Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So, i've had a top soil/ dirt substrate in my hoggies cage for a few months. It looks great and she seems to like it, except for the occasional sneezes. I make sure to keep it wet, but then it gets too cold for her and the heat just makes the soil so, so dry. My hoggie looks dry too. I'm thinking about switching substrates.
Any recommendations? I've used sand and didn't like it cause it got stuck in her nose, but maybe it wasn't harming her.

Thanks for any advice in advance!

I REALLY LOVE the aspen shavings!! They look nice, absorb excrement well, and are great for digging and burrowing. But that is just my biased, personal opinion.
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Robert Charvat
1.1 het albino Western Hognose

Here's an old picture of my girl on the aspen shavings.

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Robert Charvat
1.1 het albino Western Hognose

I agree with Robert, aspen appears to be one of the best substrates around in general. I used to keep an E hog exhibit and had to make it look "natural", and I hated it. The hog had all of the same problems you mentioned. When I had my W on that calci-sand stuff, the nares were always clogged. Aspen = no problems (no feeding on it!)
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Virginia Herping
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VaHS
Virginia Herpetological Society online store
http://www.cafepress.com/vaherpsociety

"The irrational fear of snakes is the only excuse a grown man has... to act like a complete sissy" - Colchicine

Been using aspen for decades, and it's still my favorite for most snakes. And don't worry about feeding on it-I've fed on aspen since the beginning-hundreds of snakes and never a problem from substrate ingestion!
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Brad Chambers

The Avalanche has already started-it is too late for the pebbles to vote....

i would guess that would be true for most but it only takes one. my buddy fed a Mexican on aspen and a shred pierced through the mouth into the eye cavity and it absessed and it died, so i feed all 156 plus babies in separate container or paper towel.more work but no chances. by the way i use sani- chips supper easy to spot clean.

I usually do aspen or sani chips (which i believe are the same as aspen only smaller), but I got all of my snakes some white carefresh. I figured I'd give my snakes a white Christmas, even though we live in SoCal.

reako45