• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

aspen bedding

K

kasidee

New member
i sthere any cons to using aspen bedding other than you need to feed in a seperate container.. i have astroturf right now and its super easy to clean but now that my snake is getting big she has a hard time going under it without getting her scales caught on the bottom which is causing them to "bend"

so i was thinking of switching to aspen cause i have heard a lot of ppl using it but i dont want to risk her health in any way.. and the astroturf looks nice in my enclosure cause its so big and has so many other greenery in it... but i think shed have more fun burrowing in aspen

sooo.. can anyone give me any pros and cons of it and maybe things to be aware of if i do switch to it

or even any other decently priced bedding solutions... aspen is "fairly" cheap here, cheaper than what they sell in the actual reptile dept of the stores at least
 
I recently had a breeder female die from aspen-related problems. She was never fed in her cage. She got some in her mouth while burrowing around her cage, which made her keep her mouth open and let more aspen get crammed in. Long story short she eventually died I believe from impaction. I've since switched to newspaper with some shredded newspaper on top to burrow in.

With one snake you are not too likely to have problems with it, make sure you keep a close eye on her. Recently though, I've been hearing more and more stories like mine about aspen so I will never go back to it.
 
hmmm

well my enclosure is in my living room and is giant so i need to be worried about the look so newspaper and paper towel isnt really an option... hsould i stay with the astroturf?? she really likes to burrow down when i give her some moist stuff to help her shed so im sure she'd like to have aspen, but i'd hate to have her die from using it when i already have a flooring cover...

would anyone consider the risk too great to not use it at all?
 
I still use aspen with my older snakes. I may be courting trouble, I suppose, but I've never had a problem with using it in this way. However, my most expensive snake in my entire collection (had to be didn't it?!?) died from what I believe was a perferated bowel due to aspen shards being ingested.

This was an '02 hypo bloodred baby, that was never fed in her vivarium. She never acted as though she was getting aspen in her mouth, but I'm afraid that's what did her in. Also, aspen is very dessicating (sp?). It's not a problem for larger snakes, but hatchlings can really be dried out from the effect.

Good luck with how ever you decide to go . . .:cool:
 
well my snake is almost a year old now.. thats why i was thinking of switching.. shes getting too big to hide under the astroturf, its getting caught on her scales and im sure doesnt feel great when it does so, thats what made me think of switching
 
Like Darin, when I have used it with my older snakes it has worked great. But I did have that one incident with the yearling amel.

The only snake I currently have on aspen is my Mexican Black king. He is SOOOO messy, and his paper towel is always ripped into shreads, his poo gets all over and it was just impossible. So I threw him on some aspen. He likes it so far.

bmm
 
the snake I had die was 6 years old, so adults aren't immune. You might try something like carefresh, which is basically recycled paper. I used to use it and don't have many complaints about it except it doesn't look as nice as aspen and it can be dusty (but definitely looks better than newspaper).
 
thanks

i suppose there are cons to any subtrate really, with the exception of newspaper (without ink) and paper towel, but nither of those are very nice to look at... i do actually use papertowel underneath my astroturf to try to limit my snake from getting the to complete bottom which is wood, but has been treated with waterproof paint/glaze (washable stuff) long before i got my snake..

when i got my astroturf i actually sewed all the edges to prevent as much fraying as possible because it too can be injested on rare occasions... but aside from taking the entire piece out and power washing it in the shower every couple weeks cause sopt cleaning on turf isnt the greatest, it really doesnt make life any easier for me or my snake...

i suppose i'll take a gamble and try it out... i'll always have my astroturf to switch back to... and although theres a risk of injestion, theres also the risk of bacteria growth with astroturf so its hard to get it perfect... and since it would probably be a more enjoyable substrate for my snake, aspen is at least worht a try and hopefully i wont run into any problems

*crosses fingers*
 
Question

I don't mean this to sound like I am questioning your statements
or that I don't beleive you but I was just wondering if either of you had necropsies done on your snakes or if you just "beleive" they died of impaction from aspen as the one post stated.

I had a rescued Sunglow die and my first impulse, due to physical signs, was to suspect impaction but it turned out to be renal failure. It can trick you. When you see the greenish swelling just above the cloaca it can truly look like impaction.

I personally prefer aspen for looks and ease of cleaning.
I do feed my snakes in separate containers. No sense in pressing my luck.
I just don't beleive they are going to injest aspen while cruising around their enclosure.

As usaul this is just my opinion and only meant to further the discussion.

Jimmy (Draybar)
 
Hey Jimmy,

Well you may be 100% correct, and it was not the aspen that got my little gal. I did not have a necropsy done, but the snake did not look as though she was suffering from anything other than an impaction. That's certainly not conclusive, but it was enough for me to stop having baby-babies on aspen until they're bigger. It just isn't worth it for me.

However, I have absolutely no doubt about the dessicating effect of aspen on small-bodied snakes. That fact alone is enough for me to recommend not keeping them on aspen until they are bigger.
 
Mine was more than obvious before I even cut it open, which we did. I don't think we need any more detail than that. He had somehow for some reason gotten QUITE a bit inside him.

Another case of mine: I had a ATB here for awhile, it hadn't taken a meal with us yet, Anyways took it in for a fecal and checkup, and guess what BOTH ends of the snake were full of? Substrate. So in some cases they most certainly do cruise around and get it in the mouth.

Strange things snakes do.

bmm
 
I couldn't have a necropsy done as no vet within an hour's drive will do one on a snake (believe me, I checked and was mad). She did develop a RI associated with having her mouth and throat crammed with aspen for a day and a half or so. The RI was treated with antibiotics and had cleared up before she died, but even if it were the cause of death, since it was started by aspen in the mouth I'd still blame aspen as the originating cause.

Personally I don't believe that everyone who uses aspen will have problems with it. I just want to share my experience since so many people swear it is the perfect substrate, I want people to know it still has risks.
 
Yeah I totally agree with that. I don't think these problems are common or something to be afriad of. I think my two cases (the ATB wasn't aspen but loose substrate all the same) were just two cases of oddball snakes for some reason ingesting it on accident or on purpose. I would say my ATB situation was him eating on purpose for whatever reason because he was just way to FULL of the substrate for it to have been an accident. The amel corn though probably just kept getting pieces stuck to his mouth that worked their way in. Eventually too much got in and bam, problem.

Like I mention I currently keep a kingsnake on aspen with no problems. Its just a concern people should be aware of like any other substrate.

bmm
 
Thanks

Thanks for the reponses.
I understand your positions and agree with a warning before recomending aspen for hatchlings or any size snake for that matter.
I guess there is always something to watch out for.
Like I said, I feed my snakes outside their tanks but last night while checking on them I did notice a potential problem.
I never really thought about it before.
They do have a tendency to get aspen in their water on occaision. Now this could cause a problem......HMMM
By the way....Darin did you get my e-mails?
Should I go elsewhere?

Jimmy(Draybar)
:cool:
 
i was thinking about the water problem too since when i was putting the aspen in the viv i constantly had to pick it out... so now i check it when i get up and before bed jsut to make sure and i also placed rocks around the water dish to help reduce the amount of aspen that gets in...

but.. as has been said my many ppl already, there are pros and cons to all substartes, and thats why i asked in the first place... aspen is used by tons of ppl and have no problems, but there is always a risk.. however, i believe that if other substrates were used as often as aspen was im sure there would be more negative stories about them as well.. and though i do believe paper towel is probably the safest, i have a 4 foot viv and it takes a lot of PT to cover it and looks like crap in the end

so far my snake doesnt seem to get what shes supposed to do with her new substrate.. i thought she'd love to burrow around but she just sits on top underneath her hides... but i shouldnt complain, its the most shes ever been out since i got here really (well during daylight hours).. she NEVER came out from under the astroturf during the day... but hopefully she'll find some fun with the aspen soon enough
 
Jimmy,

I've double checked my emails (new and old), and I can't find anything from you for a long, long time. Sorry about that! Could you maybe resend them to me? My address is:

[email protected]

I'll answer as soon as I can. Sorry for the confusion!

:confused:
 
SUBSTRATE

HELLO TO ALL. WHAT I HAVE BEEN USING IN MY INDOOR DISPLAY CAGES IS ORCHARD BARK. I BUY IT FROM A LARGE NURSERY, SO IT IS VERY ECONOMICAL. IT IS HEAT TREATED, LOW DUST AND SMELLS GOOD. IT COMES IN THREE SIZES. FINE, MEDIUM AND COARSE. I MIX 2 PARTS OF COARSE TO 1 PART MEDIUM. IT IS VERY GOOD AT TRAPPING ANY WASTE AND IT MAKES SPOT CLEANING VERY EASY AND SANITARY. WHEN I CHOOSE TO FEED MY SNAKES WITHIN THEIR ENCLOSURE, I PUT THE PREY ON A PAPER PLATE. IT SEEMS TO WORK FINE. AND OFCOURSE IT LOOKS NICE. WITH A NICE BACK GROUND AND SOME ACCESORIES, IT REALLY MAKES THE COLORS OF THE SNAKES STAND OUT. REG
 
Hey Darin

Just in case the e-mail doesn't get to you again hop on over to the Corn Snakes Wanted Forum. I have a message for you there.
 
just wanted to add- i use carefresh too for most of my adult snakes, it seems to be probably the best so far out of the subs i've tried, and i tend to think the impaction risk is lower with it because it's recycled paper (i don't know if this is true though) they love to tunnel in it and when it settles, their tunnels stay and they reuse them- when i spot clean i re-fluff it and they make new tunnels:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top