Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was hoping some one out there could help me. I am looking to get back into snake keeping. I used to live in the Chicago land area and there was a substrate I used that I could only find at one store but many other keepers in the area recomended this product. It was in a green and gray plastic bag. Nature something. it was treated shredded up paper. If anyone can help me find out where to get this stuff now or can recommend another paper substrate it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your assitance in advance.

I use a 100% recycled paper kitty litter. I think it's made by nature's own. Sold in all different sized bags. It looks like little straws of grey paper with a 5mm diameter.

That sounds like the stuff but I'm not sure.. Can you tell me where you get it from?

It is available at many pet stores, and supermarkets. Usually costs about twice as much from the pet stores.

Yesterdays News. Most pet stores sell it - Petco, PetSmart. I however do not like it. Because it can be used with some depth to it, most people don't remove enough when it becomes soiled, so it then provides a great breeding ground for bacteria and fungi that you don't want growing in with your snakes. At least with plain old newspaper, if it gets soiled you remove all the soiled paper and put in fresh. However, I don't like newspaper either. I keep my animals all on a variety of natural substrates from bark mulches [cypress, hardwood, coconut husk chips], to actual soil mixes. Of all the substrates, I prefer the soil mixes the best and will be slowly switching all my caging over to soil mix substrate. If you want more info on soil substrates let me know.
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Matt Campbell
25 years herp keeping experience
Full-time zookeeper
Personal collection - 21 snakes (9 genera), 20 lizards (4 genera), 6 chelonians (2 genera)