substrate... some opinions please...

[lordkovacs]

okay, in the five years I've been keeping corns I have always used cypress mulch. however, i just find it so tedious to clean up. the poop is usually easy, but the urine isn't as easy. I was going to switch to newspaper or papertowels. any thoughts? which is better, and why? thanks all, have a good one!
MIKE

[Colonel SB]

I like paper towel better then news paper just becuse it absorbes better.

[ohh_kristina]

I like paper towel as well. It absorbs better and doesn't look so out of place like newspaper does sometimes. Too much print on the newspaper, it's distracting. I prefer carpet for my snakes, though :D

[Simon]

paper towel is better
like what the others say
but then news paper you can get it anywhere and it costs nothing at all....(just pick up those advertisements that supermarkets have)

but I would like aspen....it looks good and it's easy to clean up

[MartinW]

Is the aspen people use the same stuff used for mice and other rodents? I think I saw finely shreded aspen at a pet store, is that used instead of the bigger wood chips?

Martin

[Colonel SB]

There are tons of wood chips Aspen is the only safe chips for reptiles.

[lordkovacs]

how's aspen for cleaning? can you spot urine easily enough?
MIKE

[Darlene]

If you have old towels they work well too. Just toss in the washing machine. How easy is that !! Just use a very mild soap & nothing else ; no fabric softener of any kind. Rinse in plain water & dry alone. If static really bothers you then add a tinfoil ball to the dryer. Good luck !!

[Pookie]

How do you keep the paper towel down? My snakes always crawl under it and i'm just nervous that they'll get too close to the under tank heater. Should i be concerned? I tried to tape it but they seem to like the challenge of finding a way under!

[Invictus]

Originally posted by lordkovacs
how's aspen for cleaning? can you spot urine easily enough?
MIKE

It's great. If you use the finely-shredded aspen, you'll notice distinct discoloration on the soiled area, and it will kinda clump like cat litter. Easy scoop out.

[liltattyprinces]

i've switched to aspen in the last while and now find it far easier to clean, more appealing and just all round better, I buy in bulk from the pet store and it's quite a reasonable price. as i live in a 2 bdrm apt and everyone is housed in the living room i find it has a far better smell as well ,at least friends and parents say so they hated the smell of the bark type substrate i was using, and i'm just not into the way papertowel looks. hope this helps:)

[lordkovacs]

wow, maybe i'll go grab some aspen and give that a try...thanks!

[Darlene]

Pookie. I have used newspaper, papertowels & towels & thought of the same thing. Would they be too close to the heater. My heater is an undertank heating pad. I absolved my worries by placing a two-sided , heat resistant , fire retardant pot holder between my heat pad & tank.

[lordkovacs]

UPDATE... I'm on newspaper right now. He seems to really like hiding between the sheets...must be nice and dark and cozy for him. I'll stick to it for awhile I think...
Cheers,
MIKE

[eyespy]

Try crumpling a piece of newspaper and putting it in a corner, most corns just go crazy for crawling through it. :D

[lordkovacs]

hmmmm, that's interesting...I will try that. thanks all!
MIKE

[reverendsterlin]

I've used them all it seems. Currently using carefresh (recycled paper product) but find it too fluffy and hate the look and color. I just spotted another product (see my post under enclosures) that looks and feels like bark, comes in a red or a grey/brown, 100% recycled paper, and is cheap ($6.50 USD per 30lbs). Plan to begin a trial run with it Monday.