Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Im switching my corns substrate and i was considering wood shavings since everyone seems to think its a good idea. My uestion is what kind of wood shavings? I know Cedar is bad, what about aspen or pine? And what size shavings, they come in fine chips and also big chunky chips, which is best?

And if shavings are not an aequate substrate what is? I want something my snake can burrow in and that can be spot cleaned

TIA!
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0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican kingsnake
1.0.2 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Rose Hair Tarantula
1.0 BTS
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

Fine shredded aspen is my preference. The last bag I bought was larger pieces than I normaly buy but it was so cheap I couldn't pass it up. One of the large bags, 3 cubic feet i think is only about 10 bucks. I am using it in about 7-8 tanks. One bag lasts me at least a year. My wifw still refuses to use aspen. She thinks it is ugly. She uses Reptibark in all her python and boa cages. She spends twice as much every time she cleans out her tanks than I do for an entire year. For the record I know of the dangers bark represents, but I like peace in my home.
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1,0 snow
1,0 amel
1,0 texas corn
1,0 aney stripe motley
0,1 normal
0,1 charcoal
0,1 motley
1,1 oketee
0,1 tx rat
1,0 diadem
4,5 ball python
1,1 dumerils boa
1,1 columbian red tail boa
1,1 green iguana
1,0 leopard gecko
1,2 dogs
freezer full of mice & rats

Where do you buy such large bags of aspen shavings? At a feeds and needs store? Or do pet stores carry them?
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0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican kingsnake
1.0.2 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Rose Hair Tarantula
1.0 BTS
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

I hate to admit it but I bought it at Petco. Fortunatly one of my local Petcos has a very good reptile man. I know Petcos get a lot of bad press on this site, but so far I have been very happy with Ziggy at my store.
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1,0 snow
1,0 amel
1,0 texas corn
1,0 aney stripe motley
0,1 normal
0,1 charcoal
0,1 motley
1,1 oketee
0,1 tx rat
1,0 diadem
4,5 ball python
1,1 dumerils boa
1,1 columbian red tail boa
1,1 green iguana
1,0 leopard gecko
1,2 dogs
freezer full of mice & rats

Heck I get my aspen from pet supermarket - it's cheaper there. I just won't buy anything live from them. I know of no problems with reptile bark - plus pythons and boas dont really like to burrow as much as colubrids do, so it's not that big of a problem.

But yeah to answer your question aspen is the way to go for colubrids.
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-Chris

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
N. American Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote
Information on substrates

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
0.1 Texas Bairdi (Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Monty)

I personaly have never had any problems with repibark, but the problem with it is just what its called bark. If there are any critters or pesticides in a tree the bigest concentration will be in the bark. I know the stuff is supposed to be steralized and what not but in my opinion its better to stick with the aspen shavings.
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1,0 snow
1,0 amel
1,0 texas corn
1,0 aney stripe motley
0,1 normal
0,1 charcoal
0,1 motley
1,1 oketee
0,1 tx rat
1,0 diadem
4,5 ball python
1,1 dumerils boa
1,1 columbian red tail boa
1,1 green iguana
1,0 leopard gecko
1,2 dogs
freezer full of mice & rats

thanks a lot guys, i will go get some aspen tomorrow!
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0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican kingsnake
1.0.2 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Rose Hair Tarantula
1.0 BTS
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats