Reptile carpet?

I have been using reptile carpet for my corn snake instead of Aspen. I found the latter to be messy and frankly I was concerned about the potential for food impaction. My corn has plenty of places to hide and stay warm. The look of the tank is so much nicer with out the shavings getting everywhere. Im curious if there is any genuine consensus about carpet vs aspen substrate. Or is it simply individual preference?

most folks use Aspen, because that's what all the chain stores use, and what people "Push" on everyone else.

I have yet to find a wild snake hiding under a field of shredded aspen anywhere, but I suppose it's possible.

I used old newspapers for 20 years before Aspen was even available, and it was fine too.

The truth is, you can use almost anything, the snake does not care. "But he looks so cute Burrowing in Aspen...." is not really a reason to use it.

Aspen is fine. But so are paper towels, newspapers, reptile carpet, and I can recall some folks even using "AstroTurf." Remember that stuff? It was also popular about 40 years ago.

That makes sense to me

You probably won't find reptile carpet in the wild either. Since these are not wild but domesticated serpents, as Karl mentioned, just about anything should work.

I use the reptile carpet on the warm side, covered by aspen. The shavings get all over the carpet and it very difficult to clean. My cool side is just aspen.

Personally, I like the way it looks in the tank and I prefer a good looking tank.