Sexy Substrates

[McMonty]

Does anyone have any good suggestions for an attractive substrate that doesn’t cost the earth? Newspaper is ugly and exo-terra bark is very expensive. As my terrarium is quite sexy and my snake is beautiful – what can I use? Please help.

[Hillsberry]

I use aspen. I think it is pretty nice. Check it out and see what you think! Good luck

[siz]

I find the coco-husk bricks to be quite inexpensive, they hold humidity quite well, fairly easy to spot clean, and look great. I buy one brick for $2 at expos. You can also get it in bulk at Home Depot type places I've heard.

[mykee]

By "sexy" you mean functional.........right?
Because whether it's pretty or not has no bearing on it's useability and functionality to your snake.
Any of the chunked, shaved, or shredded substrates should fill all of your aesthetic desires and more importantly, those of your snake.

[SlimeyLimey805]

the sort of substrate that would really lend itself to a "sexy" cage would depends in large part on the type of snake, and the type of environment they live in, in the wild. i use Aspen for my Dum because she likes to ability to bury herself and the high humidity, plus its relatively easy to spot clean. for my BP i use Repti-Bark because its really easy to clean and compliments her coloration better than something like the aspen would. i would suggest something like repti bark or the like unless you have a snake with higher humidity requirements, or who likes to bury themselves in there substrate.

[infernalis]

reptile bark is by far the cheapest way to go, as you can wash it with hot water and re use it several times.

Use an old spaghetti strainer, put the bark in it and run hot water through it, washes out the waste and then let it dry.

If you have time, it saves a lot of money.

[mommanessy247]

im gonna use dri-dek from dridek.com. its a rubber square with a buncha holes in it to filter out the poo/pee. theres rubber pegs on the bottom so the snake doesnt come in contact with its wastes. cleaning is as easy as taking it out & washing it down under running water. its a little on the expensive side but i think it'll be worth it, if its not or if i dont like it for some reason, then i'll go with the repti bark.

[mykee]

Looked at this Dri-Dek stuff, terrible product for a ball python, or any snake for that matter. I highly do not recommend it.
Reasons:
1. It does not allow for any under belly heat due to it being raised off the ground.
2. Any heat that is created, when met with water or wet of any kind (urine) will create a steam room of piss. Bad idea. Would you want to breathe that?
3. As a snake, how would you like to be constantly laying on this product.

Think like a snake (with a little dose of good ol' human common sense).
There is no need to re-invent the wheel; there are at least a dozen very suitable substrates for snakes that will work infinitely better than the above mentioned product.

[shaunyboy]

i used to use aspen when i only had a few snakes.the only bad thing was it going in the snakes mouth during feeding.it looks great and if you feed your snake in a seperate tub then has no problems.i now have carpets into double figures it would take too long to get them all out to feed.i feed them in their tanks now,using ugly old newspaper as substrate.
cheers shaun.

[mommanessy247]

mykee- i just thought that the points i brought up about the dri-dek would make it suitable. but your points are better. what about repti bark? is that ok for ball pythons?

or how about coconut bark?

[mommanessy247]

ok im gonna go with repti bark cuz it is designed for humidity loving reptiles...

[infernalis]

repti bark is just fine for a BP, and it looks good in the cage too!

[mykee]

I agree, any of the chipped or chunk substrates (though I would never use them) are more than suitable for the a ball python enclosure. When you use a chunk or bark type substrate, you need to be extra careful of temps, as balls tend to burrow down into the subtrate which can lead to burns if you set your thermostat too high, or RI's if you set your thermostat too low.

[illcyat420]

I think cypress mulch is pretty sexy. You can buy a big bag of it at a gardening shop and it is faitly inexpensive....I bake mine first to ensure no parasites.

[Will0W783]

I use aspen for my BPs. Sometimes with the Repti-Bark, it is a rough substrate and they scratch up their scutes on it. If you are worried about maintaing humidity I recommend Keepers Choice. It's a cypress mulch that is shredded into very thin pieces. It's softer and finer than Repti-Bark and far better suited to a snake IMHO. I now only use Keepers Choice or shredded aspen, depending on the snake species. It gets expensive with the number of snakes I have, but they always bunch newspaper into a corner and get the ink on their scutes, which looks nasty and can't be good for them.

[mykee]

Parasites do not live in substrate. They live in (or on) living creatures.

[infernalis]

Parasites do not live in substrate. They live in (or on) living creatures.


Thank you!

I have even had people try to tell me that mites arrived in the bag of substrate before????

[Lankyrob]

Surely the definition of a parasite is something that lives on and feeds off another living being - therfore they must arrive on other animlas/insects etc

[mommanessy247]

what are scutes?

[Will0W783]

Scutes are the belly scales.

[mykee]

I have even had people try to tell me that mites arrived in the bag of substrate before????
Wayne, I used to get wood mites in every bag of aspen I picked up from March-November from the feed store near me, so there is some validity to that one...

[Lankyrob]

Don't wood mites LIVE on and eat wood tho? Therefore not parasites that would attack the snake?

[mykee]

Yes, wood mites are just that, WOOD mites. They are harmless to any animals.

[infernalis]

here is a nice mix I like, it's a blend of coconut fiber (Eco earth) and bark chips.

Looks nice, holds humidity and is inexpensive.

http://www.mypetforums.com/buck/substrate.jpg