Substrates...?

[Sean_.E.]

Hey,

I am thinking about swiching a couple of my animals (leopard gecko and African house snake) over to a new substrate.
I currently have my house snake on newspaper and my leopard gecko on paper towel. I want to get a subsrate that my african house snake can burrow into because they like to do so. For my leopard gecko Im just looking for alternative to paper towel. If I can't find a better substate for the gecko, It's not really a big deal.
The snake on the other hand, well I think he need something better.

Also can someone tell me a little more anout this Carefresh and bettachip stuff?

Thanx
Sean

[Zoe]

Never heard of carefresh, but you can put the leo on sand / calci-sand, and the house snake on cypress mulch.

Zoe

[Sean_.E.]

Yeah I was thinkin about those two. But I was lookin for somethin a little different for the leo. From what I've seen I think the leo would have a harder time hunting in the sand.

[marisa]

I have heard nothing but good things about CareFresh from snake owners, not sure about geckos......I believe it is also totally biodegradable, and I *think* I even heard someone mention it can be flushed down the toilet in small quanities. It says it can be on this page:

http://www.carefresh.ca/home.html

Marisa

I use it on some of my animals, it is very light so there are some issues with it getting in the water and I have heard of but never experienced dehydration concerns, I use large waterbowls anyway so that never was a concern.

[Sean_.E.]

It sounds pretty good. It wont harm the snake if ingested, right?

[MartinW]

How about repti-carpet for the leo? I've considered using it. I didn't do any research though so I don't know how good it is for a substrate.

Martin

[Herpkingdom]

I have a sheet that gives the pros and cons of a lot of the substrates used by many herp keepers.

I am still evaluating the repti-carpet and haven't added it yet.

go to my site and click through to the caresheet section.

http://www.herpkingdom.com

[CyberGhost]

repticarpet of any kind is not a good idea, the main reason anyone gets it is to make their enclosure loock nice. Its not absorbent and within a few weeks it looks horrible you have to scrub it, then wash it with clean water. Then it takes hours to dry somtimes days. Theres a plastic like kind that doest take as long to dry but I wouldt get that kind because well its the same but dries faster. Just dont get it you will regret it. I got alot for free from a friend and I regret taking it!!!

[Sean_.E.]

ok...ANyone else have suggestions?

[Emily-Fisher]

IMO, nothing is better than papertowels for leos. Cypress mulch would be a good substrate for the snake. I don't see the point in switching the substrate for the leos unless you are doing that to make the enclosure more appealing to the eye. In that case, you can use calci-sand, coloured felt, or even bark-bits(which may not be 100% but I don't know anyone who has had problems with it before.) However, calci-sand is very expensive and I have heard stories of the colours from the sand leaking onto the leo's skin. Coloured felt is a good substrate although the leo's toenails can get stuck in it. Bark bits are digestible but are breeding grounds for parasites if you don't bring your leo to the vet at least twice a year. Newspapers have also been used although the ink can be toxic and will often leak onto the leopard gecko's skin as well. So as you can see, every substrate has a down-side except for papertowels so unless you are putting your animals on display in a zoo, I honestly don't see the point in switching substrates

[Sean_.E.]

Personally I do think paper towel is a good substrate. The only thing that I dont like about it is; when that when it gets well the water spreads through the rest of the paper towel and after the paper towel dries again its turns all "weird".....lol. This means the every time I spray my leo or he tips over his water I have to put in new paper towel. That is the only reason I wanted to get my leo on a new substrate. I think I leave him on the paper towel.

Cypress mulcch was one of the main substrates I had in mind for the snake, but I also think that beta chip is cool aswell as the carefresh.

[Samba]

Sean, if you want something attractive and different you can try "Lizard Litter".

(http://www.esuweb.com/new_site/rcc_lizard_litter)

I have not had any problems with it, and in my opinion, is the best thing besides paper towels (which I use more often then not just to save money). It's absorbant, mold-resistant, ok to ingest, natural, no dust or fumes. Check out the site, I'm speaking of the first product shown!

Good Luck!