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what is the best substrate for corns? i know aspen bedding seems to be where its at now but how about coconut fiber? paper towels? that newspaper fiber stuff for small animals?

thanks,
chris

for the baby corns we use paper (news paper or paper towel...whatever we have handy) and adults get pine shavings...they absorb the poop and water better and are inexpensive and easy to clean...although it's not a good idea to get the shavings very wet because the fumes are bad for the snakes...also air them out first if you are going to use them because the smell is strong until it dissapates...I don't know if this is the best but it's cheap, easy to clean and seems to work for us...
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Chris Vanderwees
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..whatever works for you and your snakes. Aspen has all the qualities of a functional substrate plus the light color makes spotting messes easy.

Coconut fiber makes a fine substrate, but for me it gets on the floor easier and in water bowls.

Care-Fresh (the newspaper mill by-product) is functional as well. My opinion is that it has a stronger odor and is more costly, but I know reptiles have no problems on it other than it is dessicating to young snakes, so spray it down a little with water as needed.

Paper towels/newspaper/DCL/etc - I like using paper for hatchlings until they are very well started. Personal preference only. I don't want a tiny snake to swallow a shard of aspen or anything else.

hey CV, u sound like more of an expert than me so forgive me for this but i dont think u should use pine, as far as i know it kills reptiles and according to new research it even kills small animals!

let me know what everyone thinks about this...and thank u guys for the input
chris

The oil in pine is horrible for snakes respitory systems.Good catch....Paul

I'm no expert...at most I'm a guy who reads a lot and tries to learn from other experianced breeders and peoples opinions.

So far we've been using pine shavings for almost 2 years without any problems. Whoever said that aspen was better is absolutely right. Aspen is much better but it's also 4 times the price.

The pine shavings we buy is kiln dried to get rid of some of the oil, and buggies.

I honestly believe that paper towel is the best but for the bigger snakes Gophers, Pines, Florida Kings I prefer to use pine shavings...not saying it's the best...just that's what we use and it seems to work.

Just don't soak the stuff with water or your snake will come down with respritory problems. And I'm going to assume everyone knows never to use cedar.
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Chris Vanderwees
REPTILE SALES AND INFORMATION
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1.2.0 Bearded Dragons
1.1.0 Crested Geckos
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1.2.0 California Kingsnakes
1.3.0 South Florida Kingsnakes
1.1.0 Albino Sonoran Gopher Snakes
1.4.0 Leopard Geckos
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You can get 4 cubic feet of aspen at wally world for under 8 bucks...Paul

I checked at our wall mart once and the only thing they carried was...pine/cedar mixes.

I'll check again.
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Chris Vanderwees
REPTILE SALES AND INFORMATION
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1.2.0 Bearded Dragons
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Yes, pine oil contains an ingredient that is not good for any animal in an enclosed cage with little ventilation. Pine-Sol uses that ingredient. BUT, dry pine shavings have alot less oil than fresh-cut pine. The danger is greatly reduced. Way back when, many keepers used pine and had no problems as far as they could tell.

I have a rubber boa on pine.. for at least a year now. Why isn't it dead or sick? I have a cornsnake that was on pine for a few years before it came to my house. Why isn't it sick or dead? I agree that with other substrates you eliminate the possibility of problems. I'm waiting until someone can post here with some evidence that dry pine causes problems in snakes before I believe it.

I think in Kathy Love's book there are pics of corns on pine shavings...I could be wrong though...
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Chris Vanderwees
REPTILE SALES AND INFORMATION
E-mail Me
1.2.0 Bearded Dragons
1.1.0 Crested Geckos
1.2.0 Veiled Chameleons
3.4.0 Corn Snakes
1.0.0 Tokay Geckos
1.2.0 California Kingsnakes
1.3.0 South Florida Kingsnakes
1.1.0 Albino Sonoran Gopher Snakes
1.4.0 Leopard Geckos
0.1.0 Green Iguanas