Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is an early AM hog who just emerged from a badger burrow, here front half is covered in sand. I watched her then she did the cobra thing and shot down the hole. I collected about 150pds of this natural substrate to use for nesting and cages.
A few more wild hogs, some in situ, others taken off roads

Are you going to use it as-is, or try to sterilize it in some fashion?
Bake it perhaps, to make sure it is pathogen free?

Soils are living and that's part of what makes them work.
One key to my approach to keeping is, to allow our snakes to be equal if not better then wild snakes. Wild snakes have an incredible immune system. They consume parasites with every meal and as you can see in the pictures, They are super strong and healthy. They heal from wounds captives die from and they are not treated by a vet. Heck, some survive being crushed by cars. Again without the aid of a vet. My goal is to support that.
Its worked well, no great so far. So we will keep it up.
All in all, we can discuss until we are blue in the face, but you cannot argue the pictures.
This is were I do part ways with many folks, they compare their animals to other folks animals, I don't and won't. I compare captives to the real things, the animals in the above pictures. Thanks for the question.

Makes sense.
I always kinda chuckled on the inside when I used to breed ball pythons, and someone would post about how they sterilize their tubs every week...then a few months later "my snake is sick! Help!"

Snake never built an immune system. Sterile tub since the day it was born...and look at that...it got sick.

Great pics, Frank. Same ones you put up on the FB group. The sand in that first pic looks like beach sand. Cool.

reako45 = Darren Wilson

Thank you, we are headed out now. More soil, and hopefully a few more hogs.