I hate aspen!

[Dinah]

If a snow corn could design the most perfect backdrop for it to blend into they would design aspen. Sometimes she can lay very still and watch us from right up in the open without us even seeing her even if we are looking. And when she buries herself, well forget about finding her unless you want to completely disrupt all the underground holes she makes. Which I would rather leave intact for her.

We did start her on aspen to keep things just like they were at Kathy's but last month we tried eco earth which makes it MUCH easier to see her but it turns out it is kind of a pain to prepare and wash, so now she is back on aspen and I am sad.

Any other ideas or do I just need to stop pouting about it already? She likes to tunnel so I can't really use any kind of wood chips, I am pretty sure Zelda would be disappointed in me if I did that to her.

 

[Miqote]

There is another thread about the colored aspen that has recently come out, although it seems uncertain about the safety of the dyes used to color it. I would be concerned myself about a light colored corn getting stained by the dye, like the colored sand substrates for other reptiles.

I can totally related though. Sprinkle is an expert at aspen diving. I would just have to sift through the aspen to find her! She's on paper towel for the time being though.

 

[Nanci]

What about CareFresh? It comes in colors. I guess it's no more fakey looking than aspen...

 

[Dinah]

I suppose care fresh is worth a try. I have read on here that a couple other people either do or at least have used it without issue. On the petco site there are even directions listed on reptile use so that is a good sign. Although it says provide enough bedding to make sure your reptile has a solid footing, and while obviously some reptiles have feet I still giggled a bit because I don't think there is enough bedding in the world to create feet on Zelda. It should be easier than eco earth because I won't have to prepare the brick, and the only way to know what clean up will be like is to give it a shot. I will have to pick some up before our next cleaning day. My 5 year old is now wondering how we will know what Zelda's favorite color is LOL.

 

[Mina]

Try the care fresh, I use it for my rats and it works well and soaks up their messes. Be careful though, some of it has stuff in it to keep the smell of rodents down, and some is bleached to be white.
I would just use the normal stuff which is a blue/gray. You should be able to see a snow corn in that.

 

[Dinah]

Be careful though, some of it has stuff in it to keep the smell of rodents down, and some is bleached to be white.
I would just use the normal stuff which is a blue/gray. You should be able to see a snow corn in that.

I went and found the thread about colored aspen and saw the talk about dyes after I posted that to nanci. You are probably right about just getting the plain stuff. At the very least that thread has given me more to think about before I decide.

 

[kathylove]

I use cypress for my pythons.

The cypress can take more moisture than aspen without molding. I sometimes wet it in the BP cages if they are having difficulty shedding. It is very natural looking, too. But it isn't quite as absorbent as aspen, which is why I use aspen for the corns. And it won't hold together as well for tunneling. But you could cover some half tubes with the cypress (cut the tubes the long way from paper towel cores, or PVC pipes) so that your snake could still get a sort of burrowing experience. Maybe that would work?

 

[Dinah]

I could do a tank for her that is half and half or something and see if she has an obvious preference. I know that eventually she will be big enough to be obvious even though she blends in with the aspen, but right now she is nicknamed "The Spy." Because we will be looking in her tank and after a minute or two of looking it will turn out that she is actually right there in the open looking at us :shrugs:.

 

[ShenziSixaxis]

You can also try reptile bark. However, I could pick anything that is safe and has a good color so you can see her and see poo/regurges for spot cleaning and making sure she doesn't have some sort of issue you can't see on dark bedding.

 

[wretchedprocess]

Heh-- I have the same problem with my bigger snow, even though she's about 30" long and weighs 90 grams. Luckily, she usually resolves into visibility after I blink a couple of times if she's at the front of the cage. And my tiny one is arboreal, and much easier to see against the green of his fake vine than he would be against the aspen. But yeah, I feel ya. I'm very excited about getting a couple of more colourful corns in a month or two, and that is in part because they'll be easier to spot!

Does she have any fake plants to climb on? Maybe you'll get lucky if she doesn't and you give her some, and she'll end up liking to hang out in those?

 

[Dinah]

She does have a big climbing log that she likes to sit on and a short little mini plastic tree that she also likes to climb on and when she is on them she is at least easy to see.

Sometimes especially if she moves then she isn't hard to see, but I have at times had to take everything out of the viv and I poked through all the aspen and then totally seriously tell my husband I think she has gotten out, I have looked everywhere. Typically then after I swear she is gone, then she peeks her head up to look at me like I'm an idiot. I am pretty sure she just gets a good laugh out of making me into a liar LOL.