Aspen?

[Herpo]

Hi,

So I've noticed alot of people now use aspen as a substrate for snakes. Now, I currently use Critters Crumble, a coarse coco coir substrate. Are there any pros aspen has that coco coir doesn't? Coco coir doesn't seem to retain odur too well, but apparently aspen does. Thoughts?

Cheers everyone,
Herpo

[sam]

I'd like to know too. Ive heard aspen gets really soggy when wet, never used it though.

I use fine Critters Crumble too for my two snakes, though Ive found it's easier to feed and keep them on plain newspaper. I'll probably switch back to either Crumble or Aspen once I get a proper display enclosure going on.

[Minkness]

Can't say what they have over there, but here I use 'lizard litter' which is an off brand of sanichips. The smell is lower but also, it clumps around poops and urates, making it easier to clean and it goes longer because of that.

For asthetics though, I have been using reptibark for now. It's ok.

When I get my boa I will try cypress for it's ability to hold moisture.

=)

[Klaire]

Iv'e heard aspen can get dusty too however i don't know if that would be more of an issue for the owner or the reptile. I also use Critters Crumble, i personally love it. it holds humidity well which is essential for my girl considering she's a jungle and its coarse so when it comes to shedding it helps aid her in getting the skin of her nose quite quickly and has other great factors such as mold & mildew resistant etc etc :)

[serpentgirl123]

I have tried both Aspen and Critters Crumble and I have to personally say that I prefer Aspen over the Critters Crumble, but I don't use either any more.

The Aspen was great, but I got tired of pulling pieces of aspen from my snakes' mouths when they ate (didn't matter if I had put a paper plate down/paper--still managed to get a few pieces lodged in their mouth). I also got tired of pulling them out to feed, had more than a few feeder response bites with that lol.

With the Critter Crumble, I found it way too dusty (even with trying to keep it wet) as did my snakes. I had several scares of what I thought was an RI because I heard few sneezes and heavy breathing/almost cough like from them. Took them all to the vet and nothing suggested an RI and after I pulled them off the substrate, the sneezing/breathing stopped. It had irritated their airways and took months to get them all back to normal. That was after only using it for a few weeks.

But I think every snake is different and mine aren't "meant" for either of those substrates. IMO all substrates have pros and cons and one has to figure it out for themselves and their animals. Mine are on unprinted newspaper and paper towels until something more suitable for them and their health comes along.

[Jim Smith]

I used Aspen for a couple of years with no major problems except when bits of it got spread across the carpet, I would get splinters in my bare feet:( I switched over to SaniChips and I like it MUCH better. Less dust and as mentioned already, it clumps around poops and urates which makes spot cleaning a breeze. If you buy the SaniChips in bulk Native Earth Aspen Sani Chips 2.2 Cubic Foot Bedding | Pet 360 (http://www.pet360.com/product/9215/native-earth-aspen-sani-chips-22-cubic-foot-bedding) you can get it fairly reasonably priced. I believe they still offer free shipping on orders over $50

[jpsteele80]

I have used aspen before, personally I think it depends on what size cage you are using it for. No way I'm buying aspen for a 6x3x2 cage it's just to much area to cover, newspaper is cheap and easy but when I did use it for smaller cages I had no problems with it, just had to let the dust settle for a bit.

[Herpo]

I have tried both Aspen and Critters Crumble and I have to personally say that I prefer Aspen over the Critters Crumble, but I don't use either any more.

The Aspen was great, but I got tired of pulling pieces of aspen from my snakes' mouths when they ate (didn't matter if I had put a paper plate down/paper--still managed to get a few pieces lodged in their mouth). I also got tired of pulling them out to feed, had more than a few feeder response bites with that lol.

With the Critter Crumble, I found it way too dusty (even with trying to keep it wet) as did my snakes. I had several scares of what I thought was an RI because I heard few sneezes and heavy breathing/almost cough like from them. Took them all to the vet and nothing suggested an RI and after I pulled them off the substrate, the sneezing/breathing stopped. It had irritated their airways and took months to get them all back to normal. That was after only using it for a few weeks.

But I think every snake is different and mine aren't "meant" for either of those substrates. IMO all substrates have pros and cons and one has to figure it out for themselves and their animals. Mine are on unprinted newspaper and paper towels until something more suitable for them and their health comes along.
OK, now I'm paranoid. Is it normal for me to hear my snake breathing. Well, more inhaling. Every now and then, he breathes in and you can hear it, much like if you inhaled with a blocked nose.

Thanks everyone for your replies, looking forward to hearing more,
Cheers,
Herpo

[jpsteele80]

What kind of snake is it? I hear my retics breath all the time not uncommon with a big snake

[Minkness]

I believe Herpo has a carpet. I understand that some carpets have a naturally loud breath, especially if moving around or unsettled.

[Herpo]

OK cool. Yeah Mink, I have a Carpet. Good to hear its normal.

[serpentgirl123]

OK, now I'm paranoid. Is it normal for me to hear my snake breathing. Well, more inhaling. Every now and then, he breathes in and you can hear it, much like if you inhaled with a blocked nose.

Thanks everyone for your replies, looking forward to hearing more,
Cheers,
Herpo


I didn't mean to make you paranoid. I am so sorry about that :(. I hear my snakes breathe all the time (big and small)--I have carpets, boas, hognoses, and kingsnakes.

I have had most of them for a while, so I know their "normal" behavior and breathing sounds (some are louder, some you have to put right near your ear--though they might nip you lol).

What was going on when they inhaled the dust from the substrate, was not normal for them. I could tell they were struggling to breathe--like I would be if I there was a lot of dust in the air. That struggling was virtually eliminated within a few days of putting them back on paper towels/newspaper.

[sam]

I'd like to see eucalyptus bark or something, thats what most carpet pythons would be spending most of its time on in the wild. I wonder why nobody makes it?

[Minkness]

Probably because in reality it's like ceder or pine and toxic. Being in a eucalyptus tree is very different than being on wood chips of it.

[REM955]

I used Aspen for a couple of years with no major problems except when bits of it got spread across the carpet, I would get splinters in my bare feet:( I switched over to SaniChips and I like it MUCH better. Less dust and as mentioned already, it clumps around poops and urates which makes spot cleaning a breeze. If you buy the SaniChips in bulk Native Earth Aspen Sani Chips 2.2 Cubic Foot Bedding | Pet 360 (http://www.pet360.com/product/9215/native-earth-aspen-sani-chips-22-cubic-foot-bedding) you can get it fairly reasonably priced. I believe they still offer free shipping on orders over $50

Good stuff. Been looking around and couldn't find a deal that beats this.
Thanks.

[trailblazer295]

I started using shredded aspen for my BP but even misting twice a day in a PVC cage couldn't keep humidity up so after a few weeks switched to compressed cocohusks which worked fine until spring hit and warmer and more humid weather meant I couldn't drop the humidity no matter what I did and ended up with mold. So now use cypress mulch for higher humidity snakes like my boa and BP, adds redoing a 48x24x16 and a 24x24x12 every 4-6 weeks but I prefer keeping everything clean and sanitized and helps with moisture to. My kingsnake is on sanichips, nice contrast dark snake on light substrate, more desert look but like others have mentioned spot cleaning is easy and not needing to maintain higher then ambient humidity it's a non issue.

[Herpo]

I didn't mean to make you paranoid. I am so sorry about that :(. I hear my snakes breathe all the time (big and small)--I have carpets, boas, hognoses, and kingsnakes.

I have had most of them for a while, so I know their "normal" behavior and breathing sounds (some are louder, some you have to put right near your ear--though they might nip you lol).

What was going on when they inhaled the dust from the substrate, was not normal for them. I could tell they were struggling to breathe--like I would be if I there was a lot of dust in the air. That struggling was virtually eliminated within a few days of putting them back on paper towels/newspaper.
Lol, its OK. I'd been meaning to ask anyway, but never got around to it. Good to know it isn't RI.

[Lefitte]

I use a Sanichips type product and I love it. There's little to no smell [I'm really sensitive to smells because of allergies] and it clumps like a litter so it's easy to clean up. I actually just sift through it with my hands and find the poos to clean out. It's good for burrowing if you put enough in there and doesn't add to humidity which is good for my king. But I haven't tried anything else then newspaper and papertowels for her and moss for my boa so I can't compare it to much. It's lasts a really long time.

[sirtalis]

One of my friends has used aspen for years... The snakes he keeps are generally low humidity though...

[Minkness]

I really wish they had a 'dark' sanichips option. I love it for my rough scale boas and the hognoses and the kingsnake, but I'm not super fond of the light color, so I will be playing with some new substrates another time. I may offer my rough scales dry ecoearth as a burrowing substrate because that stuff also seems to clump with poo and urate, just harder to spot because it's dark.

I have also considered the play sand for the boas because I know it comes in different colors, and the crazy in me would love to do red or orange lol. Honestly I'll probably never do that though due to the issues if hygene connected to most sand substrates.

So much to learn and so much available!

[pet_snake_78]

High humidity species I use cypress, low humidity I use aspen, most in quarantine I use newspaper. I also use paper for an assortment of snakes in my collection. I try to use whatever I feel is best for the individual snakes but one of the three has generally worked for me.

[Nightflight99]

High humidity species I use cypress, low humidity I use aspen, most in quarantine I use newspaper. I also use paper for an assortment of snakes in my collection. I try to use whatever I feel is best for the individual snakes but one of the three has generally worked for me.
This. In addition to these, I also use crushed walnut shells for a few select species, and some of my enclosures receive orchid moss mixed with cypress mulch.

[Jim Smith]

Minkness, I wouldn't use traditional wood dyes because of the chemicals, but you might try soaking the SaniChips in very strong black tea to see if it will dye them. I've used tea to dye wood in the past and it seemed to work okay. Just a thought.

[Minkness]

Jim, not a bad idea, but I would think that the sanichips would loose their clumping ability if I soaked them. Also, the process of dyeing them then drying them out wouldn't be worth it to me as I already have limited home time. XD