B.c.i Substrates

[Colonel SB]

What do you keep your B.c.i's on? I was thinkin for mine pine shavings would be good I keep my colubirds on it...Anyways let me know what you think.

[reptile gallery]

I like newspaper for med to large boas that like to make med to large messes!! Very clean going in...simple to clean and replace when dirty. You can lay down a bed first, then crumple up a lot for those snakes that like a little 'ground cover'
....don't like shavings for large snakes because once an animal makes waste it is impossible to clean properly without replacing most or all shavings.
Just my opinion.
Good luck

[Colonel SB]

My retics are on paper and they make a total mess of it because they move itl to one side of the cage even though they have a hid plus when they go swimmin they make a horrible mess. I was thinking may be soil of some kind it looks natural, but we'll see.

[stretch]

I'm not 100% sure but I don't think pine shavings are safe. You can use aspen shavings. I keep my bci on astro turf. I keep 2 pieces so when one gets dirty I just throw in the extra one and I'm done. Then I go and clean the dirty one for the next time. Its easy as 1-2-3. Or you could use Zoo Meds forest floor that works great too.

[pandorasBox]

this is just an opinion that i have developed after many hours of reading the smae type of threads over and over again, i was under the assumption that pine shavings are closely related to cedar shavings in the fact that they release fumes that are harmful to the snakes. i have peasonally have used everything from coconut bark to indoor outdoor carpet, and i to have ended up using newspaper it is extremely easy to lay down, its plentiful, its being reused, and it is easy as all hell to clean up a mastiff size crap.

[reptile gallery]

I strongly suggest you do not use any soil of any kind. In the daily(or nightly) quest for an escape route(or a snack!) the constant 'pushing' motion of the head in soil results in heat pit impactions or in the case of your boa, soil enters the mouth area and can lead to nasties. Believe me, I've seen the results and it is not a good thing!!

[Colonel SB]

Okay soil is out for sure.

[ohh_kristina]

don't put pine or cedar shavings in with them. I know that pine and cedar fumes are very harmful for small animals, so I'd imagine they wouldn't be too great for snakes either.

[unBOAlievable]

I use newspaper only on my adults and paper towels on my neonates the majority of the time with the axeption that every couple of years I get this wild idea to change my setup. A weak after my bright ideas I go straight back to newspaper. I am a clean freak and use Nolvasan religiously and with newspaper it is so much easier to thoroughly clean the whole enclosure.

Jeff Ronne went to aspen last year and on last check he is still using it. So it is just personal preference. P.S. stay away from pine.

[Colonel SB]

Okay I will stay away from pine but last I read it was only ceader that was bad...oh well.

[Linds]

As everyone has mentioned, pine is best avoided as a substrate for reptiles. All softwoods contain oils which are toxic to different degrees. Cedar being the most toxic which causes severe neurological damage which is often fatal, pine however has a much milder effect, it is more of a mild respiratory irritant. Either way, aromatics aren't the way to go.

Like unBOAlievable, I use newspaper or papertowel, depending on size of the animal. I prefer to avoid using loose substrates due to the possibility of impaction, etc. I don't believe in moving my animals around in feeding boxes to feed, nor is it efficient for the size of my collection. Though they don't work well for me, other substrates that have been successfully used with others include cypress mulch and aspen shavings.

[Chris F.]

newspaper! cheap, easy to change, and no fear of toxicity from ingestion......chris

[Invictus]

My BCC is on substrate called "Jungle Floor".. it's kind of like jungle bark, but safer. Because his excrement is solid, it's very easy to clean up.. much easier than aspen shavings.

Though, I don't mind the aspen either because it's reasonably cheap. That's what I use for my corns, and will probably use for my spotties when I get them.

[reverendsterlin]

no aromatic woods of any type, just not enough known of their effect. I keep mine on I/O carpet and wask the carpet in cold water with soap and a capfull of bleach, keep 3 per enclosure so there is always a spare and can color coordinate lol :P

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

Hi there:

NEWSPAPERS and PAPER TOWELS are the best, super cheap super easy to work with.

Cya

[killaclown]

What about reptie bark, it a little high but it brings humidity to the cage

[Linds]

Repti-bark and the like are made from fir trees... which are aromatics... refer to my previous post.

[Edwin]

I currently use aspen chips in my bci enclosure, when it was smaller, she was strictly on paper towels or newspaper. To avoid potential impaction, I offer food on a paper plate.

[TheSnakeKeeper]

I would use soil the pine shavings get cough in between the snakes scaled if it moved backwards and there hard to get out along with causing ur snake pain but thats just my opinion

[ksshane]

I was using aspen, and then I switched to newspaper. The only thing I really dont like about newspaper is that the ink comes off. Not sure if it can hurt my snakes or not, but Im going to try packing paper. You know the paper you get to pack glassware, and such in when you are getting ready to move. I can get it really cheap in bulk.

[vanderkm]

As I mentioned in another post earlier today, we use flannel bed sheets and bath towels in our boa enclosures. They are very absorbant for the large volume pee, easier than carpet to wash and dry and look ok. Didn't like shavings for all the reasons mentioned above, don't like the look of newspaper and the fact that it doesn't absorb the pee just sits on top of it, and the forest floor or coconut type bedding keeps humitidy up but is so absorbant when it is kept moist that it is hard to identify all the urine and remove it to keep the enclosure clean. We feed the boas in a separate enclosure without bedding, so no danger of them dragging an end of the cloth into their mouth.

mary v.

[dvs]

You can also use those big white rolls of paper buchers use.

[jncoclub]

I changed everyone from cage carpet to EccoEarth or Ecco Forrest- it's coconut fibers that hold great moisture and easy to pick poops out of.