Bad Substrate Choice?

I started reading some threads about substrate after I was told yesterday that what we had will probably dry our newly layed eggs out pretty fast. From what I have been reading I get the feeling that we may have made a poor choice this time around...we had repti bark before but weren't too crazy about it. Please look at the pics and let us know your opinions. Don't bash us too hard, because I feel that's what might be coming after reading some substrate threads today. Thanks.

Oh, and no, we don't feed on it.

Yes, it's bad. When I said how it would dry the eggs out, I was going to lecture you about using sand and how it's bad, but decided against it. There's tons of sand/gravel threads out there that you can read up on.

Switch to aspen, it's cheaper, easier to clean, and much safer for your snake.

What is it?? It looks like maybe crushed walnut shell or corncob?? I find that small particulate substrate like that can be very drying and irritating to the scales. I prefer wood-based substrate--I am using aspen now, and have only one complaint--the dust!! I try to filter out all of the dust and small particles, or 'shake it down' to the bottom of the bag....
You have eggs in there :eek1: ?? If so, I would recommend getting a food storage container and adding some moistened sphagnum moss or vermiculite..Humidity needs to be very high for them to survive--like >90%.
Hope this helps?

*pats you on the back*
I started off using sand till I found this place too.
Nope, sand isn't a good choice for corns.
Would you like a list of reasons or were you just looking for some confirmation?

:-offtopic The spell check was going to let me post with "confermation". Didn't think it looked right so I used my browsers spell check lol.

A_Mc said:

You have eggs in there :eek1: ??

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No, not at all...I was posting yesterday about what to do with the eggs because we didn't know she was pregnant and someone mentioned that the sand in there could dry out the eggs so I immediately took the cage down to our reptile store and he lifted the eggs out and put them in vermiculite.

Mary-Beth is KoRny said:

Would you like a list of reasons or were you just looking for some confirmation

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I would like to hear some reasons...from what I have read so far on other threads is that it can be irritating to the snake...any info or links to other threads you can share would be greatly appreciated...trying to educate myself as much as possible. Thanks

Sorry--misunderstood!! You had me worried there for a minute....:uhoh: LOL
I had some KSB on substrate similar to what you have there, and they had nothing but problems with shedding. Since I switched them to aspen, I haven't had any more bad sheds.

what kind of shed problems did you have? Our "new mother" is in blue phase now.

Well, you know that snakes need moisture to shed--they put a moisture 'barrier' between the old skin and new skin. If that moisture is lacking, you have 'broken' or incomplete sheds. Now, you can remove the old skin with extra water or wet papertowels, but it's so much nicer when it comes off in one strip--for you AND the snake. That's why dry 'moisture pulling' substrates like sand are not recommended. My KSB were shedding in small fragmented pieces, and I had to 'manually' shed them using wet towels. They had access to a full water bowl, and they were soaking in it, but the substrate was just too dry. I am convinced it was the substrate because I haven't had any problems since.

I found out exactly what the substrate is...it's crushed walnut...does that make any difference?

I learned the hard way about crushed walnut shell. I had a small corn on it that ingested some while trying to break a shed. I got most of it out of her mouth, but she apparently swallowed some and died with her next meal in her tummy. :headbang: It obviously can lead to an impaction, so please.........Don't use it!

We have since removed the walnut shell from our female's cage that just gave birth...she is in full blue and should shed in the next few days...we temporarily put newspaper and shredded papertowel in the cage. We will be going to buy aspen this evening and replace the other cages.

We need an applauding smiley! I'll do the happy dance instead lol. :dancer:

The happy dance will work just fine Even if there were no bad reports about the walnut...after misting the cage once, I just don't like it...once that stuff gets wet, it sticks to everything including the snake!

Depending on where you live, you really shouldn't have to mist a cornsnake's cage. My home commonly runs about 31% humidity in the main part of the house where I've got 3 snakes, and around 43% in my snake room where the rest of my snakes are. I really haven't noticed any bad sheds in any of my snakes.

One word of caution, misting aspen can cause it to mold if it doesn't dry out promptly. Or especially if there is a piece of aspen that was left over from spot cleaning that has dried poo on it.

Most people generally place the water bowl in the warmer side of the viv to add humidity to the air, which is what the snake needs in the first place. If they wanted bodily contact with the water they would soak in their bowl.

But I am glad you're getting rid of that nasty walnut junk. I had that for my bearded dragon for all of one month. He had it everywhere and ingested it constantly. So I removed it totally after seeing him trying to spit it out.

I don't know where you got your snake information prior to coming here (sounds like the advice of a petstore) but it SUCKS. Housing mixed sex snakes together so they can breed too early, using crappy substrate. Blah, they need a smack upside their heads! I hope to goodness you can find the Cornsnake Manual or Kathy's new book and read it. Its a better source of information in that it doesn't lecture you for poor husbandry choices.

A_Mc said:

I am using aspen now, and have only one complaint--the dust!! I try to filter out all of the dust and small particles, or 'shake it down' to the bottom of the bag....

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You can try experimenting with different brands as some barely have any dust at all. I'm fortunate enough to live near a great reptile specialty store, and the brand I get from them is the best I've been able to find. Once in a while they are out of stock, and I go with brand called "Premier Pet".

Unfortunately, they were out of stock last time I was there and I can't remember the brand name, but I'm heading there tomorrow. I will follow up for you then...

We have now completely switched over all of our snakes to aspen and have completely got rid of the curshed walnut....the snakes seem extremely happy because now all of them have completely buried themselves in the aspen...it's like playing hide and seek when we go to get them out of their cage...on occasion you will see a little head popping up out of the aspen otherwise we have to go fishing for them.

That's great, glad to hear it. Aspen is a wonderful product. Due to it's tendency to mesh together, the snakes actually create tunnels in the stuff which becomes the ultimate hide for them. They seem more content when their hide is touching their entire body. My snakes are easier to "fish' out from the aspen then they are to remove from under a cave. :wavey: