• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

What Substrate should i use?

dead_poetic_300

dead_poetic_300

New member
Hey uhmm im using sand and woodchips in my corn tank right now i was wondering if there is something better that i could use thats still easy to clean?...any ideas?
 
Aspen is the best IMO
Newspaper is cheap and easy to clean although it looks plain
paper towels look pretty good plus the tubs make good hides
 
Why is sand bad? Is it because it builds up heat temperatures that a corn can not stand. Or is it because it completly eliminates a warm/cold end? :shrugs:
 
hey guys why dont you try using the search feature, there are 2 threads about 5 underneath this one that tells how bad sand is for reptiles (especially snakes), before just posting try looking so everyone doesnt have to waste their time replying to something that was talked about alot yesterday.
 
the reason u dont want to use sand is because they are not dessert animals also it can get caught in there digestive system and cause problems
 
I use primerally aspen.

As to sand heres a breif run down on what complaint's it can cause or add to.

RI (resperoritry infection) Most snakes can and will inhail it and it is a known cause of RI's. (personal experiance, although not a corn a SAND BOA)

Scales, like skye said it gets between the scales and causes irritation.

Bad shed's, sand will dry out the skin and produce bad sheds as no moisture can get to the skin, even after soaking, because sand will soak up the water very quickley. (personal experiance, although not a corn a SAND BOA)

digestive system problems, mainley impaction, but their are a few other problem's as well.

Humidity is also affected and stays at less then 10%, even with a large water bowl and spraying dailly. (personal experiance, although not a corn a SAND BOA)

Their are other reasons as well, but IMHO those are most important one's why you shouldn't use sand.
 
Though aspen has been my substrate of choice, I've recently tried coconut bark substrate by TRex with 2 of my corns. It seems to hold the warmth better, and they love burrowing in it, but we will see the true test when shedding time comes around. Just a note, I tried this substrate to show off their colors as they looked really bland on aspen.
 
JTGoff69 said:
Though aspen has been my substrate of choice, I've recently tried coconut bark substrate by TRex with 2 of my corns. It seems to hold the warmth better, and they love burrowing in it, but we will see the true test when shedding time comes around. Just a note, I tried this substrate to show off their colors as they looked really bland on aspen.
Click to expand...

Is this the brick stuff that expands with water? If so I love that stuff so much. A small amount can be digested but to much WILL cause an impaction. I know of someone who kept his redtail on this stuff and fed it a f/t rat that was still wet. It got covered in this stuff and impacted him pretty bad. I always wondered why you can't feed on substrate until then. As for corns, when fluffy was alive(please don't bring anything up) I had him on this for a while. It seemed to work great and he loved to burrow in it. He would burrow in the warm side and stay there all day with just a littl part of his body sticking out.
 
No, actually, this is in a 10 qt. bag. It's chunks of coconut bark. It is really soft to the touch, and my corns love burrowing in it. It also looks like it will hold humidity well on the days you need to mist for shedding purposes.
 
I use "Bed-a-Beast" and I LOVE it. It is one type of that stuff that expands in water. It is cheap, easy to scoop, and it looks great. A $5.99 (US) fills my 20gal long easily. Many people haven't heard of it, but I think it is perfect.
And my corn loves to burrow in it too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top