Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Apparently I was stuck in "air-head" mode yesterday. I went to the Chicago Reptile House, owned by Brian Potter, to buy Aspen bedding, and I accidently bought the wrong bag of aspen.

I bought aspen chips instead of my usual shavings. The chips are much smaller cut. I am trying to decide if I want to take it back and get the stuff I usually would get, or if I should just suck it up and use this.

My concern is, with breeding season here, Im afraid of having a male hemipene get stuck on these and get infected, had it happen before.

Anyone use this stuff, anything good/bad to say about it?

I don't know Tony I don't trust that stuff or the other bigger chips either.

It probably is no more of a problem possibility than regular Aspen but . . . .

I only use Harlan Laboratory grade Aspen

Harlan Teklad 7093 Shredded Aspen 4.38 Cubic Foot Compressed Bedding

. . . Lar M

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Boas By Klevitz

I Support USark.org

I recently changed to the Harlan also and I really like it.
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Paul Rothenbach
Rothenbach@live.com">PRothenbach@live.com

np

Scott smith sells it at the animal expo
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Paul Rothenbach
Rothenbach@live.com">PRothenbach@live.com

Al Animal Expo N/P
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Boas By Klevitz

I Support USark.org

I tried the chips last time I bought bedding and didn't like them. Seemed to keep getting in their mouths, even when they weren't eating. Here's the site for where I've been getting bedding.

http://www.petfooddirect.com/Product/9216/Native-Earth-Shredded-Aspen-4.38-Cubic-Foot-Compressed-Bedding

I think Native Earth and Harlan are the same thing. It says Native Earth, but came in a Harlan bag.
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Rachel Squier
rachelsboa.weebly.com/
"The more we live by our intellect, the less we understand the meaning of life." -Leo Tolstoy

Rachel I use to order Aspen from Pet food Direct (Native Earth) but what they sent was always Harlen Aspen.

The problem with having it shipped . . . . shipping costs about 2-3 times
what the Aspen itself costs.

That's why I'm so happy it's at the Reptile show now.

. . . Lar M
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Boas By Klevitz

I Support USark.org

It gets in their mouth, among other things that are wet. Also, for some reason I experienced mold when I used it.

I totally agree with LarM. The shredded aspen in his pic is the best. Also, it has very little dust.
Baker's Boas

I am fairly confident that stuff is laboratory grade as well. It has the least amount of dust but it is a pain in large cages. All aspen once dirty can infect a boa, so cleaning the cage is the most important element, not the size of the chip. The small chips work fantastic in 8 to 32 quart size containers. Remember, these things crawl around in mud, gravel, etc... All these products mentioned work well.

Those are Sani Chips. I use them for my younger boas in my baby rack it works great and I haven't had issues.

I keep adults on corrugated cardboard.
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Brandon Nixon

Fantastic substrate for rosyboas and other small snakes, but as stated by everyone else, will find its way into the mouths of larger boids due to its size/shape.
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Antaresia maculosa
Antaresia childreni

Mark G