I personally have never liked carefresh because it tends to get very messy when it gets wet. I also just object to the artificial look of it. Also, I object to aspen because it typically has too small of a particle size in my opinion. I know of lots of snake keepers who like it but I've seen far too much of it getting easily ingested for my liking. If your mother hasn't tried simply using all new Bed-a-Beast and new bark chips I would try an alternate substrate like hardwood mulch or cypress mulch. Or, you could make a soil mixture which is in my opinion by far the best substrate. You can make the soil mixture by combining equal parts bark mulch [hardwood or cypress - no cedar!], topsoil [avoid mixtures with any type of fertilizer or manure], and peat moss or Bed-a-Beast.
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Matt Campbell

25 years herp keeping experience

Full-time zookeeper

Personal collection - 21 snakes (9 genera), 20 lizards (4 genera), 6 chelonians (2 genera)

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