different supstrates

[Moreau]

Aspen chip is fantastic, I would still use it if it weren't for the problem that the stuff ends up tracked all over the house lol! Works great for burrowers and non burrowers. I had no trouble whatsoever with impaction. Little bits would stick to the rodents, but not enough to cause trouble, if you dry the rats/mice off before feeding.

[infernalis]

go dig up the lawn... I am a huge fan of natural dirt. set it up right and never clean a cage again.

Monitor Lizard Forums - Bio Active Soil

the bacteria in the dirt digest the poop

[Jim Smith]

Thanks for the recommendations Sharthune. I've been using regular Aspen bedding and while it works fine for the snakes, the small pieces get all over the house. I try to keep it all picked up, but it seems that every time I take a snake out to handle it, feed it or clean the water bowl etc., more of the tiny slivers of wood get spread around. Unfortunately, 95% of the time I go barefoot around the house and I've picked up some nasty splinters in the bottoms of my feet that are next to impossible for me to reach

I'll make the switch over to Sani Chips next time I order substrate.

[Sublimeballs]

While I'd love to try sanichips out, I wouldn't use them for your retic. Doesn't hold humidity that well. If you're set on not using paper(clean up is super easy with the massive amounts of retic piss), you could go with 100% cypress mulch. You can order a 30-50lbs bag from reptile basics for like $25 shipped.

But as Wayne said you could go bio active. After the micro eviroment is established you don't have to clean the cage anymore. And nothing looks better then making nature in a box, as far as cages go that is.

[xT!FFx]

Coconut husk- discolors water when it gets in the water bowls but that's normal
Eucalyptus mulch- good source of warmth
Corn cob husks- easy to clean and locks in moisture
Keenaf- Wood chip based substrate also easy to clean.

[JWFugle]

Originally Posted by infernalis

go dig up the lawn... I am a huge fan of natural dirt. set it up right and never clean a cage again.

Monitor Lizard Forums - Bio Active Soil

the bacteria in the dirt digest the poop

cool article and i agree that sounds great guess im just pessimistic about it working. its a boaphile so i feel its not quite deep enough like most of the monitor cages that use the bioactive setup(that i have seen). am i wrong about that? at most mine would be 2-3 inches deep.

i have a spare tub i could collect some dirt and what not and play around with it. do you mix up the dirt to cover the urante and poop each time?

[JWFugle]

Infernalis - just spent the last 20-30ish minutes looking though all the other "bio-active" post around here and other forums. this will be my saturday project for sure.
still questioning the depth issue with this boaphile(wishing i had time to build big custom cage, not a fan of tubs at all) :-/

everyone else - thanks for the ideas and points, ill post pics afterwards

[Pirarucu]

I second the suggestion to use bioactive soil, covered with a layer of leaf litter. On it now and never going back.
I would have to disagree with never cleaning the cage. With monitors and smaller animals, that is usually the case. With an animal that takes a dump the size of a football, you need to spot clean for sure unless you have it in an extremely large cage. The majority of private retic keepers use cages that simply aren't large enough to handle the bioload that an animal like a retic will put on it.

[sharthun]

Originally Posted by Pirarucu

I second the suggestion to use bioactive soil, covered with a layer of leaf litter. On it now and never going back.
I would have to disagree with never cleaning the cage. With monitors and smaller animals, that is usually the case. With an animal that takes a dump the size of a football, you need to spot clean for sure unless you have it in an extremely large cage. The majority of private retic keepers use cages that simply aren't large enough to handle the bioload that an animal like a retic will put on it.

I like that word "bioload" much better than "biodump"!

[JWFugle]

Originally Posted by Pirarucu

The majority of private retic keepers use cages that simply aren't large enough to handle the bioload that an animal like a retic will put on it.

Originally Posted by sharthun

I like that word "bioload" much better than "biodump"!

haha my thought exactly, thats what they are though... at 7ft ish she rivals that of a springer spaniel we had growing up.

[JWFugle]

well here is my first attempt at making a bioactive substrate. went out in the woods dug up some dirt, sticks, leaves, worms and bugs and mixed it all up and put it in there. we have more clay like dirt down here so i may go get some organic topsoil to make it mix a little better.

(fyi) i have a large water tub i keep in there, not pictured)

anything else i could add or do? temps sit well at 82-85 high side, 60-80% humidity

[Pirarucu]

I keep my hot side at around 95F ambient temperatures and he uses those temps regularly, if you want to give that a try. Other than that it looks good, what are the dimensions?
You might try ordering some starter cultures of isopods, springtails, etc. Sites that sell dart frogs will usually carry them, and they're cheap.

[JWFugle]

Originally Posted by Pirarucu

I keep my hot side at around 95F ambient temperatures and he uses those temps regularly, if you want to give that a try. Other than that it looks good, what are the dimensions?
You might try ordering some starter cultures of isopods, springtails, etc. Sites that sell dart frogs will usually carry them, and they're cheap.

from what ive seen around here that seems a bit on the warm side no?? as i said my high side sits at 85ish and she regularly travels between hot side, cool side and swims, like clock work after i feed her she will go into her water bowl and soak for hours sometimes.

ive been collecting the little pill bugs(rollie pollies if you ask a kid) and worms, would roaches be ok? or could they harm the snake somehow?

o and cage is a boaphile 322D 3ftX17inx24in

[Pirarucu]

As long as they can escape those higher temps there's nothing wrong with them. Elsewhere about 90F seem to be fairly standard, actually. He uses the higher temps regularly but just doesn't spend as long on the warm side.
Pillbugs are fine, I wouldn't go with roaches though. If it were a monitor or something that would eat them it wouldn't be an issue, but in a snake cage they will just breed like crazy and get out into the house.

[RBDTerrell]

Originally Posted by sharthun

Have you guys tried sani chips? Very small uniform aspen chips.Almost dust free. Easy to locate messes and spot clean, clumps like kitty litter. I just have colubrids and I switched a few months ago, and will never go back to regular aspen bedding.

Native Earth Aspen Sani Chips 2.2 Cubic Foot Bedding | Free Shipping - Pet360 Pet Parenting Simplified

I used to use sani chips and other than it making a mess EVERYWHERE, I liked it because of the reasons you just listed. I have since switched to newspaper and haven't gone back lol.