In general you'll find that people with large collections like newspaper. Any particle-based substrate will fall on the floor when cleaning a snake's cage. So, when cleaning 20 or more cages, you have a lot of stuff falling on the floor, as a large number of cages are typically cleaned somewhat quickly. As a consequence, you end up stepping in these particles and end up tracking them all over the house. Then, not only are you cleaning cages, but you're also vacuuming the whole darn house (or at least every room you went into after cleaning cages). I've spoke with several larger scale breeders who have issued this lament.

If I only had one or two snakes, I might use something particle-based. I especially like aspen, as burrowing snakes will make tunnels in it, and I think this gives them exercise that they would not get with a newspaper substrate.

On the other hand, all particle-based substrates contain dust (even if they claim to be "dust free" ). As a result, the dust settles to the bottom of the enclosure. Many snakes spend time resting under the substrate (newspaper or particle-based), so in essence, the snake is breathing in dust, which probably isn't very healthy.

Although newspaper is not the most attractive medium, it's probably the safest for snakes. There has even been speculation the the oils used in newspaper ink act as a deterrant against parasites. I like to use "Scene" magazine, because it fits nicely into sweaterboxes.

Tim

Third Eye

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