Reptile & Amphibian Forums

how well does heat pass through it? I have been thinking of bedding my corn, king, and possibly even my boa cage with it but was concerned the heating pads wont be as effective.

I use ESU's Lizard Liner (green felt like carpet) and it doesn't absorb too much heat - so it works well in my opinion. I think astroturf may be a bit thicker, but I don't think it will affect things too much. I use it in my ball pythons cage, but I would personally not use it in any of my colubrids cages because they defecate/urinate too often - I'd be changing the carpet a few times a week.

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1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
1.0 San Felipe Rosy Boa "Legalos"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"

0.0.1 Crested Gecko
0.0.1 Irian Jaya BlueTongued Skink

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

as a substrate for your mexican Kingsnake? I looked at your pics they are great. But I couldnt figure out what that was in the tub. I like the way you set that tub up it looks nice and comfy. Im getting a new snake soon and will be using a tub, I use cypress for my bps and papertowels for the rest but the paper towels is rather ugly..
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2.0 Ball Pythons (Titus and Hercules)
1.0 Western Hognose (Fuego)
0.1 cornsnake (Strawberry)
0.2 Bearded dragons (itchy and scratchy)
0.1 Rosehair T. (Jigglypuff)
1.0 dog BC..(Kippy)
2.1 cats (Thomas,Sunflower,Diablo(Boo))
0.0.1 American Toad (squidward)

I love it. It's coconut fibers/husks. I plan on using it for my Cal King, Corn, Skink and moving my BP onto it. It's a pain to prepare, but I still like it. It comes in a compressed brick and you let it soak for awhile. Then you fluff it up and lay it out in the sun to dry (I've heard of some baking it in the oven - I might try this next time). I prepare more than I need so I always have extra on hand. One brick goes a long way. You can make it as dry or 'wet' as you want - so it's great for either high or low humidity speces. It's easy to spot clean, looks natural and doesn't have any order. You can also feed on it. I don't find it dusty either.

Eco Earth is the same thing, but I've heard of people finding bugs in it. Also, Bed-a-Beast is the only of it's kind that doesn't have chemicals, etc added to it.

Thanks for the compliment!
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Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
1.0 San Felipe Rosy Boa "Legalos"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"

0.0.1 Crested Gecko
0.0.1 Irian Jaya BlueTongued Skink

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

...because when it dries out completely it consists of tiny light particles (i.e., it's kind of like dust). I'm concerned about possible RIs resulting. It's great for a high humidity environment though.

It does have some small particles, but I've not found it dusty at all - certainly doesn't have me sneezing (and I'm pretty sensitive to dust, etc) or my skink. I've found aspen to be even dustier. I actually feel more comfortable with it over aspen. But I use both.
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Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
1.0 San Felipe Rosy Boa "Legalos"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"

0.0.1 Crested Gecko
0.0.1 Irian Jaya BlueTongued Skink

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

I clean the corns and king cages every other day. I just cant stand looking at the newspaper any longer. Looks like I'm trying to raise newspaper....doing a very good job at it too!

LOL. I highly recommend the Bed-a-Beast. I wasn't too sure at first so I just bought one brick and tried it for a couple of months on just one of my snakes to develop an opinion. I'm happy with it. I love the look of the green carpet against my bps colors, but my collection keeps growing and it does add extra work - that's why I'm switching even my bp to bed-a-beast.
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Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
1.0 San Felipe Rosy Boa "Legalos"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"

0.0.1 Crested Gecko
0.0.1 Irian Jaya BlueTongued Skink

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

I dont understand why everyone thinks this is so hard to take care of. I have 4 rat snakes...4 tanks...all have astrotuf in it. I bought it from home depot, works great (of course rinse it out before you use it). I have 8 pieces I swap them out after the second feeding and defecation. Spray it down with the hose let it drip dry in the bathtub. How could you ask for anything easier? Plus you can feed them in the cage with no worry of ingestion.

One big thing I dont like about shredded newspaper or any product that uses a form of shredded newspaper is that if it gets ingested it can't pass through the system like bark or a natural wood can. Newspaper is loaded with chemicals by itself, no need for anyone to add any more to it to sell it. Shredded newspaper can cause blockage which equals large vet bills. Is it really worth it then?
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

Battling ignorance one stupid person at a time.

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat(Lola)
1.0 Neonate Black Rat (het for Lic Stk's) (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds ("Bill" and "The Bride aka Beatrix Kiddo" )

I agree, it's not as difficult as everyone makes it out to sound - but really depends on how many animals you're taking care of. Since I'm up to 8 snakes and 2 lizards (and growing), I'm thinking of switching from the carpet.

And since any liquids passed with urates/feces will get absorbed into the carpet I think it best to change after each movement. It's not so bad with my bp because he goes like clockwork - a few days after I feed him. So I just wait till then, spot clean and change out the piece. Also, remember you need to clean (hot soapy water) and disinfect (bleach:water or Nolvasan/Virosan: water solution) the dirty piece. Just spraying doesn't clean or disinfect it. You'll still have a dirty piece of carpet - just maybe sprayed off some loose pieces of dirt.
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Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
1.0 San Felipe Rosy Boa "Legalos"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"

0.0.1 Crested Gecko
0.0.1 Irian Jaya BlueTongued Skink

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"