Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently got a young boa, that I'm keeping in a 20 gallon tank. I have a question about the best substrate to use that helps with humidity and makes for easy clean-up. Right now, I am using Repti-Bark...basically, it looks good but it makes for very messy clean-up. It doesn't absorb any of the pee and needs to be totally removed in order to properly clean the cage.

What do most people use and what works good and looks good?

thanks,
dj

We use newspaper and corregated cardboard...but then again we have quite a few snakes and it is more about what is easy to clean than what looks good.

Aspen is easy to spot clean and more attractive than paper, I know many people that use it, and I have, and still do occasionally use it.

My sister and cousin use the reptibark and like it better than the aspen because you don't tend to drag as much out of the enclosure and then have to vaccum up the mess.

So I guess it just boils down to personal preferance.....try different stuff and see what YOU and your snake like best.

Kathy

This is based on personal preference and necessity.

What's important to you and what your setup is like.

I have a few hundred snakes and so free newspaper is the 'best' for me because it is readily available at no cost, easy to use and clean, and gives a clean, empty look to the cages, which makes viewing easier.

If I had one snake, I would probably like Aspen shavings because it is clean looking and smelling, can be used to burrow, can be easily worked with to increase humidity, and can be cleaned easily.
Then again, if you are not on top of this, it can dry out excessively or mold up... not good to the guy with hundreds of snakes...

So, here are some options:

Newspaper
Cage liners
indented kraft paper
paper towels
astro-turf
Aspen shavings/chips/etc.
Spaghnum moss
Reptibark
Cocobark
other naturally based products that act as soil or 'jungle floor'

and there are many others not listed here...

See which you like and which works better for you and your snake.

Best wishes!
Bci Joe
-----
Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin

I've used aspen for years. I've only got 7 boas right now
though.

I like the reptibark and the coconut shell bedding more
probably, it looks nicer and is a little heavier, but aspen
is MUCH cheaper.

For shoe boxes I use folded paper towels. I put their food either in ceramic water dishes or on those little sales
catalogues from the newspaper. It keeps blood from getting
all over and hopefully minimizes any ingested bedding...

I just switched to terrycloth towels. My Vet told me to try it. The advantages are that when they soil it, you just pull it out, scrape it off, and put it into the wash (when your wife’s NOT home). Of coarse you want a spare towel to put in right away. I think it looks better than newsprint and it evenly disperses heat so you don’t have hot spots. It’s hard to sanitize your enclosure when you use wood chips! It used to take me 30 minutes with bark to do it correctly, now its just minutes. You can even play around with different colors. I got my Ralf Loren towels from Ross for 3 bucks each. It made my wife’s friends crazy when they thought I used our good towels!