Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering if anyone uses carpet for big visions or any cages for that matter. I need to find a better looking substrate that new paper. dose any one have any suggestion. I have to burms and two big retics and i feel that the news paper make their cage ugly.

I used carpet for a year but did not like it because it took too long to clean. the best thing to use when your looking for something nice is the fake grass from home depot, it's easy to clean, all you have too do is run the water hose on it and let it dry in the sun.

Well, I use to use carpet, but got turned off after awhile as my burm got bigger. The carpet stunk, when she peed on it or pooped. When I came home I could smell it as soon as I walked into the building where I live. Bad, then I changed to newspaper and it got a lot better, plus it is eaiser to clean and faster. Brian posted this below, about this, and how the carpet holds things in it, you can try to look through it or archeive but it was very informative. It may look better but, at least for me it is not worth it.

Keep it simple, use newspaper.

>>Well, I use to use carpet, but got turned off after awhile as my burm got bigger. The carpet stunk, when she peed on it or pooped. When I came home I could smell it as soon as I walked into the building where I live. Bad, then I changed to newspaper and it got a lot better, plus it is eaiser to clean and faster. Brian posted this below, about this, and how the carpet holds things in it, you can try to look through it or archeive but it was very informative. It may look better but, at least for me it is not worth it.
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Believe in yourself and your abilities and you can accomplish anything.

I agree that newspaper looks ugly. But carpet (if you mean real wool or synthetic carpet) would just soak up the waste in no time and be impossible to keep clean. If you mean indoor/outdoor, astroturf plastic-type carpet, it won’t even absorb the liquid, leaving your snakes lying in a bacterial soup, so you’ll have to constantly swap it out with a clean piece; and some types will be very abrasive on snakes’ bellies.

Some people go with various wood products like bark or aspen. Advantages: looks better; might be a more secure feel for smaller snakes; holds moisture Disadvantages: holds moisture; expense with bigger snakes; my main complaint – you’re still utilizing the “scoop the poop” routine which leaves a lot of the snake’s waste to build up under and in the bedding.

My recommendation: try indented kraft paper and/or newsprint on top of the newspaper. Disadvantages: well, it’s still not free like newspaper alone! Advantages: It looks a little better; keeps all the advantages of newspaper; results in a little less black ink on water bowls or white snakes. For me, the main advantage is that you keep that ease of cleaning – roll it up , toss it, clean/disinfect, throw down new layers of paper, done.

The pic below was taken to illustrate sagging Vision caging on a different forum, but you can see the newsprint (the plain white paper) and the indented kraft (the brown paper). It’s your call on whether it looks any less ugly than regular newspaper, but it’s my solution for the present. I’m always open to trying something else.

-Joan

Indented kraft paper?Is that similar to butcher's paper?Where can you purchase it!
Thanks,CHAINSAW

No. Butcher paper has a smooth surface and sometimes it is coated to prevent absorption of, hmm, “juices.” Indented kraft has a pattern of impressions made all over it somehow (see pic below), which increases its surface area and therefore its capacity to absorb liquid somewhat. Even so, it doesn’t do an adequate job by itself when large boids are in full bore eating and drinking mode. During the times my snakes are off feed, I do use it alone or with a couple of sheets of newsprint on top

The cage liners are sold as 60 lb. basis weight indented kraft paper by shipping supply companies. Most sell big rolls, others offer cut sheets in limited sizes. I’ve used two online suppliers, Associated Bag Co. and Uline. Even though the paper was described identically, the product from Uline was better I thought – more substantial. I’ve also seen them offered on the Kingsnake classifieds by one company which I presume is buying in large quantities from similar sources. They probably would make it easier to get what you need or to try a small lot. Along with 24” x 36” newsprint, I’ve standardized on 36” x 360’ rolls, as well as 24” x 36” cut sheets of this kraft paper. With a little judicious folding or by using multiple sheets, I can make these work for all my cages.

As far as “are they worth it”, it’s hard to answer. When you figure in shipping costs, they are quite pricey. But they, along with unprinted newsprint, are a luxury I allow myself after years of black hands and water bowls due to the ink from regular newspaper. They absolutely will not hold up to lots of liquid – whether urates or from heavy water spraying of cages - where active snakes are involved. You really need to add newsprint either underneath or on top to absorb the fluids that come with big boids.

-Joan

Thanks alot guys, i think i will try the brown kraft paper and maby the turf from home depot. Thanks again my burms and retics will be very happy!

I actually had this idea the other night, while making some modifications to my setup...

Why doesn't a company make a "snake paper" printed with a kind of earthy design to it? It would be aesthetically pleasing, but would be easy to clean, like newspaper. It would be more expensive than newspaper, of course, and probably even than craft paper, but for those who want a really nice looking enclosure without the hassle and bacterial threat of other substrates, it might be worth it.

OK, just my idea; it's probably impractical for a number of reasons

And also, jfmoore, nice bloods in that picture!!!
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A. Fox

I personally use old cotton sheets for most of my snakes, and for my adult burm I either double up the sheets or use those cheap cotton blankets you can buy at WalMart (look kinda like felt) for about ten bucks. The sheets are very absorbant and look pretty decent (I do have a few tacky sets though LOL). They're also pretty cheap as I get most of mine from yard sales or thrift stores (such as Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc.). They are very absorbant of the liquid waste or spilled water bowls (though spilled water bowls do get things messier as there is more liquid to absorb). For cleanup I simply shake solid waste into the trash or commode and dump the sheets in the washer with detergent and bleach. I generally keep two sets of sheets for every cage so that if I have to clean all the cages at one time, I have another set to replace them with. All in all they make cleanup a snap and look a lot better than newspaper and are easier to deal with than wood shavings. The snakes seem to like them well enough, too - smaller snakes tend to burrow between or under the layers giving them a cage-wide hide. I got the idea from one of the old-timers on the boa forum a couple of years ago and really liked it - saved me a ton of time on cleaning day and looks loads better IMO.

Raven