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substrate dilema

MulatteMadness

MulatteMadness

New member
ok before u go thinking that i didnt do my research!... hehehe i did i promise... at least a month of it before getting my baby

as far as substrate... i have a friend who swears by only "cage carpet"... shes had her corn for at least 2.5 years so i took her word... however.. when i got my baby she seemed to like digging and making trails a lot... i feel bad because i wonder if the cage carpet is not enough of a "home like" environment... i have heard the pros and cons to aspen... and was suggested to try coconut... i would prefer to stay away from sand like textures but really want my baby to feel at home... she was kept in aspen before i got her... dont i have to remover her to feed with aspen tho? i was told not to handle your snake for at least 3 hours prior to feeding and at least 24-48 hrs after feeding... i know this is confusing but i just want to make her happy... please respond :eek1:
 
Personally, I prefer aspen for my snakes, as do most people on this forum. Just because they can burrow and its cheap bedding (I only clean once a month). As for changing the bedding out definately wait until your snake has finished digesting, you dont want to risk a regurge.

Dont feed her on the aspen, feed in a seperate feeding container. This is because she could swallow substrate, get an impaction, and die. If you keep the carpet, you could feed her in there. But the downfall with the carpet is that bacteria builds up very easily if not cleaned constantly (and you have to have at least 2 total carpets).

Hope this helped! :cheers:
 
Also, if you feed in the cage, your snake will associate you hand with food, and will potentially strike at you when you are trying to pick it up.

I second the above comment and would like to add that one of my corns is often burrowed under the aspen. Seems to choose it over his hides sometimes.
 
I've never heard to not handle BEFORE feeding. Why would you do that? Every source I've read says to handle them until they calm down and then put them in the feeding tub. Then no handling for 48 hours AFTER feeding, that part was right.
 
Flagg said:
I've never heard to not handle BEFORE feeding. Why would you do that? Every source I've read says to handle them until they calm down and then put them in the feeding tub. Then no handling for 48 hours AFTER feeding, that part was right.
Click to expand...

I think that some very nervous snakes won't eat after being handled because they can be stressed by the handling. That's probably why.
 
You might be suffering the same confusion as I did with my first corn. Eveyone says not to handle your snake after feeding, but if you feed in a seperate container you have to briefly handle them to get them back into their viv, right? I got in a muddle thinking that I'd have to leave my snake in it's feeding container for 48 hours :rolleyes: I was a newbie, ok? *growls menacingly*

Anyway, some lovely people enlightened me at the time that yes, feed your snake in a seperate container, but 10 mins after they've swallowed gently lift/tip your snake back into their normal viv, THEN leave them alone for 48 hours.

I now use the method that many do of feeding the snake in a deli cup that is still in the viv. They slither in, eat, slither out again, bam, done :)
 
thanks everyone! :wavey: that helped a lot... i hadnt even thought of the deli cup idea... hahaha stupid newbie right? well i really appreciate you guys helpin me out... from what i have read u sometimes have to deal with some difficult newbies... i will try and get to the store and get some of the aspen tonight... take care all! :dancer:
 
My snake, an adult wild-caught, started out on that green carpet, (with plenty of hids and big loquat leaves and artificial vines- it wasn't a bare tank) but I changed her over to aspen, and she is _so_ happy! She tunnels all over in it. Her tunnels appear to be semi-permanent, too- they last for days.

Nanci
 
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