in the plastic shoeboxes they're in. For my adults I use 2 sheets of newspaper in each container. Both have worked great so far, and cleanup is very easy.

:crazy02:

coconut fiber

Bed a Beast is Coconut fiber.... its kinda cool i have a crested gecko in it not and plants can grow in it you can use it to grow stuff if your out of soil but that was bed a beast it coconut fiber

flygning made a good point about the added humidity caused by this substrate.just a little something to try,as you have said you have'nt bought your corn yet try pre soaking the substrate prior to buying your snake and spred it out to let some of the moisture evaporate therefore creating a drier bedding for your new arrival.good luck and enjoy.

LOL, I got everything set up 1 week before my plan to get my snake so that I could fine tune my routine for temp. and humidity.
Maybe a little obsessive but that's me.
On the topic of humidity, I squeezed the stuff out really well and I have been misting 3 times a day to keep the reading above 45. All I have really found about humidity is "medium to high" and one person said 30-70. I figured that med-high was more like 50-85. Any input?

setting things up prior to the arrival of your animal is not in the least obsessive, and is an ideal situation for any keeper. Temperature and humidity always need fine tuning in a new cage and what better time to do this than BEFORE the animal is in there too.

With regards to humidity, bed-a-beast will help maintaining that, but I wouldn't go with misting as much as you are. Too much moisture is as much of a problem as too little. I would reduce your misting frequency, and observe how well your snake sheds its skin once it does. As a guideline, if the shed comes off whole then your humidity is in the right range, but if your snake sheds badly in lots of bits, or even worse only has a partial shed where some old skin is still left o the snake that tellas you to increase humidity.

Skye

I was just concerned because it only takes about 4 hours after I turn the lamp on in the morning and the humidity reading is 50. I am not sure about the acuracy, however because it is mounted on the side of the viv. I'll see how the shed goes.
Btw, About how long do you think it'll take from the third feeding untill the second shed? Weeks? A month?

Unfortunately, some snakes shed a lot more than other. It depends on what they are eating and how often.

i find that paper towels work better for me than do newspaper! The newspaper tends to smell more than the paper towels!