Aspen Vs Shredded Paper?

[maroongrad]

I had my snake on what I thought was the aspen repti-bark, but it had a strong scent to it and turned out to be FIR! I figured that, for an animal that is always "tasting" the air, it had to be an unpleasant experience and I worried about health issues. It smelled way too much like cedar to me and I wasn't about to keep her on it.

So, I switched her over to white, shredded paper within a couple days. She seems fine with it, loves to burrow in it (which she wouldn't do with the bark) and it's really easy to spot the dirty bits and clean them up. Well, easy except for the biting.

Is there an issue with snakes getting impactions from the shredded paper? If I feed her outside of her cage, would that prevent issues? I'm trying to keep her comfortable and healthy. I also really like the paper because I can get it damp and it releases humidity slowly until it dries. At which point, I flick a bit more water on it.

Can I keep her on the paper, or should I move her to the aspen repti-bark?? First snake here other than a few wild-caught ones we kept a week or so to show the students, and we're trying very hard to be good owners. ALL advice is welcome!

[formica]

yes 'fir', or pine, is highly toxic to snakes

shredded paper is fine, impaction is highly unlikley (not sure its even possible with paper? not come across any specific info on paper impactions). lots of people use paper for their snakes whole life - no need to feed her outside the enclosure, thats just extra stress tbh, if you want you can put a piece of kitchen towel on the floor of the enclosure to feed on while shes young


aspen and repti-bark are diffrent things, aspen is shredded wood, repti-bark is bark chips, either substrate is fine, but if your snake doesnt enjoy burrowing in bark chips, then go with something else. I prefer coir to aspen, it looks a bit like soil, holds humidity very well, and resists mold much better, its also easier to spot poop and urates because its dark colored - but try a few diffrent ones, see which ones you and your snake prefer

[maroongrad]

Thank you! The Repti-Bark had an 'aspen' label above it and I grabbed it without double-checking what the bag itself said. Glad I got her off of it so quick! It still smelt "cedar-y" the next evening, so I went and got the paper first thing the next morning. She definitely seems to enjoy burrowing in it.

Thanks for the information about feeding in the cage. We fed the kingsnake in its enclosure, but it was a wild snake I kept only briefly to teach the students. The garters too, but they just ate worms for the short time we had them. The only "tame" snake I saw fed was a roommate's ball python, and that was fed out of the cage, which is why I wondered. The zoo fed them in the cages, but most of those were venomous to start with!

I'll just stick with cage feeding per your advice. Generally, I drop in a superworm, and within a day or two its gone. The crickets were lasting longer until she completely stopped eating after several days, and we started the vet visits :P

This has been a very expensive snake...but worth it! Thank you for the information, and once she sheds and quits looking like a wrinkly mess, I'll put up an image of her!

[formica]

repti-bark shouldnt be cedar or pine, thats strange! aspen does have a smell to it, but its absolutly fine for snakes

I'd get sum damp sphag in one part of the hide for her while she's in shed, also paper is terrible at maintaining humidity, something to watch while she's in shed, again I dont know racer specifics, but hopefully someone can clarify their humidity needs during shed


looking forward to pics :) wrinkly or not! lol

[maroongrad]

I'll have hubby get some moss on the way home. I was just at the petstore earlier today, too! I got her a second bowl, which has a nice rough surface but is quite small, hoping it would help with the shed. She might not want to use the log, so I added another surface.

Just misted down the inside of the cage and soaked her log in water for a few minutes. Should be nice and humid in there now! I'm hoping the shed is tonight or tomorrow, she's just pathetically wrinkled :P

Thanks for the information about the paper! I'll see if I can't figure out how to do pix on here soon and will get one taken.

[shaunyboy]

myself and a lot of Carpet keepers i know,stopped using aspen because it had a high dust content,that was giving the Carpets mild respiritory symptoms

i use old newspapers as substrate

cheers shaun

[Mikoh4792]

I use paper towels and newspaper now. At first I used loose substrate for spot cleaning and aesthetics but paper substrates really make it easy to keep things clean, and imo a clean enclosure is a good looking enclosure.