Natural Substrates

[faroutinmt]

I enjoy using natural substrates in my snake enclosures. I enjoy the look, smell, ability to spot clean, and.....well........that's pretty much it. I use a combination of coconut husk fiber and fir bark for my 2 carpet python enclosures. I use the same combination with sand for my kingsnake.

I like the coconut husk fiber because it smells good, it is highly resistant to mold, it holds humidity well (when I mist the cages during shed cycles), its very absorbent, its easy to spot clean and lasts a long time. I add fir bark because its cheaper than the coconut ( I purchase the 100% fir bark from Home Depot), but its not quite as absorbent. Combining the two gives me the absorption I want and helps cut down the cost of using coconut exclusively.

For my kingsnake I use the same combination plus I add sand which heats well, is very mold resistant, lasts a long, long time, and makes for good burrowing (which he does alot!). Below is a pic of what my kingsnake lives on.



So...I was wondering how many other folks use some kind of natural substrate and for what reasons.

[bleeding_sarcasm]

I prefer coir for my geckos, as it is fine, and ingestion isnt an issue. It is great for humidity and live plants which is what I keep them with. For my snakes I go with what is effective, and I use something called fibersorb, which is like... finely ground carefresh/recycled cardboard material. Its made to clean up oil spills and stuff. It doesnt look at nice, but its cheaper to replace every time I need to clean the enclosure, and it gives burrowing snakes [like dums and sand boas] area to... well burrow.

[faroutinmt]

Originally Posted by bleeding_sarcasm

I prefer coir for my geckos, as it is fine, and ingestion isnt an issue. It is great for humidity and live plants which is what I keep them with. For my snakes I go with what is effective, and I use something called fibersorb, which is like... finely ground carefresh/recycled cardboard material. Its made to clean up oil spills and stuff. It doesnt look at nice, but its cheaper to replace every time I need to clean the enclosure, and it gives burrowing snakes [like dums and sand boas] area to... well burrow.

Cool. I've always wondered how the carefresh type stuff worked for folks but I never have heard. It must be very absorbant!

Do you have your plants buried directly into the coir or are they in pots? I tried the bioactive substrate thing with my kingsnake. I had plants in the substrate and he just dug them right out! Then I tried just putting in potted plants and he dug into the pots and uprooted them! So much for that. :laugh:

[bleeding_sarcasm]

Um, I used to keep a pothos in with my dumerils, which was planted directly into the soil [and it totally blew up btw] but other then that, I dont have a ton of experience keeping snakes with live plants.

With geckos I plant them directly, but you have to worry more about them getting crushed then you do with geckos uprooting anything

[JuliusSqueezer]

I can't keep plants alive. I tried this new fertilizer called "round up" but it didn't work either.

I like cypress mulch. I don't think you guys out west can get it but we can't get eucalyptus mulch out east here and eucalyptus is better so you win Sometimes I mix it with coconut too. The Dums love that stuff.

[bleeding_sarcasm]

People really use eucalyptus? That surprises me since it has a pretty strong smell, I would think that it might irritate snakes, like cedar.

[pythonguy21]

i have used cypress, eco earth, aspen, and repta bark. oh yeah and sphagnum moss.
it depends on what the needs are and what im trying to accomplish. i however am not a fan of newspaper. there was a study that was done that showed snakes left on newspaper over long periods of time become lethargic and overweight and lazy and unhappy. they have nothing to burrow, and lack the comfort. sleep on your bathroom floor the rest of your life and see how you like it. i understand large breeders using newspaper as its hard to change a ton of cages. however for the average keeper i personally feel there is no excuse to keep your animals on newspaper IMO. i think its lazy. i think if you cant afford or don't care to give your animal a proper set up then either you have to many animals or maybe you shouldn't keep them if they are a inconvenience to you.

some cases newspaper is needed, example mites. kinda hard to fights on bedding and clean the cage properly to get rid of them. but as far as thier whole life on newspaper i think its inhumane.

i love creating great cages, not only are my animals happy but they are a great display.

anyways thats just my two cents. sorry if i offend you newspaper keepers out there its just my opinion.

	IMO In My Opinion

[JuliusSqueezer]

I never noticed any strong smell coming from it. I do however remember the pungent eucalyptus smell that filled up the entire city of San Francisco last time I was there though I think the smell comes mostly from the leaves. The only thing out there that's stronger is the fish smell at Fisherman's wharf. I really don't know how you could tell if you were smelling mulch or the naturally growing eucalyptus outside.

[Masahiko]

Originally Posted by JuliusSqueezer

I never noticed any strong smell coming from it. I do however remember the pungent eucalyptus smell that filled up the entire city of San Francisco last time I was there though I think the smell comes mostly from the leaves. The only thing out there that's stronger is the fish smell at Fisherman's wharf. I really don't know how you could tell if you were smelling mulch or the naturally growing eucalyptus outside.

I dunno...There might be some people on Haight St. that could produce a stronger smell. :laugh:


Oh I use aspen shavings, coconut bark, or newspaper depending on the circumstances.

[bleeding_sarcasm]

hahah, dont knock the hippies! Yea, it grows everywhere here, choking out the native redwoods :( and it stinks. bad combo.