Reptile & Amphibian Forums

what is everyone's opinion? I've always used paper towels because it's easier to monitor the snake even though the hatchling seems to prefer aspen shavings. we all know how difficult it can be to sometimes get the little Eastern or Outer Banks king snakes to eat pinky mice. I guess one advantage of paper towels is that the king snake hatchling is not able to burrow down and therefore never come in contact with the food.

I start out with paper towels until the snakes seem to be eating regularly and digesting well. Then I move them to aspen, usually about a month after they hatch. Due to space limitations, I moved one of my month-old hatchlings to a ten-gallon tank with aspen. The snake is almost twenty inches already and eats fine in that setup.

Gosh, I'm late in replying to this post, but I, like Fliptop, use paper towels first, then go to aspen.

reako45

I put the pinks in a little cup. The little snake will come out and find it, and I can easily check whether or not the pink got eaten, and not just crawled off into the bedding and died somewhere. The snakes quickly learn about the feeding cup and will let you know when it is feeding time again by hanging out in the cup expectantly. Baby snakes can dehydrate easily, too, so I always provide moist sphagnum moss hides (the little brown containers in the pic).
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Here is set up (with lid with air holes off) for fresh hatchlings. They are in this for about the first couple months. I put the live pink in a corner and the little snake can find it. These little tubs are to save space when I have a couple dozen babies.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Thanks for the pic Bob. I have a 10 count hatchling rack that uses the discontinued 4 qt sterilite boxes ( wish I could find more of those ) and have always used the blue shop towels with my corn hatchlings. They are supper absorbent and provide great contrast for picture taking but the shavings are so mu easier for cleaning up poop. BTW, the woodini female ate a f/t for me. The other two didn't. Going to try braining before buying live pinks. Thanks!

Thanks for the pic Bob. I have a 10 count hatchling rack that uses the discontinued 4 qt sterilite boxes ( wish I could find more of those ) and have always used the blue shop towels with my corn hatchlings. They are supper absorbent and provide great contrast for picture taking but the shavings are so much easier for cleaning up poop. BTW, the woodini female ate a f/t for me. The other two didn't. Going to try braining before buying live pinks. Thanks!