Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok, well im getting too many snakes, and realising that using substrates is becoming a pain in the arse, as i cant always find the poos.

So figure got two options, go to paper, as much easier to spot clean, i just to a complete change of substrate once a week. With my bigger girls, i hardly ever change the substrate, but just take out the very obvious poos when needed.

any advice?

also wondering with the big breeders, ie you Dave, do you check every single snake everyday? spot clean everyday etc, or is it a cleaning day when everything gets changed?

is newspaper fine, or are there better alternatives, paper wise?

cheers

ps and no i havent had anymore escapees
-----
Dave

2.2 Normal BRBs
2.1 Anery BRB
4.4 66% poss het anery BRB
2.5 66% poss het new european line hypo

In the mail from the states
1.1 het hypo BRB
1.1 something special BRB

aims to work out what all my 66% hets really are, and then go from there. Sky the limit, well maybe

I use newspaper and change when necessary, I have something to clean everyday, but if you look daily or almost daily, you do not have to clean them all in one day. I also do not feed them all on the same day so they poop at all different times.

I also use white paper towels for neonates when they are first born then switch to newspaper after they shed. Not always my neonate dumeril's are on paper towels, they shed as the yare being born or slightly thereafter.

Not a big breeder by any means, I have over 40 snakes at the moment (27 being neonates born or hatched out this year)

>>ok, well im getting too many snakes, and realising that using substrates is becoming a pain in the arse, as i cant always find the poos.
>>
>>So figure got two options, go to paper, as much easier to spot clean, i just to a complete change of substrate once a week. With my bigger girls, i hardly ever change the substrate, but just take out the very obvious poos when needed.
>>
>>any advice?
>>
>>also wondering with the big breeders, ie you Dave, do you check every single snake everyday? spot clean everyday etc, or is it a cleaning day when everything gets changed?
>>
>>is newspaper fine, or are there better alternatives, paper wise?
>>
>>cheers
>>
>>ps and no i havent had anymore escapees
>>-----
>>Dave
>>
>>2.2 Normal BRBs
>>2.1 Anery BRB
>>4.4 66% poss het anery BRB
>>2.5 66% poss het new european line hypo
>>
>>In the mail from the states
>>1.1 het hypo BRB
>>1.1 something special BRB
>>
>>aims to work out what all my 66% hets really are, and then go from there. Sky the limit, well maybe

-----
=========================================================
Roberts Realm Of Reptile Research
=========================================================
Thanks,

I opened my mouth and out flowed a melody black.

Paper substrates are clearly much easier to maintian for the herper with nmany specimens. I use a couple sheets of newspaper with one layer of indented craft paper to look nice and provide treaction etc. Many of my largetr cages are set up with pieces that cover a little mor ethan half. Nice thing is if the mess is on one end only., only do a half cage change.

I try to check every snake every day but honestly I do not always get that far. I do keep a mental note when I skip a rack and it goes to the top of my next day list. Checking/cleaning every day is the way to go, that way there are fewer cages on any given day to clean.

Glad to hear you've fixed your security issues.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

I use just paper towel for all my snakes. I don't have a huge collection of snakes (13 right now) and since the bulk of my cages are clear sided, I just check for dark marks on the paper towel or yellowish stains. The nose test works too...I walk into the snake room and smell one has gone, and track down which cage it is coming from. Usually a couple days after feeding I end up cleaning 2-4 cages a day till all are cleaned...then its feeding time again...but on average I clean a cage or two a day.

OR just just clean as I see soils when I change water.
-----
PHLdyPayne

are there any negative affects to the newspaper technique? any problems keeping humidity up, as my humidity is high, because of the substrate im using. Also the snakes can bury into it. But unsure really what to do, newspaper just seems so unnatural for them. Also do they get fine traction on it? i understand thats why you might use the different paper dave.
-----
Dave

2.2 Normal BRBs
2.1 Anery BRB
4.4 66% poss het anery BRB
2.5 66% poss het new european line hypo

In the mail from the states
1.1 het hypo BRB
1.1 something special BRB

aims to work out what all my 66% hets really are, and then go from there. Sky the limit, well maybe

I switched to newspaper early on for my corns (and used paper towels for Loki, although I'm now switching him to newspaper too), because it's MUCH easier and faster to keep truly clean than any other substrate I used. It's also much cheaper to replace frequently. I've never seen any traction problems for the snakes on the paper. They do enjoy sometimes burrowing under it.

I keep Loki's humidity up by using plastic tubs and one larger plastic shoebox (with appropriate sized entry holes) filled with moist moss. Loki likes to burrow into the damp moss so I stopped spraying the bottom of the cage (it really became unnecessary). He gets all the humidity he needs from the hides and his water bowl.

>>are there any negative affects to the newspaper technique? any problems keeping humidity up, as my humidity is high, because of the substrate im using. Also the snakes can bury into it. But unsure really what to do, newspaper just seems so unnatural for them. Also do they get fine traction on it? i understand thats why you might use the different paper dave.
>>-----
>>Dave
>>
>>2.2 Normal BRBs
>>2.1 Anery BRB
>>4.4 66% poss het anery BRB
>>2.5 66% poss het new european line hypo
>>
>>In the mail from the states
>>1.1 het hypo BRB
>>1.1 something special BRB
>>
>>aims to work out what all my 66% hets really are, and then go from there. Sky the limit, well maybe
-----
Renee
1.0 BRB (Loki)
2.0 amel & anery corns (Foxfire & Daguerre)
0.1 blood python (Duchess, arriving later this month)
1.1 Cats (Nightshade & Cuzzy)