Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm thinking of switching over and using aspen in my corn's tank instead of paper towels...but i have question, and that is when the snake does his business..do you just have to spot clean, or do you have to scoop out a whole bunch of it, and then replace it everytime he goes??

thanks

with my rosy boa I just scoop it out

You can spot clean it up to a certain point. Every week or so (two weeks at the most) it should all be changed.

Yeow! I have heard lots of folks talk about how often they completely change their substrate, but you get the "Mr Clean" award! I am curious as to how many others completely change theirs that often. I certainly agree that the more often you clean, the better off your animals are. But I suspect that lots of folks feel that if they changed all the aspen two weeks ago...well...they sorta "just changed it"... Speak up and correct me if I'm wrong, folks. I tend to start out with a generous amount (lots of burrowing space) and take out big handfuls as I spot clean. I also tend to keep my snakes in larger enclosures than folks who have tons of snakes (I currently have a dozen). Anyhow...I would be really interested in just how often other people are doing the complete change.
Hats off to you, oldherper, as I'm sure that your animals are very well tended. Duffy

That's one of the reasons I don't use Aspen anymore, Duffy. It's just too much trouble. Plus, I found that it had a real tendency to hold ammonia smell. Newspaper is my substrate of choice. When I do use shavings, it's Cypress mulch and I put it in a big Rubbermaid tub so it serves as sort of a hiding box/burrowing area. That way, I can just lift the tub out and dump it once a week if they happen to soil it. But, what I find is that they tend not to go in there, they usually end up going on the newspaper on the floor of the cage (or in their water bowl).

I'm going to fess up; I completely change out my substrate every 6 or so months. This is in a 6'x4'x3' enclosure housing a pair of BRB's. I use a really thick layer (about 6" of orchid bark covered with a thick layer of green moss. I spot clean by doing the big scoop. The enclosure smells pleasantly earthy and my snakes have never had a problem.
I keep my kings on Carefresh (recycled, ground up paper)with a layer of newspaper underneath. This is an excellent product which really doesnt look bad at all and the snakes can burrow around in it. I scoop clean and change out monthly.