# Synthetic grass for reptiles. Is it good?



## Ryderthefrog (Jul 18, 2013)

Hello everyone,

I am thinking of getting synthetic grass for a substrate for my two coastals and beardy but am wondering if its good/easy to clean. At the moment I have news paper and it's not the best aesthetically speaking. I am also considering critter crumble but I'm worried about them eating it. Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks


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## Misnomer (Jul 18, 2013)

Synthetic grass eventually gets brittle and starts to break up with regular cleaning and it's exposure to heat sources. Marine carpet is a lot more durable if going this route.


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## SteveNT (Jul 18, 2013)

We use it for all our herps. Looks good, easy to clean. Each enclosure has 2 pieces cut so it is a simple changeover at cleaning time.




after 3 years I've seen no sign of brittleness but then we dont use heat sources in Darwin.


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## 5potted (Jul 18, 2013)

I use fake grass which is waterproof ($35 for 5 sheets, gotta love eBay). Used with newspaper underneath works a treat. Just throw in the shower for a scrub, shake off water then replace.


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## Ryderthefrog (Jul 25, 2013)

Thank you very much everyone  found a good seller on eBay.

-Ryder


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## AirCooled (Jul 25, 2013)

I have never use with any of my snakes, used it for a beardie but changed to full sand, under the fake grass became a hiding place for woodies and crickets


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## Lawra (Jul 25, 2013)

Ryderthefrog said:


> Thank you very much everyone  found a good seller on eBay.
> 
> -Ryder



I've had a look on eBay for some. Could you let me know who you got yours from please?


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## SteveNT (Jul 25, 2013)

No drama with dead rats though. My bhp finds the rubberised underside very useful for shedding and he builds a labyrinth of tunnels under the astro turf.


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## DeadlyDanny80 (Jul 25, 2013)

Bunnings has a range of synthetic turf at a good price...


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## Becca-Marie (Jul 25, 2013)

DeadlyDanny80 said:


> Bunnings has a range of synthetic turf at a good price...



Will the cut it to size for u or do u need to buy it in rolls?

Sent from my LG-P690f using Tapatalk 2


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## Riffherper (Jul 25, 2013)

My beardie hated it (spike-iness) and I found it very hard to get poo out of. Stains easily and is all round a pain. IMO it's hard to beat sand for beardie and newspaper coupled with natural paper kitty litter for snakes .


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## DeadlyDanny80 (Jul 25, 2013)

Becca-Marie said:


> Will the cut it to size for u or do u need to buy it in rolls?
> 
> Sent from my LG-P690f using Tapatalk 2



You can buy it off a roll for minimum half meter lengths... Cost you $15


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## jessicastockwell (Jul 25, 2013)

Only problem I had with it, which was pretty stupid of me not to realise in the first place, is that the heat doesn't penetrate through it very well from underneath. My childreni loved to get underneath it, it's easy to clean, provided you have a spare piece to use while the other is drying.


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## RSPcrazy (Jul 26, 2013)

I've used it, but found it to be to much of a headache. 
To clean it, you need to hose it off, scrub it and leave it to dry. I had spares, so I didn't have to wait for that piece to dry, but 9 out of 10 times, my snakes would mess on the new clean peace within an hour of being cleaned. So I then had to hose off, scrub and leave the second piece to dry as well.

I don't know why so many people promote how easy it is to clean, I found it to be a massive pain, and much more time consuming then traditional methods. It might not feel so time consuming if you only have one or two snakes to clean, but when you have around 60, every minute counts on cleaning day.

But the worst part about it, was some of my snakes, repeatedly got there teeth stuck on it. One coastal would get her mouth stuck when eating. Another coastal was very angry and would strike at you when you got too close, most of the time, he would end up biting the grass and getting stuck. I also had a BHP that got stuck twice, once during feeding time and the other during a shed.
When they got there teeth stuck on it, it wasn't easy to get them off. There was no chance they would be able to get themselves off, they would regularly loose teeth.

I will never use the stuff again. IMO the only benefit it has, is looking good.


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## Rogue5861 (Jul 26, 2013)

I'm looking into scenic mats at the moment to use, very low pile with latex backing. Not sure if it will suit but it is pretty cheap ($25 for a 1.2x2.5m roll) an comes in a few shades of green.


Rick


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## euan (Jul 26, 2013)

very easy to clean
just put in the washing machine
easy to sanitise that way as well
don't let the wife see though 
get the good quality type


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## princessparrot (Oct 27, 2013)

Is it ok for frogs?


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## Planky (Oct 27, 2013)

Don't think my 8ft piece would fit the washer machine..

However Cleaning this stuffs a dream.. Takes me longer to start the pressure washer then it does to clean then the clean one hangs on the line while the spare is used

- - - Updated - - -

Make sure u get the "short" grass style


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## Umbral (Oct 27, 2013)

I used it for a while and also found it a bit of a pain to clean compared to critters crumbles where you can just spot clean. The other issue I had was that my womas didnt seem to like the feel of it, they would arch as much of their body off the ground when moving so I figured if they didn't like it then it had to go.

I don't think compaction would be much of an issue with critters crumbles, it doesn't compact together like sand and provided your snake isn't tiny it should pass through with no issues. I am no expert on this, just stating my thoughts. If someone would like to correct me I'm happy to learn.


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## Ellannn (Oct 27, 2013)

Looks great but I found it was a pain in the bum to clean!


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## Jarrod_H (Oct 27, 2013)

Zilla liner from eBay, cheap and you can chuck it in the washing machine to clean it. Comes in green or tan


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## Tobe404 (Oct 27, 2013)

My Coastals don't seem to mind it.

It's good in that you don't have to dry the food items out or worry about impaction (at least I've had no issues with it). I was worried about impaction on Coir Peat/Critters Crumble but it hasn't been an issue at all.

But it is a right pain in the bum to clean. This is where Coir Peat/Critters Crumble is better. So easy to spot clean.

Snakes seem to shed just as well on either substrate.


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## Reptiles101 (Oct 27, 2013)

I used it for my blue tongue lizard, I found cleaning it quite easy with the hose and a tiny bit of dish washing liquid to get rid of any bad odours. Worked well as I had heaps of spares, I would replace it with a new one while the other hung out to dry, only problem was that she always like being underneath it instead of being in her hide.


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