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What are those darker-colored wood chips people use?

Slippery Ernie

Slippery Ernie

New member
For aesthetic reasons, I'd like to use a dark colored substrate in my corn's viv. Papertowels are just ugly, aspen is too light. I've seen some people using dark colored chips. What are they?

What about the crushed walnut stuff? Can I use that?
 
Could be Repti-Bark, or cypress mulch. I don't remember what kind of wood is in Repti-Bark, but I've seen wood mites in it before, and I've heard about others seeing them too. I've heard people recommend that Repti-Bark be tossed in the freezer for a time before using it, to kill these bugs. I would use either of these before I used crushed walnut shells. I can't remember all the drawbacks, but if you do a search on 'walnut', you'll find threads that reference it.
 
I've just recently read someone say that crushed walnut isn't a good idea. I would imagine that crushed anything isn't great (think of sand, dirt, etc).
I think Repti-bark is a darker colored wood chip. Personally, I think it looks more like "wood nuggets" than wood chips.
 
The only draw back to Repti-bark I had was it was extremely dusty. It'd clog the area around the snakes eyes and even the nostrils. I eventually switched back to aspen.

I would recommend it only if you're planning to keep the substrate moist, as the fir bark doesn't decompose nearly as fast for higher humidity needing creatures, of which corns are not.

Aspen too light? Do what I do, pull all the aspen bags off the shelf and pick which one I like the looks of better. Some have really large coarse shavings, some have smaller softer looking ones. Some are lighter, some are darker. Not all bags are the same.

C'mon, you've got paper towels and tacky toothpaste and bandaid boxes in there right now. =P
 
coconut bark. that is what i use.
viv2.jpg

i used to use reptibark, but it is dusty and the last bag i got had bugs in it. they were these little white slug looking things that grew up to little white flying bugs. so i switched over to coconut bark. www.reptilesupply.com has it the cheapest i've seen.
 
Tyger9791 said:
coconut bark. that is what i use.
i used to use reptibark, but it is dusty and the last bag i got had bugs in it. they were these little white slug looking things that grew up to little white flying bugs. so i switched over to coconut bark. www.reptilesupply.com has it the cheapest i've seen.
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This is so weird you said that, I found one of these flying thingy in Freya's tank, I will have to check out for another substrate but it is rather limited in my city regarding reptiles, need to find a good online supplier in the Netherlands... any suggestions would be great because if I buy in the US, I will have to pay import tax which are not cheap :(

I was also wondering, what is it that you have stuck on the glass in front of the tank? Is it a platform that is help with suction?
 
it's a reptile hammock. zoo med makes them. they're great for now, since my snakes are all hatchlings. they climb up in it and hang out. when they get bigger, i doubt it will hold them.
 
I have used shredded coconut fiber. It looks more like dirt to me. However, it can be dusty. I've switched my corns back to aspen and they seem to like it so much better.

Tyger, thank you for posting that website. The aspen there is like HALF the price of the nearest pet store.
 
Taceas said:
C'mon, you've got paper towels and tacky toothpaste and bandaid boxes in there right now. =P
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Hey gimme a break. I took out the Gas-X box. :bird:

The whole reason I'm asking is because I'm gonna spruce up the cage eventually. The cage has black plastic walls. I want to use a nice dark substrate, and then put sand blasted manzanita roots (they're almost white) in for him to climb on. Then I will make hides out of slate or bark and maybe add some fake plants. So I will have a dark cage with light-colored twisty branches in it, and my orange/red cornsnake crawling around. I think it will look cool.

Oh, and thanks for all the input everybody.
 
jenkva said:
This is so weird you said that, I found one of these flying thingy in Freya's tank, I will have to check out for another substrate but it is rather limited in my city regarding reptiles, need to find a good online supplier in the Netherlands... any suggestions would be great because if I buy in the US, I will have to pay import tax which are not cheap :(

I was also wondering, what is it that you have stuck on the glass in front of the tank? Is it a platform that is help with suction?
Click to expand...

Try www.terrariawereld.nl . Don't look at all the bad grammar and stuff, the guy lived in Germany for a very long period, but they have a big assortment to choose from and some brands that are not available in the regular Dutch shops. Prices are slightly lower. Further they ship free above 100 euro if I remember right and you can try to win the monthly photo contest; first prize is shopping free worth 50 euro! And the pics sent are not really awesome... I won in December! (No, these are not relatives or friends of mine, just a onlineshop I like and I had some friendly chit chat mailcontact with the owner)
 
Blutengel said:
Try www.terrariawereld.nl . Don't look at all the bad grammar and stuff, the guy lived in Germany for a very long period, but they have a big assortment to choose from and some brands that are not available in the regular Dutch shops. Prices are slightly lower. Further they ship free above 100 euro if I remember right and you can try to win the monthly photo contest; first prize is shopping free worth 50 euro! And the pics sent are not really awesome... I won in December! (No, these are not relatives or friends of mine, just a onlineshop I like and I had some friendly chit chat mailcontact with the owner)
Click to expand...
LOL... I'll check it out, thanks for that.
Oh, and by the way, I do not speak fluent Dutch and my grammar is most probably worse than his so I might not even notice it ;)
After looking for a long while ( you guys will love that one ) I went to the website of the shop where I bought Freya from and realised that they had an online shop with more than in the shop..... LOL

I have found quite a few different substrate to chose from, I was thinking about changing but I am not sure to what. With that online shop I have a choice between:
"Zoo Med <st1>:place>Forest</st1>:place> Floor Bedding"
Namiba Pine Bark Litter
Namiba Corc Bark Litter
Namiba Beech Chip Litter
Namiba CocoChip® Litter
Namiba Red Bark Litter<o>:p></o>:p> <o></o>

What do you guys think?
I just want to make sure I won't find any bugs anymore in the tank.

I was thinking about doing a survey but I don't know how it is done :(

Thanks
 
hee hee but it looks cute with the smileys!
i'd go with the cocochip if thats coconut.
i'm not sure if you can use pine, beech or cork bark with snakes. some woods are toxic to reptiles.

oh and you're welcome BeckyG. I was so happy when I found Reptile Supply. even with shipping, their products are cheaper than in the petstore. I needed a UVB bulb for my turtle's tank and i would have spent over $30 for one at the petstore. they had it on sale at reptile supply for $17.99!!! and then I saw the price for coconut bark and it's just great.
 
For my corns I use a mix of reptibark and aspen and it looks cool with the light and dark (especially with a black light). It also matches the grape wood which is white with dark knots. For the king, I have the warm side white sand, leading into the reptibark cool side... (FYI.. Don't use sand for your corn, it's ok for the younger king, but when they get older, it can get under the larger kings belly scales causing irritation.)
 
CaptBogart said:
For my corns I use a mix of reptibark and aspen and it looks cool with the light and dark (especially with a black light). It also matches the grape wood which is white with dark knots. For the king, I have the warm side white sand, leading into the reptibark cool side... (FYI.. Don't use sand for your corn, it's ok for the younger king, but when they get older, it can get under the larger kings belly scales causing irritation.)
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I never thought about mixing two different substrates, that could be a good idea, thanks for that!
I was thinking, to avoid the little bugs you can get with Reptibak, wouldn't be an idea to put it in hot water and dry it before actually using it? That should kill any bugs, right!?
 
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