Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can anyone tell me the best substate to keep my snakes on and why.

News Paper?
Liners?
Mulch?
Pine Shavings?
Sandi Chips?

Thanks,
James

Pine causes allergic reactions. Don't use that. If you are going to use wood Aspen shavings work. Astroturf carpet works well as does newspaper. Newspaper is probably the easiest to get and use.
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Bryan, Atlanta GA

1-0-0 Ball Python - Apep
1-1-0 Rats... no wait... ROTTEN Little Cats - Ra, Bastet
0-1-0 Little Angelic Kitten - Isis
1-0-0 Horse... whoops... BIG Golden Retriever - Jake
0-1-0 Wife
2-0-0 Kids

my reptile store told me pine shaving were fine. in fact that is what the guy picked for me. should i change immediately?? also what about coconut bark??? how is that? i had someone else recomend that to me. (my snake is about 5 months old)

Some people say pine is bad. I say pine is fine. I have used nothing but pine and aspen for more than 30yrs. Never had a single problem with either.

Snakes can't digest the shavings. Sometimes they can pass through the digestive tract, but more often it will stay in there. Over time, this builds up and becomes impacted. A friend lost some snakes this way, so be very careful that they don't inadvertantly swallow some along with the prey (shavings easily stick in fur and feathers). A safer bet, if you;re going for an aesthetic approach, would be the larger bark chips, like the ones sold in pet stores.

Back in the day when I was feeding live, my favorite BP had a pre-digestion experience. He struck at the mouse and came up with a large piece of bark in his mouth. (No bark since!)

I had stepped out of the room for a moment and gasped when I saw him jerking about in his cage. It was large enough (luckily!) that he couldn't swallow it, but so far back in his mouth that he couldn't shake it out either...plus he doesn't have any hands.

I had to remove it myself with a pair of tweezers. I hate to think of what might have happened if I had not immediately returned to the room.

Regardless...it was NEWSPAPER ONLY from then on!

NEWSPAPER: cleaner, cheaper, easier, delivered, sterile, and readable.

What more could you ask for?

(Just my $1,000,000.00 worth)

Chris
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"I'm funny? I'm funny how? Funny like a clown? I amuse you? I make you laugh? I'm here to f***in' amuse you?" -- Tommy DeVito

thanks man. i think i will trust someone who has been using it for 30 years and the opinion of the guy working at the nations largest reptile store haha. yah i have had my snake for almost a month and i havent noticed any problems so unless something happens i guess i will stick to pine.

Pine and cedar shavings contain toxins that cause respitory and liver problems in reptiles (actually in most animals). If you use it you are gambling with your snakes health, use aspen or cypress, just a cheap and readily available.
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Tosha

"Stupid is forever, ignorance can be fixed." Don Wood

"Of course, that's only my opinion...and I believe I am God." =) Chris Bianco

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope John Paul)
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.0 Pool skimmer rescues for this season

hmmm well should i use shavings or mulch?? and like i asked before what about coconut bark?

I don't care for mulch. I know people that use it and get bugs in it. They say they are not harmful, but I don't like bugs in my cages, like some people don't like pine shavings in their cages. As far as coconut bark, never used it sorry. With aspen, it tends to lower your humidity, as with pine. What I do to is just put a small container with wet paper towles when theyn go into shed, by doing that I get perfect sheds.

Have you actually seen this with pine? My eastern king has been on pine his entire life, 26yrs. Some of my other snakes that are over 12yrs. old been on pine, never a problem. As far as injesting of shavings, again never had aproblem. What little that is sometimes injested will just pass through. Small hatchlings I feed on paper towels, but once they get size on them, no paper towels. Never had any snake become impacted.

see now that guy got me scared....because right after hearing that i went and fed my snake 2 mice and with each one he ingested some of the pine. i get paranoid easily and i was wondering if i should just switch or not. it is almost time to clean out his shaving anyways so should i go pick up some aspen mulch or coconut bark or something?

If you are feeding live, switch to p/k or better yet f/t. That reduces injestion of substrate. But really, it's no big deal, he would have to cosume mouth fulls of shavings to do any harm if any.

haha im just paranoid now because he is my first snake and i have to take good care of him if i want another lol. soooo...maybe im just trippin but i dont know lol

we get it..you have a mojave...

Not trying to be an A$$!!! Just one of my favorite snakes and the only one I have loaded on King Snake.

Thanks,
James