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I'm considering using a soil or "jungle mix" (not reptile bark / orchid bark) substrate for my corn snake. Is anybody else using soil/jungle mix? Any suggestions?

My concerns - should I plant directly into the substrate, or should I plant into pots, set into the substrate?

Watering the substrate? (or not?) Of course, not enough to make it soggy.

Digging -- will the snake dig down into the substrate? I'd want to compact the substrate enough that the snake wouldn't dig - is this going to be a losing battle?

Proper pH of the substrate ... would a lot of peat moss make it too acidic? I was thinking of mixing the jungle mix (which contains peat and some bark, both acidic) with the expanding (I forgot the name) stuff, mostly coconut husk, I think. Or could I just use potting soil (baked, to eliminate unwanted critters)?

... with all these concerns, maybe I'd just better stick with aspen? But I like a natural looking vivarium, and I can't help thinking my snake would enjoy it too. They DO live on dirt in the wild ... somewhere back in this little fellow's ancestry, there was a wild snake. Must've been.

Also -- if he's on aspen, and I use an underglass stick-to-the-bottom heater, and he burrows down through the aspen to rest on the bottom ... are you sure he won't get burned?

(This is my first snake.)

Leslie

I've seen jungle mix, and I don't like it personally. Your snake IS used to living on dirt, however it is also used to a lot of loose dead leaves and such all over on top of the dirt in which it can easily crawl through, and aspen is a lot closer to a substrate in which it can bury itself vs dirt. However, there are a few other things you want to think about when choosing a substrate.

-absorbancy: when your snake uses the bathroom where will it go. apsen is a very absorbant substrate which will soak it up. dirt will soak it up, but it wont dry and will breed germs.

-odor control: aspen will let the feces and urine dry, eliminating germs breeding - making it more sanitary, and will also keep the odor down. Aspen does a good job at keeping odors down, so you dont have to worry as much abou it.

-Sanitation: already gone over this, just making sure its a bullet point.

-burrowing: your snake will want to burrow, it helps give it a feeling of security. aspen will let it burrow and it cant burrow very well in mud.

-plants: i wouldnt reccomend putting any live plants in, only for the simple reason that they will get crushed by your snake. Silk plants are the way to go.

When all points (and even more than i'm listing, i'm just tired) are looked at, Aspen seems to be the far better choice. You only have to spot clean it whenever your snake does its business, and change the entire substrae out when it starts stinking (as babies this can be upwards of once every 3+ months.) Then for climbing put in some wooden dowels held together with zip ties and some silk plant leaves.

here's my setup

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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Neonate Black Rat (het for Lic Stk's) (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)

You raise some good points; I may stay with the aspen. But one concern -- heating. If he burrows down to the bottom of the aspen (which he does frequently) and lays on top of the heater (taped to the underside of the glass), will he burn himself?

How is an undertank heater any better than a heating rock? Although Petsmart sells heating rocks by the dozen, I've never heard anything good about heating rocks from people with experience. The Hagen brand of undertank heater was recommended to me as more reliable and less likely to develop hot spots, and of course, more expensive.

I'm paranoid about him getting burnt. Currently I'm using a spot heating light, but I'm considering switching to an undertank heater, to be on all the time, which may be better with cooler weather coming. I've also heard that "belly heat is better."

Thanks for your help!
Leslie

I use the T-Rex Cobra and ZooMed undertank heaters and I haven't had a problem with my snakes getting burnt. Use enough aspen in your aquarium for the snake to completely bury itself.Just to make sure when you put the heater on your aquarium,plug it in and let it reach its maximum temperature.Then check by putting your hand on the glass inside the aquarium,it should be warm but not hot enough to burn you. Also,use the right size mat for your size aquarium.

I stay with blacklight heating, myself. I don't have any problem with it. However an UTH is a good choice as well. You do want to STAY AWAY from hot rocks. They get hot in the very center and your snake will try and coil up around it because of the fact it will want to get as warm as possible at the time, and this can cause a serious burn.

I choose heat lamps for a couple reasons. one is that it's cheaper in the short run. lol. Also I have a climbing structure in each cage, and an UTH isnt' going to heat very well 18-24 inches in the air. I have a couple snakes which actually spend over 80% of their time in the climbing structure.

However, you also need to put either a thermostat or lamp dimmer on your uth. you plug it in, it's going to get way too hot. I'd reccomend just to get a table lamp dimmer from home depot, runs about $10. get it to a good temp though before you let your snake in there.
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Neonate Black Rat (het for Lic Stk's) (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)

Hi Leslie.......You may want to take a look at a new book by Philippe De Vosjoli called "The Art of Keeping Snakes". It's all about using soil-mix type substrates, and his recipe actually sounds a lot like ESU Jungle Mix. I have been tempted, but being a paranoid snake mom, I'm hesitant to just jump into something so different. Plus, the Jungle Mix seems rather hard to find/expensive. My "kids" are moving into bigger set-ups this weekend and changing from newspaper to ESU Lizard Litter, which has worked out great for my BP. I just have 3 snakes (so far!) and I like to keep them in the biggest, most comfy, naturalistic-looking habitats possible. Mr. De Vosjoli states that this soil substrate is fairly common in Europe - maybe Marcel has seen some more of it in actual use?