Carefresh?

[Vengeance]

Does anyone use this substrate with their Ball Pythons? Is it safe to ingest as the package claims?

[Auskan]

I do use it with my BP, but I feed in a separate enclosure, so ingestion isn't a problem.

[Jeff_Favelle]

If you look about halfway down on the KS Ball Forum, you'll see that NERD has a couple $100,000+ snakes on it. I would say that it is safe.

[Vengeance]

My main concern is feeding on it, I want to start feeding in a seperate enclousre but my little guy just won't have it. 90% of the time he we only eat if he can take the rat back into his hide. Right now he is on Exo Terra Jungle Earth, I've had him on paper towel before he didn't seem to like it very much, he seems to like to burrow a little bit into the substrate. The substrate is quite large but I'm still worried that he might ingest some. So if carefresh is safe to feed on, I mean I'm not exactly going to let him eat if the thing is covered with it, but if it's safe to ingest a little I'll use it untill he feels comfortable enough to feed in a seperate enclousre.

[Slannesh]

I know this is probably obvious... but dry rats pick up much less substrate than wet ones... I always thaw mine in ziplock bags so they get warm but stay dry. Much less in the way of problems picking up substrate that way.

[jfmoore]

I never noticed any “safe to ingest” message on the package, but I have used CareFresh for 2 or 3 years. I prefer the gray stuff over the apparently bleached (and more expensive) white product. I use plain paper as a primary substrate for my ball pythons, but occasionally fill hide containers or nest boxes with CareFresh. I do keep many of my sand boas totally on the stuff. I find it hardly sticks to the prey item (unless it’s soaking wet) as opposed to something like Sani-Chips that seem to adhere to even dry food.

It is extremely desiccating so it’s a good idea to dampen it a little. The flip side, of course, is that it really absorbs liquid waste effectively. I noticed a lot of dust packed into my southern hognose’s nostrils when I neglected to dampen the CareFresh substrate for weeks on end. Other drawbacks – some people think it has an unpleasant odor (I don’t); it is hard to see waste products in it as opposed to light-colored wood products; and it is relatively expensive. Another positive – it is very light weight.

In conclusion, I try to stay away from cage substrates that require “scoop the poop” husbandry due to bacteria build up in a confined environment. But for the uses I mentioned above, I’m satisfied with CareFresh and feel it is very safe

-Joan

[Auskan]

You can also try the walmart "equivalent" which is about 1/3 the cost and people who've used both say the walmart brand has less dust.

[Vengeance]

I think I remember seeing it on the package that it was safe to ingest, I'll check when I get home.

Dampen it eh? Would not have taken that into account, so basiclly just mist it every week or so should be more then enough the keep the dust down?

When I thaw out the rats I double vacum seal them in bags just to make sure they stay perfectly dry. Last week when I fed my ball for the first time after a month of not eating, when he was finishing the rat off I noticed he had a piece of substrate stuck in his mouth and he was trying to swallow it down, quite a large piece as well and the rate was dry. I quickly grabed my feeding thorceps(sp?) and genetly pulled it out of his mouth. This is why I started to get worried about it, 9 times outta 10 I can't even see him when he eats because he pulls it back into his hide. This time I was lucky enough that he stayed out of his hide, but mabye next time I won't be so lucky. If I can't get him to eat in a seperate enclousre and carefresh is unsafe to ingest he is either going to have to get used to paper towel or eating in a seperate cage.

[sapphire_moon]

if he likes to burrow down get a paper shredder and let him burrow in that, I would think that it wouldn't hurt him if he at some of it. And seeing as how the strips of paper would be fairly large/long it would be hard to miss a piece of paper being slowly dragged into his hide.

Also paper dissolves (not sure how to put it) fairly easy, put a little bit of water on a table or something and put a strip of paper over it and see how easy it would be to rip. Plus ink is non toxic these days.

Just an idea though, I don't know if it would work.

[Vengeance]

That might be a good idea unless anyone else can think of why it would be a bad one.

I bought a bag of carefresh for My California king I'm going to be getting soon. On the back of hte bag this is a quote,

"Safe - Light and fluffy CareFRESH is ideal for postoperative care. If ingested in small quantities, it can pass safely through the GI tract."

Can anyone else say from experiance that this is untrue?

[Linds]

I love Carefresh. It is without a doubt the only loose substrate I feel safe feeding on. As mentioned above, it doesn't hold on to dry prey items very well, and if ingested, unlike wood chips and the like, it doesn't have those dangerous shards. It can be used in all types of environments. I would probably use it more if it weren't for the price. I only use it for a handful of small snakes, and 2 pet rodents.

[Ron]

I use Carefresah for all of my BP's. I like it alot; it is a little dusty to start with but when I first put it in the enclosure I mist it to hold down the dust. After a while your BP will compact it down and not too much dust will rise. I mist the enclosure every 2-3 days and I'll fluff it and mist it every week. During feedings I've seen bits go down with no aparent ill effects. The best thing about Carefresh for me is the odor absorbancy.

[Vengeance]

Looks like I'll be switching to carefresh or the less dusty Wall Mart equivlent.

[daver676]

I'm hoping to switch over to something more natural than newspaper. Looks like I'll be looking into some carefresh. I also really like the look of orchid bark.

[Vengeance]

I like the look of the Jungle earth I have right now, and the way it hold hummidity and temps really well. But I'm more concerned about him ingesting some of it and I'd perfer he doesn't have an impacted Digestive track then a nice looking cage. The carefresh doesn't look as nice but it's safer and that's the most important thing to me.

[jfmoore]

What's this "Wal-Mart equivalent" y'all are talking about? Does anybody know its name? Thanks.

[elevation24]

We just saw the Walmart brand there last night when we were picking up a couple of rodent water bottles. I think it was called Critter Care.

[jfmoore]

Hey Jennifer! Thanks for the info. Guess I'm behind the curve on the latest and cheapest. I'll have to check it out.

-Joan

[Bighead]

They have Critter Care at PetSmart too and it's a little cheaper than carefresh. Just because nobody has said it outright yet, yes, carefresh is safe if ingested as the package claims. :)