Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a baby CB Eastern milk I've been maintaining on paper towels and he seems to be doing well but I notice that a lot of folks use aspen shavings as a substrate. What are the advantages/disadvantages of the two substrates? Should I switch to shavings as my snake gets bigger? I'm kinda new to keeping stuff, mainly been a field herper. Thanks for your opinions.

Scott

as they can burrow in it and use it to hide in. The paper towel substrate is loved by many keepers, though.

Waste products are more difficult to find in aspen. You might find yourself only spot cleaning aspen, which could be a mistake, as the snake would slide over waste products and then spread any bacteria that it has on its skin from the waste products into the rest of the aspen, however we cannot see bacteria, so it doesn't look dirty. I find that aspen tends to make a mess whenever I have used it, as it will spill on the floor while I am trying to get it out of the cage.

I love paper towels, but like I said, the snakes usually love aspen.
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phflame

Thanks for the feedback. Paper is certainly easy to clean and cheap. I use a slab of bark for privacy. Just looking at all the
pics posted, I see a lot of shavings used. Just wondered if I'm
doing the best thing. A matter of opinion I guess.

Scott

do they seem stressed out? If not, then they are fine with whatever you use. Just make sure that you have multiple hides in there for them, and make sure that the hides are on the smaller size, as snakes like to feel secure.
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phflame

Yeah, he's not stressed and the little bastard eats like a pig and is growing well. I was just wondering if shavings might be better
as he gets bigger.

Thanks

Scott

esp. with kings or milks...seems the shavings causes respiratory issues....don't know if it's due to dust from the shavings,or that the shavings are too absorbent-thus dehydrating the snake and the air in its enclosure....and yes the paper is easy to lcean and repl....just throw in a few more hideboxes,etc. to compensate ..actually a few layers of newspaper seems just as good to my snakes as shavings they can burrow in,for security.

There are paper towels and there are paper towels from the health store (made without chlorinated bleach.) Newspaper is the same thing. Urine mixed gives off a toxic gas which may or may not impact your animals depending on your changing paper in a reasonable time. Personally I'd stick with aspen bedding for all babies. Feed them inside a paper coffee cup, not styrofoam or plastic.

Mike