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Calcium Substrate?

BrandonB

BrandonB

New member
When purchasing my substrate from a breeder back in September, they just told me any substrate except pine would work.

I have been using a calcium substrate for around 2 months now with a baby candy cane corn snake with no problem. The snake is doing very well, growing fast and having no problems...

But when looking at other substrates, and other websites, I hear tales of impaction problems with calcium substrates.

Is this a problem for corn snakes?

Here's the type I currently use:
HatchRite Reptile Substrate
...even says tested successfully for corns.

I feed in the same cage with no problems, but I guess the websites I go to that talk about impaction have me kinda paranoid.

Should I switch to something different just in case? Anyone else use a calcium substrate?

I mean, why would they make it and say its safe for corn snakes if it is not?

n12920238_32168676_7784.jpg
 
BrandonB said:
I mean, why would they make it and say its safe for corn snakes if it is not?
Click to expand...

For the same reason they market it as a 'digestible' sand substrate for other animals - because they haven't tested it on a large enough sample size of animals to see exactly how many problems with impaction do crop up, particularly with juvenile and hatchling animals.

I'm betting "tested for corn snakes" means something like "We put a single adult corn snake on it for a couple of weeks and it didn't die".
 
Where I have a candycane, I want a high contrasting color...do they make aspen substrate in a dyed color? Or just natural?
 
Incidentally, I've just actually LOOKED at the Hatchrite substrate link.

It's an incubation substrate. It's designed to hatch eggs on, not keep animals on. It may well be an excellent substrate for hatching corn snake eggs.

The aspen I have is light tan; I don't think they do dyed aspen, probably because not all dyes are safe for the animal and many dyes are prone to rubbing off and staining if they get wet.
 
Cypress is safe. I use it for my green tree pythons. Aspen is cheaper though unless you can buy it from a gardening store.
 
BrandonB said:
I mean, why would they make it and say its safe for corn snakes if it is not?
Click to expand...

Simple. To make money.

There are more reasons to get your snake off of sand than impaction risk. Corn snakes weren't designed to live on sand. It is very drying to their skin, and the grains can get under their scales and cause irritation and infection. All but one of my snakes are on aspen, and they love it. It is safe to use, relatively cheap and they love to burrow underneath it. I'd say to switch to aspen as well.
 
If you want high contrast for your white and red snake, why would you have it on white substrate?

Anyway, Eco-Earth might provide what you're looking for. It's shredded coconut fiber. Looks like dirt. I use it for my cornsnake and I've had no problems with it.
 
If i remember correctly, CareFresh (recycled paper susbstrate) comes in a varity of colors, and is safe for corns.

Myself, I use aspen. Its cheap, and easy to borrow in.
 
So, today I went to petsmart and loaded up.

Here's what my tank looks like now:

n12920238_32392589_3695.jpg


n12920238_32392595_5280.jpg

Note: both lights are not on at the same time, one is sunglo one is moonglo.

Here's what the moonglow looks like on:
n12920238_32392596_5538.jpg
 
Droptines said:
I see nothing :sidestep: ?
Click to expand...

Snake is in bottom right...and the blue/purple tint on the back wall is from the light...its very dim, it just produces a little heat mainly.
 
BrandonB said:
Snake is in bottom right...and the blue/purple tint on the back wall is from the light...its very dim, it just produces a little heat mainly.
Click to expand...
I'd still buy some aspen shavings, maybe split the tank into an aspen area and a bark area. Bark isn't much fun to burrow in, and corns do like to burrow in aspen shavings.
 
While that is certainly safer than the sand, Jaxom is right in that corns love to burrow. There is no need to throw all that out just yet. However, next time you do a complete substrate change, I'd recommend you get something it can burrow in. The Eco-Earth that was mentioned before is safe to use--provided you let it dry thoroughly before putting it in your tank. I had all my snakes on it for a while, and I loved the way it looked more like natural dirt.

BUT...(and you knew there would be one, didn't you) after I switched them all to aspen shavings, they seemed to enjoy themselves so much more digging tunnels, hollowing out caves, and burrowing to their hearts' content. They could burrow in Eco-Earth, but it seemed heavier than aspen and didn't hold tunnels like aspen does.

Given my observations of my snakes' behavior, I'd say they prefer aspen.
 
Cycal said:
If i remember correctly, CareFresh (recycled paper susbstrate) comes in a varity of colors, and is safe for corns.
Click to expand...

Yeah, our Walmart has Carefresh in pink and blue. I thought about it, and decided I rather go with a natural look. That's just me though.
 
Just a few questions.

Do you have any thermometer?

and in that case, a Hygrometer?
Cause with lamps going, and a screen lid, i couldnt imagine it staying very humid in there

---People may disagree for some reason, but you should have more hides in there. I have 4 in all of my tanks. It causes less stress on the snake
 
Humidity only needs to be no more than 50% and that's at shedding time. You shouldn't need more than that. If I'm going to heat with a heat lamp, which I don't anymore except on the green tree python babies, I use a red heat lamp. It's good for day and night so I don't have to mess with timers. I prefer UTH's though.
 
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