Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What would you consider to be he ideal bedding for a ball python? EcoEarth, Aspen, cage carpet, paper towels...I'm leaning cage carpet.

I've used it all over 8 years and I would have to say emphatically, unprinted newspaper stock. Without a doubt.
-----
www.strictlyballs.ca

I use cypress mulch for my bp. I find that it holds humidity well, better than aspen (which I use for my colubrids), and it does not mold. Spot checking involves just scooping out the mess, since balls aren't as runny as many colubrids. Newspaper seems to work the best with cleaning, but I like the look of the cypress.

Haven't had mites so far, but I'm sure that they might be a point against using cypress, which would seem harder to eradicate.

0.1.0 Royal(Ball) Python
1.0.0 Amenalistic (Red Albino) Cornsnake
0.0.1 Western Hognose

0.2.0 English Bulldogs
0.1.0 Piebald Dachshund

1.0.0 Betta

That I actually agree with Mykee on something lol. Unprinted all the way...
-----
http://www.myspace.com/jasballpythons

I'm shocked John, completely flabbergasted.
-----
www.strictlyballs.ca

After over 20 years, I've settled on Aspen as ideal, especially for those with large collections in rack systems. Newsprint is certainly cheap and convenient, but impossible to properly spot-clean. Cypress does hold humidity better, but sometimes TOO well in a rack, plus I continue to be wary of the jagged splinters....

Aspen is easy to spot-clean, inhibits mold, and lacks harmful phenols or other chemicals. And after feeding on it for almost two decades, I have yet to have an incident of harmful complications from ingestion. The only real disadvantage is cost.
-----
Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

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

I haven't been doing this for very long, but I love using newsprint. No muss, no fuss!

If my animals were on display and not in racks, I'd use Shredded Aspen (it looks a little more natural than Aspen Shavings).

Ken
-----
1.0 Spider Ball Python (Sarki)
0.1 Pastel Ball Python (Panthea)
0.1 100% Het Albino Ball Python (Hazina Adamma)
1.0 Albino Ball Python (Apu)
0.5 Normal Ball Pythons (Norma, Nova, Nala, Nimeesha, Nyoka)

1.0 Desert Tortoise (Tubbs) from Tortoise Rescue
1.0 Boxer (Shadow)


www.ocballs.net
kvandoren@ocballs.net

Cage carpet is the worst thing you can use, it will cause irritations on the belly scales and will in time make the belly get a pink tint to it about like a rash.. There are a few different grades of that carpet stuff , some worse than others as they have different textures to them , but none of them are good in my book.. Newspaper may not look the best but I find it is about as good as anything else out there.. I've tried substrates but the newspaper forces you to keep the cage clean instead of just spot cleaning it all the time.. Maybe it's faster to spot clean , but is it healthier for the snake than replacing it with a fresh tub with new papers?? Anthony McCain..

That's another good thing about aspen-it can stay pristine and fresh-smelling for a couple of weeks, so long as the keeper removes ALL of the soiled bedding when a spot cleaning is done. With newspaper, the slightest dampening must be immediately attended to, or a very unhealthy condition results, in which the snake is forced to lie in contact with wet and/or soiled substrate. This may be ok for those with the free time to check every enclosure daily and clean within hours of a mess, but for most collections I've seen this isn't possible. In any kind of decently-ventilated rack, aspen will soak up and dry out that mess, keeping things reasonably healthy until a cleaning can be done.

So yes, I think it IS more healthy for the snake, and the proof is the many fine commercial snake breeders who use aspen (or the other good choice, cypress) exclusively....
-----
Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

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

In what world is spot cleaning a mess safer and "healthier" than cleaning out the entire substrate?
A pee is a pee is a pee. The snake will have to deal with it in there until it's either spot cleaned (with loose substrate, not the most sanitary) or to have the substrate replaced COMPLETELY(with newspaper, seems more sanitary in my opinion)....
-----
www.strictlyballs.ca

Never said it was "safer" or "healthier"-but I WILL say that if you are not around to clean (and who among us is able to look at EVERY cage EVERY day, 365 days a year?) Then a mess will be MUCH better absorbed by a pile of aspen or cypress than by several sheets of newsprint! If you're gone for the weekend then that snake will have to sit on wet newspaper for several days. If you'd used aspen or cypress their would be no such concern. I myself used newspaper for many years, and I am much better pleased with the performance of aspen.
-----
Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

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

VERY few professional breeders use newspaper as their primary substrate. This is not an accident ....

To quote from Dave and Tracy Barker's book:

"We purposely do not clean aspen bedding meticulously. We find this is not necessary....If the odor of some large stool or uneaten meal is detected, then we remove the source of the offending odor. Every second or third month, we replace all the bedding."

Try this procedure with newspaper-no way! I'm not saying NP is a BAD substrate-it is in fact far superior to most. But if you have a large collection, aspen or cypress will save you many hours and lots of headaches every year!
-----
Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

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