What substrate is efficient in cleaning and time?

[eyespy]

I like the ground coconut husk substrates such as Bed a Beast or Eco Earth. It's light and fluffy enough to shop-vac out of an enclosure so even a total substrate change takes like 10 minutes.

I like aspen for my colubrids who don't need much humidity but prefer the coconut stuff for anything higher than 55% humidity as aspen tends to mold.

[C.m.pyrrhus]

IMO, the best things I have used have been wood /paper products. I use aspen mainly for my colubrids. Works well, stays "healthier" for a good amount of time, and works well for the money. I like to use fir bark and cypress, but personally only makes sence if you have the money and want a really nice looking set-up. My boas are on newspaper and in melamine cages. Clean up is very simple. I have used the Bed-a-Beast and Forest Bed, both coconut products. The only problem I see with them is that you must remove as much water from it as possible, as water/moisture creates mold and bacteria. It does a fair job at keeping these problems away though. It also tends to get dusty after a while, and needs more replacing of new substrate more often. It does work well for those herps needing humidity. Of cource, never use cedar for anything. I also go against pine shavings.

I will never use Astro-turf (Fake grass crap) as once it is wet, it is no longer any good. As much as you try to clean and dry it, the moisture stays in there and creates small communities of bacteria that can come to haunt you later. This is the same with any carpeting substrates. No matter what one says, it never is completly clean or dry after soiled. Some have used it for some time, but I have seen many herps that get sick from the micro-organisms that live within it. IMO it is a death trap waiting to happen.
In the same light, I have a good friend that lost a whole collection (over 400 snakes) due to the same problems with his homes carpeting. He moved into a new home, but the carpet was a few years old but relatively new. As soon as he moved in, the snakes all started to have problems. Eventually he found out the hard way that his carpet was home to a severe bacterial "invection", and even after a professional and spendy cleaning, the bacteria remained. This goes on in the tightly woven threads of the carpet, even the herp related stuff, and is basically impossible to reach and disinfect.

[Stockwell]

Well, well well, the decades pass, and little changes...
There is no perfect substrate! We all continue to try diffent stuff.. and base our opinions on whether our herps seem to be OK...
I tried astro turf in the 80's, it looks great but you need to clean it in the bathtub, and if sheds and clogs the drain.(my experience)
Pine was a staple for many years for both feeder animals and herps...isn't it funny how people now have a problem with it.
I still use Alpha chip which is pine.
Aspen seems fine too.
Hardwood chips , Beta chip I have over 15 years experience with...all good, other than staining water bowls and moulding quickly.
Cypress... I've lost some expensive greybands and rosy boas to that stuff... It's a bag of moist toothpics... I don't use it at all any more as it sticks to prey , gets ingested and kills your animal
whatever works for you I guess.
Eyespy seems to have a problem with Spaghnum, but I have used it for a quarter century for moist species... with good results, and no observable problems...(Brazilian rainbows & bloods)

In general, pet store type substrates(carefresh) are just too expensive for large collections...
But keep experimenting people..there is nothing that is perfect for everything.
I use kids play sand for Leos, and Bibrons& skinks.. I've been breeding leos on that substrate since 1979 and never had an impaction problem

[eyespy]

We routinely do nasal swabbings of all reptiles we get for rescue or that need surgery and nearly 2/3 of all the herps I've swabbed that are kept on sphagnum or peat test positive for aspergillosis.

That's one of those "hidden" diseases that very often doesn't show symptoms until the aflatoxins build up enough to cause kidney failure. So I really hate those mosses. I see a lot of totally preventable deaths from that stuff.

[lordkovacs]

i use cypress as well...never any problems, and good for humidity.
cheers,
MIKE

[JasonBrennan]

I use cypress mulch for all of my snakes. The only exceptions are the new animals in quarantine, and the few worms (colubrids) I get once in a while. These are kept on newspaper regardless of size. Once the new snakes are allowed out of quarantine, they go onto cypress as well.

It should be noted that almost every snake I have is of a large species or a ball python. I do get the occasional colubrid, but they are few and far between.

You can buy cypress as WalMart during the "gardening season" here in Alabama, or you can get it at Lowe's year round. Can't really beat $2.00/bag (3 cubic feet)!!