Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everybody,

I am in the process of setting up good looking terrariums for my snakes that I can display and would like to switch from Aspen (which I am currently using) to the Zoomed Repti Bark substrate. I've looked around for different products and the Zoomed is the one that I liked due to functionality and looks. I definitely believe the looks are much nicer with the bark rather than the aspen.

My cages are the T-10s from Animal Plastics which I received recently and I will be adding fake plants and branches in the cages along with realistic looking water bowls and hide boxes.

So my question is: has anybody used this substrate before and what are your comments? Does it give out too much humidity? Is it easy to spot clean? Does it need frequent changing? Does it smell? Most importantly, do the animals like it?

Please note that I'm looking for answers based on experience (or the experience of someone you know) rather than academic answers.

By the way, I have 3 snakes; a normal BCI, a Dumeril's boa and a Ball Python that I will be setting up and I'm in it as a hobby, not as a business.

Thank you.
-----
1.0.0 Dumerils Boa
1.0.0 Royal Python
1.0.0 Boa Constrictor Imperator

Edited on October 7, 2009 at 14:19:15 by PHGinger.

I personally don't use it in my collection due to price, BUT I did use it when I worked at Petco a while back. It's what we used then on most of our animals and I have to say I liked it. If it wasn't so expensive, I'd probably use it now. The best part is the humidity control. You can spray it down heavily during shed and not worry about mold as you do with aspen. I personnally don't think the animals car at all what their on as long as it meets their needs. This stuff does if you have the money and you want something for display. It spot cleans good and I'd say you should only need to do a complete change every 2-3 months. The nice thing about it too, when you do a complete change, put the soil'd substrate on a screen and spray it in a bath tube with HOT water till all the waste goes through. Then let it dry out some and re-use. Zoo-med may say not to do this but I've found it is safe, saves on $, and is easy.

Thank you for all the info. Just your comments alone convinced me to go with it

The advantages that you mention are great; humidity control, no mold, infrequent complete changes, easy spot cleaning. And the reusability, I did not know about that. That's a great plus.

And I don't consider costs that big of an issue at this point. Don't take me wrong, I'm not rich It's just that I have only 3 snakes, and changing the substrate every 2-3 months will not make such a difference in costs. I can see how the costs make a difference when someone has many snakes, but that's not my case.

Thanks again.
-----
1.0.0 Dumerils Boa
1.0.0 Royal Python
1.0.0 Boa Constrictor Imperator

Repti Bark is the only thing I use for my snakes (except the albinos, they get desert snow) and I love it. Easy to clean and holds humidity very well. I've used it now for about two years with no problems.

n/p

I'm not that big of a fan of Repti Bark personally. It's expensive, its dusty(put a white snake on it and find out how dusty it is) and it doesn't absorb very well at all. Not saying the stuff is bad, just that I'm not a fan.

Jason