Reptile carpet bad?

slowhite03 · 02-17-13, 01:19 AM

So I know king snakes like to burrow and stuff but does anyone use reptile carpet in their tank? If yes, how does your snake like it?

Lankyrob · 02-17-13, 04:17 AM

All the reports i have seen from those that use it is that it is very dirty and harbours lots of bacteria. I think you are better of with a "proper" substrate personally

**lady_bug87** · 02-17-13, 09:00 AM

Generally its unhygienic.

Alternatives could be:
Newspaper
Paper towel
Aspen (kinda dusty)
Jungle earth (kinda like mulch so also dusty)
Mix of coco fiber and jungle earth (more humid still dusty)

UwabamiReptiles · 02-17-13, 09:04 AM

I've never used it personally but I had a friend use it and it was more hassle than anything. Very dirty and a lot more work than its worth. I'd just use newspaper or aspen with a king.

infernalis · 02-17-13, 10:31 AM

Once upon a time I used it, but never again.

aside from all of the above, the first time you see an animal get it stuck in their teeth while striking prey, you will never want that crap near your critters again.

slowhite03 · 02-17-13, 02:47 PM

Well I feed mine in a separate tank, so feeding isn't really an issue. I guess I'll go the paper towel route for a little bit and see how that goes. Just have to try and keep the humidity up

ptbmaniac · 02-27-13, 02:07 AM

I think aspen or something like it is best!I used it before,but I dont think it is good for snakes at all!

StudentoReptile · 02-27-13, 06:31 AM

I hate the stuff, for all the reasons others have mentioned above. I don't think its good for any animal, honestly.

jarich · 02-27-13, 09:25 AM

Try a bioactive substrate. Then you wont have to worry about bacteria at all. Pretty simple to set up and very simple to let nature keep things clean for you. This is the way I set mine up and I think it cost me around $30 with the plants and everything included. Not sure if you can see it, but he has burrows all through there.

Eight · 03-13-13, 04:38 PM

To be honest I don't think it's too bad, but I wouldn't use it with my Lampropeltis. As said it can be unhygienic, but that depends on how often you change it. The animals I do use it for I change to carpet once a week, and have two pieces cut to size so when I swap it out to clean it I can replace it straight away with clean dry stuff.

Again though I wouldn't use it for Lampropeltis, or indeed most species of snake.

For the majority of my snakes I use aubiose, which is a hemp bedding. It's similar to aspen but comes in huge sacks for a fraction of the price. I use the dust extracted stuff that's also untreated with anything. Perfect for snakes, but it has a horse on the packaging

Chu'Wuti · 03-13-13, 05:30 PM

I agree that if you change it often enough, it won't become a bacterial nightmare. The problem is that when one changes it "often enough," it gets expensive.

I prefer natural vivaria myself, but have used aspen shavings and paper towels, as well. Any of them are great--the latter two are relatively inexpensive to change out; aspen doesn't have to be fully changed, as you can spot clean, which keeps it cheap; and a natural substrate (withOUT perlite) with live plants will become bioactive and help decompose fecal materials, urates, etc. (as long as you spot clean and stir every week), maintaining a healthy environment with less extensive cleaning needed.

Good luck!

reptimama · 03-13-13, 08:35 PM

I've never used it for snakes but when my son got his Bearded Dragon she was on it and it got NASTY quick so we switched her over to stone. I use coconut husk for my snakes and I like that much better.