Substrate, oh the choices.

I use sand blasted pebble from Dolen.

I'm not going to say its the best thing to use, but I will say that it was VERY recommended to me by some breeders and the vet who handled our sick ball.

Makes for an easy clean up too.

I know someone is going to read a breeder site and see where they say cypress or aspen (if bark-based), but call them and find out what they use on their "personal" animals. Bark product can block or harm the snake if swallowed, so they use something else.

So far none of this has stuck to any food. Wish I could say the same for bark product.

For stock I will probably go with newspaper.

[HaloedSatan]

Originally Posted by ssjsmits

Aspen, through and through. I like the look, I believe the boas feel comfortable and secure on it (my beliefs) and it's absorbent.

I concur. It's cheap, it's safe, it holds heat and moisture, and you can buy it by the (insert extremely large cubic ft. amount here). Not to mention it gives way to those few boas and balls that have a burrowing fetish.

[Botis]

Alright thanks everyone. Ill be switching to aspen.

I love the natural look of the coconut stuff but its very messy to setup up lol. anyone whos used it knows what i mean.

[HaloedSatan]

Originally Posted by Botis

Alright thanks everyone. Ill be switching to aspen.

I love the natural look of the coconut stuff but its very messy to setup up lol. anyone whos used it knows what i mean.

Not to mention when I started my collection I started with coconut husk and had reoccuring mite problems.

[Botis]

Ive been extremely lucky thus far, never had a mite problem.

[JuliusSqueezer]

I don't put anything on newspaper except snakes with open wounds I'm treating. I think for many species, not allowing them to burrow is cruel. Sure some will go between the layers and hide...but it's not the same. Also, even a slight water spill means everything has to come out to change the paper. So it's actually MORE maintenance to use it. Since it has to be changed so often, it keeps the cage TOO sterile. Yes...TOO sterile is a problem....probably even a bigger problem than too nasty. All animals NEED some exposure to various amounts of certain bacteria or else their immune system won't stay up and on guard. Antibodies attack at random till they luck up on the right one. Then they remember. Keeping them exposed to a little dirt is good for them...otherwise a germ gets in and can kill a snake pretty quick while it's immune system is trying to find the right antibody if it's not been kept active.

Another reason I don't use paper is because I prefer species that require a lot of humidity. Tree boas or pythons on newspaper is no good at all unless you like the smell of mold. I assure you, your snake doesn't dig it either.

I use mostly cypress mulch. A giant bag at home depot is 2-3 bucks. It holds humidity and doesn't mold or mildew. You can spot clean it by just grabbing a hand full of it that's surrounding the poop and tossing it. And a water spill just adds to the humidity.

I like the ecoearth stuff too. Sometimes I mix it in the cypress for a more dirt look. and it smooths out the burrowing a bit for the snakes. I don't however like it for anything with heat pits that burrows. I won't use it on any ground dwelling pythons or rainbow boas. And if your snake ever gets an RI and is open mouth breathing, get him off that stuff and clean his mouth out quick! Sick snakes will crawl through it open mouthed and just fill up on it. It's a nasty clean up.

[louise]

my dumeril and corn both have eco earth and the rest have mulch. my baby tarantula has eco earth.

[All_American]

coconut soft chips for my large boa's and aspen or paper for the smaller cages.

coconut, its easy to spot clean in my opinion and it keeps the smell down great, holds humidity well and does not mold if not over saturated, the others are self explained.

[sgrdolphin]

We use cocogrow. it is the same as coconut substrate but has been sanitized better and is cheaper for us because my boyfriend owns a wheat grass business so he just gets it at the garden supply store.

[Johnny Utah]

I used newspaper until I thought about what Julius Squeezer says about it - that makes sense to me.

Since then, I've switched to aspen.

When I had a mite breakout, I switched back to newspaper for obvious reasons.