Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've been using this light colored reptile substrate, blah i forgot what it's called, i just bought a ton at one point, put it in a big rubbermaid thing in the big freezer and froze it (to kill potential mites... if there's one thing i learned with rats and their beddings and food and toys it's this... trust no one with the mites!) and I'm finally running low. I take my snake out and put her in a seperate tank to feed her to avoid ingestion of the substrate. This stuff is great, it doesn't smell bad at all and she loves to burrow in it, and spot cleaning is super easy, but there's just one thing... I CAN'T STAND IT! She's a snow corn! She's all white and pinkish and this stuff is also almost white. I'd like a little contrast, for crying out loud! My eyes just want to hurt when I look at this scene! not to mention her little branch ... stick... thing... is a pale wood as well. It's just too bland looking. I've considered reptile bark because it's so nice and dark, but could she burrow in it as well as this? I want her to be happy too! The only other thing is I just remembered what a nice punch in the wallet this substrate is that I'm using now. Any suggestions?
Goes to show what PetSmart knows... I asked if they had any dark substrates for snakes and the girl went "uhh... cedar?" I just hope it was her first day or something...

Did you get the white-ish CareFresh maybe? Or aspen shavings?

I have a snow too, and know the frustration of trying to admire a white snake in a white cage! DON'T switch to repti-bark! I almost did myself but was told that it's no good, especially for young snakes. It's the bark of fir trees and such, which is the most toxic part of the trees.

BUT CareFresh makes gray! I used that in my snows cage for a year and it was nice, she burrowed through all the time. She hardly used her hides because burrowing was more fun. And you could SEE HER! I did switch to aspen again now though, partly for a change of scene, but also for $$, aspen is about 1/2 the price, and I have 13 cages to line with it. Not to mention that at about 52" and fat with eggs, she's pretty easy to spot now But if it's contrast your looking for, you could try the gray CareFresh, it's usually in the small pet isle and not the reptile one.

Good luck
Snow Corn Camoflauge


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Dianne
AKA IcedGoddess
6.7 Cornsnakes
1.3 Cats
0.1 Child
IcedGoddess Creations
Castle Serpents

lol, whoopsy
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Dianne
AKA IcedGoddess
6.7 Cornsnakes
1.3 Cats
0.1 Child
IcedGoddess Creations
Castle Serpents

I've also kept my corn on EcoEarth, which was fine. You might try that.
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1.0 Reverse Okeetee Corn snake Fuzzy
1.3.0 leos, Yoda, Geo, Tang, Ginger
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo (Indy)
0.1.1 frogs Buffy the Cricket Slayer, Butrose Butrose Froggy
1.1.4 firebelly newts Wayne Newton, Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Juice Newton, Olivia Newton John & Helmut Newton
3 Hermit crabs Cletus, Jethro & Bubba
1.1.0 cats Gus & Mena

Carefresh eh? I use a ton of it for my ferret and rats. What i have right now isn't aspen, i think they just call it reptile litter or something simple. it's not all shredded and chippy like regular shavings, it's more like tiny chunks of wood. glad I don't feed her in there... that's guaranteed uncomfy ingestion. I would really like something that's aesthetically pleasing! I loooove carefresh, but God it's boring on the eyes... they should make hot pink bedding, just for me!

haha, nice kitty addition! aww your snakey doesn't look bad at all in the aspen! mine needs a little foliage in there as well... I'm going to have to dedicate this weekend to a good setup design!

The aspen I have now I got at PetSmart, i paid 11$ for a HUGE (5 cubic feet) squeeze-pack. I haven't even used half of it yet and all the cages are lined.

The green vines do make a difference. I get them at the dollar store and then run them through the dishwasher before I put them in. Also, at Home Depot, you can get the bottom tray part of clay pots, I got a bunch for 69 cents each, then I took a hammer to one piece and made a perfect "hole". Makes a great hide. They also have plastic ones that come in green, clay, or white. Anyway, just some ideas on how to "colorize" your set up a bit

I agree though, they should make carefresh in rainbow colors Come to think of it, couldn't we dye aspen with food coloring? LOL

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Dianne
AKA IcedGoddess
6.7 Cornsnakes
1.3 Cats
0.1 Child
IcedGoddess Creations
Castle Serpents

i dont like the shavings for corns(too powdery when dry), but the chunks are nice.
Bed-A-Beast makes them, and i believe EcoEarth does, too.