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Substrate

A

ardentglow

New member
So, I have been using a bark type substrate for my snakes so far, but I was wondering if anyone out there has used cage carpet? I heard that they are great to clean as you can spray them off when they get soiled.

I know that some snakes will burrow under the carpet, and that could get dangerous with under tank heating, has anyone had any experience with this?
 
I wouldnt use the carpet for snakes because they DO burrow.
I use aspen for ALL my snakes..
 
carpet is crapstuff not easy to clean. astro turf from your hardware store is the same.

just use aspen wont hurt the snake and they can burrow credits for gene for first saying the use of aspen!;)
 
I've used carpet. No way would you get it clean by spraying it. You have to put it in the wash, and have a spare piece for while it dries. The snakes burrow under it, so you have to remove all their stuff to find them. It's okay to use, if you want to do laundry every time the snake poops. Aspen is much easier to clean and allows the snake to burrow naturally.
 
^ agreed.

Carpet tends to hold the poo smell pretty bad over time. Aspen is fantastic bedding. My little snake Gibbs really loves making tunnels and seems proud to show them off to me.
 
I just dumped & remade Icabod's viv with finer cut aspen & he is having a wonderful time making tunnels in it around the various "things" he has (which include a fake rock he doesn't use, a cardboard tube he loves, a piece of wood for climing that I never see him on & one of those foam burrows I got on total clearance for like $5, which I just got so I don't know if he likes it yet). I think he is some species of burrowing snake not a corn snake, frankly!
 
DaGiant said:

I use aspen for ALL my snakes..
Click to expand...
Newb question of the day, then :), how deep do you have your aspen?

I am going to keep Liadhan on newspaper for the first week or so but I am debating using aspen or reptibark. I like the look of the reptibark, but the aspen is cheaper by far and if the snake will do well in it, why not? ;)

Also - do you have paper towel/newspaper in their feed tank then?

I have been searching using 'substrate' and haven't found answer to either question as yet
 
Most bags say to use about 2 inches of bedding, but if you have lots of hides, you can probably get away with 1/2 an inch.

Also, never feed the snake with a substrate. They won't care if they're on card board or plastic if there's a mouse in their mouth.
 
Also - do you have paper towel/newspaper in their feed tank then?
Click to expand...

I don't bother having anything on the floor in their feeding tank. They're not in there long enough to worry about it - literally just to swallow and get the food settled in their stomach. I'd say for mine that's an hour max if they decide to take their sweet time, but usually nearer 10-20 minutes. I just give the tanks a quick spray/wipedown when they've finished and a deep clean when I'm doing a full viv shakedown/disinfect.
 
I don't put anything in feeding containers anymore. Why waste a paper towel? Besides, my snakes have this tendency of releasing their remaining (minimal, but still annoying) poop on feeding day. They are not potty trained yet:p
 
Deb Johnston said:
Newb question of the day, then :), how deep do you have your aspen?
Also - do you have paper towel/newspaper in their feed tank then?
I have been searching using 'substrate' and haven't found answer to either question as yet
Click to expand...


The depth depends on size of both the snake and the tub/tank,
Larger snakes in the big tubs will get 3-4 in. Where a hatchling
in a shoebox get 1-2 in.
Nothing in my feeding tubs, not there long enough to worry about.
 
I'm pretty new here, and I'll tell you my experience - I thought cage carpet was going to be the best thing since sliced bread when we adopted our bearded dragon last year - it was in the tank we got along with him. I started using aspen when I got snakes in January, and just switched the beardie to it as well. With the carpet, every time he pooped, I had to put a new one in, every time he splashed his water everywhere, I had to put a dry one in... With aspen bedding, I see a poop, I scoop it and some of the surrounding bedding out. I remove any wet bedding and replace it. It's not a big deal - the tank stays cleaner longer and I don't have to do complete "overhauls" as often. The only place I use cage carpet now is over the UTH under the bedding. And that's just a little square, so it's easily replaced if needed. I started using aspen bedding because a corn breeder suggested it, and it costs like $8 for 9L at pet stores. Thanks to someone's posting on this site, I discovered that I could get it at feed stores for much less - I just picked some up yesterday - $20 for 113L!!!
 
I put about 1.5" of bedding in the vivs - my snakes love to burrow, and they're small enough to burrow under that amount easily. Nothing in my feeding tank.
 
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