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I know that there is a substrate used for russian tortoises that is 50/50 play sand and eco earth mixed together...I was wondering would this kind of substrate work for corns? If it could it would save me some $. Thank you in advanced if you know the answer...

Oh yes one more thing Eco Earth is the same as Bed and Beast (the compressed coconut)

Sand holds alot of bacteria and cleaning all that out when it gets ripe is a pain in the rectum....Paul.

But my main question is even though it will be a pain (i think I can handle it) to clean. Will it hurt the snake at all? like wear away at their belley or anything...And I will watch out for bacteria it will be dry so i dont think I have to worry to badly about it.

Sand will be to dry for your corn.If you use overhead heat it will be worse.Corns need 45% humudity to shed.Ive never seen a corn caresheet that reccommends sand as a substrate.

Remember it is not just sand it is a 50/50 mix of snad and Eco Earth...or maybe like 75% of Eco Earth and 25% of sand...It is just an idea...any other people know?....

I wouldn't try it. Sand is bad, it holds bacteria, is easy to ingest, and not digestable. Also, it's too dry, but then when mixed with the coconut, and kept at 45% or greater humidity for your corn, it won't be dry, and any missed poo can cause some nasty growth. I think in the long run you'd find that it won't save $ either, because you'll be replacing larger ammounts of it a lot more often to keep the molds away.

If you're looking to save $, you can get a HUGE(5 cubic feet) bag of aspen shavings at petsmart for 10$, or use paper towels or newspaper. The sand/coconut mixure just sounds like a bacteria nesting ground to me.
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Dianne
AKA IcedGoddess
6.7 Cornsnakes
1.3 Cats
0.1 Child
IcedGoddess Creations
Castle Serpents

OK well sounds good to me...thanks for explaining it...But I will just stick to Eco Earth plan...or maybe eco earth mixed with repti bark....my reptile store has it pretty cheap.

repti-bark is bad too I almost switched to that myself, but was told that it contains the bark of fir trees, which is the most toxic part, especially for young corns...Bummer, because I thought the color of it would be great for my snow, but her health is more important to me. If your really stuck on eco-earth, maybe try it with aspen shavings, the contrast may look pretty neat, and aspen is cheaper than just about anything else...I found this huge bag in the reptile isle even, and usually they only have it in the small pet section.
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Dianne
AKA IcedGoddess
6.7 Cornsnakes
1.3 Cats
0.1 Child
IcedGoddess Creations
Castle Serpents

Well actually it isnt repti-bark it is just bark that is generic it isnt even from a company...It could be aspen, I just know my reptile store uses it on a lot of their Herps...Ill ask them to make sure what it is...and my repti-bark I have now I dont think it is Fir...ill check...

Fir, pine? Bark is bark. Not good for your serpent. Of course cedar was always off limits, but the bark of just about any tree is not that good. I personally believe that cypress mulch is OK and it has some bark in it, but the conifers like pine and fir are too strong. Aspen bedding is the best of the wood products to use.

That soil/sand mix you were talking about is bad. Both soil and sand are hard to keep clean and parasite free. I've tried nuking soil in the microwave. It just gets mad. I got out the magnifying glass and after wetting the soil and nuking it for over 10 minutes, there were still little white bugs in it. Presumably mites of some kind. Same with oven baking it. I guess they have such little mass and moisture content, they resist conventional baking. Sheesh. If I had an autoclave, I'd discover their flash points.

I'm not sure about the coconut bark stuff. It appears to be fairly safe, but I wouldn't recommend it 'till I personally had a chance to test it.

Good luck,

Don
www.cornsnake.NET
South Mountain Reptiles