Posted by:
markg
at Mon Mar 9 12:23:40 2009 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by markg ]
For ground-dwelling, ground-moisture-loving animals like milksnakes and kingsnakes, it is a fantastic substrate and is hard to beat from a functional view. (And if you mix a little sand in it, it holds shapes better and drains better.) IMO, for baby kings/milks, it is the best substrate for reducing moisture loss from the snake. Mountain kings thrive in it. It conducts heat too quite nicely.
For thicker-skinned species like gophersnakes and ratsnakes, it is fine but not necessary. With those snakes, a less "dirty" substrate is just easier for the keeper.
I have found that with the cage setup a certain way, newspaper can make on of the best non-soil substrates. It can hold some humidity and allow for a continuous hide area as the snakes go under it. Awesome for rosyboas for example; they like the contact of the paper on their backs as they hide and wait to ambush the next thawed rat happening by.
People use the the other substrates because they are easier to manage - i.e. do not stick to everything. That is why aspen is so popular. Aspen isn't the best substrate necessarily in all cases; it is however reasonably functional, not as messy and has been proven safe, so keepers use it.
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Mark
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RE: Coconut husk should be more popular. - markg, Mon Mar 9 12:23:40 2009