Cheap bedding to use for a snake rack

[swiftskater1]

I have been trying aspen and newspaper. The aspen was infested with mites, And all of my snakes make a mess with there water. So it tears up the newspaper and gets nasty. What other cheaper options is there?

[KORBIN5895]

Coco husk. I buy 56 compressed liters for 3 dollars.

[Snakefood]

I use Aspen and have never had mites, maybe that batch had the mites? or maybe they came in from another source??

In your position, I would just go goet a different batch of aspen.

[BarelyBreathing]

What about paper towels?

[mykee]

Wood mites are annoying but do no harm to anything but wood. It's one of the things you need to deal with in using a wood-based product.

[youngster]

Wood mites are annoying but do no harm to anything but wood. It's one of the things you need to deal with in using a wood-based product.

How do you tell the difference between wood mites and the mites that harm snakes?

[Snakefood]

I don't know, the aspen I use have been kiln dried, so THAT would kill any bug. Anything in there would have to have gotten in ther post-kiln and pre-sealing. Not a huge gap, so I don't think that many bags of the aspen would be affected in such a way. I use aspen for my snakes, rats, mice, rabbits, and in the chicken house. So I buy ALOT of it and have never had any kind of bug in any of the bags.

ELI, the snake mites will start logding themselves into the spaces between and under the scales of your snakes and will congregate around the eyes and in the skin crease under the lower jaw.

[BarelyBreathing]

Wood mites are white, gray, or tan, snake mites are black.

[Trent]

I switched to coco fiber and its working out real nice.

[KORBIN5895]

Hey Trent. The block I purchased was actually at Canadian tire and it was being sold as coco husk mulch.

[Snakefood]

Hey Trent. The block I purchased was actually at Canadian tire and it was being sold as coco husk mulch.

Make sure those say chemical free on the bag. Some companies put weed killer and such things in thier bark mulch as it is meant for use in gardens.

[BarelyBreathing]

Yeah, I agree. I stay away from anything that says "mulch"

[KORBIN5895]

Chem free and organic. ;) I am cheap but not that cheap. I checked it over well and also called customer service to verify.

[BarelyBreathing]

That's awesome!

[KORBIN5895]

Yeah I thought so also!

[exwizard]

I understand your reservations about newspaper. On the flip side of that, when they soil their enclosure, you know it right away, so it tends to get cleaned sooner.

Newspaper has worked well for me but I just use clear plastic tubs in AP racks and when I clean them I use rubbing alcohol to disinfect and then put a fresh batch of newspaper in. No risk of mites there.

[Trent]

Hey Trent. The block I purchased was actually at Canadian tire and it was being sold as coco husk mulch.
Home Hardware stores carries the same product.I get mine from a local guy here on the island gets shipped bulk.All organic and chem free too.

[Jay]

Hey Trent. The block I purchased was actually at Canadian tire and it was being sold as coco husk mulch.

Product link?

[KORBIN5895]

Product link?

I have a block in the shed. Will check tomorrow.

[mykee]

Just because the bedding was kiln-dreid does not mean that wood mites are attracted to the bag once it is stored wherever it is until it gets to you. Just something you'll have to learn to deal with.

[asnakelovinbabe]

were they wood mites, or snake mites? If they were snake mites they did not come from your aspen. Mites do not just magically spawn out of bedding. I hear people that get mites on their snakes say that a lot and it drives me crazy. Snake mites come from other snakes! If they weren't snake mites... then it IS possible they came on the substrate and they are harmless to your snakes anyways. I have never, ever, had bugs of any kind come from my aspen... one time I used cypress much and that did have some little wood mites in it.