# What Substrate do You Use?



## nakerz_the_herp (Jul 6, 2011)

I just set up a new enclosure for my adult spotted python and wanted a new substrate. At the moment he's on newspaper but I'm most likely going to the GC expo and I was gonna get some substrate cheap. So, what substrate do _you_ use?


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## zacthefrog (Jul 6, 2011)

exo terra plantation soil extreamly useful stuff


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## abnrmal91 (Jul 6, 2011)

Kritters crumble works fine for me


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## smithson (Jul 6, 2011)

News paper is what i use


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## SYNeR (Jul 6, 2011)

Aspen Snake Bedding.

May think of swapping to CareFresh, not sure yet though.
I'll swap to anything else that allows for spot cleaning and looks aesthetically pleasing (not Breeder's Choice).

I've caught my Stimson python burrowing under/through the aspen bedding in his enclosure multiple times now.


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## nakerz_the_herp (Jul 6, 2011)

Hmm. Some good ideas. All I know is that I am _not_ using sand again...


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## damian83 (Jul 6, 2011)

for my beardies, news paper atm but im gonna put her on sand atm so she can try and beed this year
when i get my childreni ill have it too i guess


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## medz84 (Jul 6, 2011)

moonshadow pebbles in my display tanks
sand in the beardie's

paper in the rest


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## varanus (Jul 6, 2011)

Aspen. Slowly weaning off BC.


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## Grogshla (Jul 6, 2011)

white a4 paper for my snake.
desert sand for my geckos.
white a4 paper and tiles for my dragon.


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## nakerz_the_herp (Jul 6, 2011)

damian83 said:


> for my beardies, news paper atm but im gonna put her on sand atm so she can try and beed this year
> when i get my childreni ill have it too i guess



Mate, It is so frustrating with snakes...

Grogshla: Any reason for the white A4?


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## spyder6052 (Jul 6, 2011)

a towel


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## najanaja (Jul 6, 2011)

i just use fibrecycle now..recycled pellets

sand is crap for snakes, aspen isnt all its cracked up to be either..

newspaper is good as long as you change it a bit, but looks average,


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## LilMissSnakey (Jul 6, 2011)

Why is sand crap for snakes? I have kitty crumble atm in my snake tank but I was looking at going sand. What dramas did you or have you heard of with sand??


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## Chris (Jul 6, 2011)

Snakes - bark
Lizards - sand


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## lilmissrazz (Jul 6, 2011)

Beardies are on sand at the moment which is annoying me!! will probably go back to newspaper, Blueys on news paper, netties on news paper and desert sand for my Knobbies. I'm a fan of news paper lol


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## timantula (Jul 6, 2011)

aspen snake bedding.. for snakes.. and my water dragon is on coco fiber and bark..


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## Fiamma (Jul 6, 2011)

Kittys Crumble for snakes and Wild Crystal sand for Beardies (very easy to spot clean)


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## richoman_3 (Jul 6, 2011)

lizards - sand, cocopeat+sand mix
frogs - cocopeat, pebbles
snakes - :'(


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## Shiresnakes (Jul 6, 2011)

Kittys crumble for my snakes.... Looks good and easy to spot clean!Prior to that I had newspaper or synthetic green grass.


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## SpilotaFreak78 (Jul 6, 2011)

Does anyone know if wild crystal substrate is any good?


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## grimjob (Jul 7, 2011)

I use bark for my GTP's work a treat keeps the moisture in and looks very nice


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## Sezzzzzzzzz (Jul 7, 2011)

i use kritters crumble in my jungles enclosure, the md has paper towel...


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## camcamcam (Jul 7, 2011)

I use aspen snake bedding for my snake.
Thoughts on aspen? Good/bad from experience?


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## adz1604 (Jul 7, 2011)

Was using Aspen bedding for years but price and availability become ridicules 
Have been using kritters crumble for about 12 months it works OK but i have found you have to open the bag and let it dry out before use as it is very moist 
I also place news paper under the substrate to help with the moisture


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## Fiamma (Jul 7, 2011)

CoastalGirl78 said:


> Does anyone know if wild crystal substrate is any good?



I use it for my Beardies...the fine stuff is easily strained with those little orange scoops used for hermit crabs. Liquid beads so easy to soak up and poop is easy to collect as the sand sticks to it so you get it all. I wouldn't use it for snakes though.


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## t.Man (Jul 9, 2011)

I use care fresh for both my pythons, looks good and its easy to clean.


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## onthillside (Jul 9, 2011)

Breeders choice for all my pythons.
T


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## FusionMorelia (Jul 9, 2011)

i have been useing kritter crumble and aspen and it seems to work a treat for me


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## Naga_Kanya (Jul 10, 2011)

I use bark/leaves/litter gathered from the 'wild', wash it in hot water, and microwave it for 2min to sterilise it. It's free, and it looks pretty. I try not to use anything with fresh eucalypt leaves in it, as I worry that the phenols in the oils that are released (especially under heat) might have an adverse effect on my snakes (they do for cats, and even though the snakes are natives I don't want to risk it). It sounds fiddly, but it's actually really easy, and like I said, it's also free.


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## SpilotaFreak78 (Jul 10, 2011)

I've fallen prey to using Kritter's crumble now


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## Sir_Hiss (Jul 10, 2011)

newspaper here, but it does look pretty crap. My bredli likes to do his business in one particular spot in the tank, so I like to try and put pictures of sports stars and politicians in that area and see if they get hit. Makes cleaning up the poop more enjoyable.


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## Pauld (Jul 11, 2011)

I use a mix of bark and the cocofibre soil for my snakes. I also collect fallen leaves, wash, dry and bake them for surface cover. Good for burrowing through, absorbent and FREE


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## Sock Puppet (Jul 11, 2011)

ANL Eucy Mulch (cypress mulch). 
More widely available, & cheaper than KC.


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## Sezzzzzzzzz (Jul 11, 2011)

Sock Puppet said:


> ANL Eucy Mulch (cypress mulch).
> More widely available, & cheaper than KC.



Is ANL Australian Native Landscapes? I always see their trucks driving around...


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## Sock Puppet (Jul 11, 2011)

newtolovingsnake said:


> Is ANL Australian Native Landscapes? I always see their trucks driving around...


That's right. When I first started using this I contacted ANL, & they confirmed this contains no fertiliser additives, no added chemicals, no water saving compounds, etc. it's 100% additive free mulch.


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## Sezzzzzzzzz (Jul 11, 2011)

Thats heaps good! I only have 2 snakes atm, so a bag of Kritters crumble has lasted me since april at this point (still got over half a bag) and thats fortnightly full clean outs and spot cleans in between. But will have a look into ANL once I have run out as snake number 3 will be on his way soon!


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## Tildy (Jul 11, 2011)

So everyone says that sand is rubbish for snakes. Is that just because of the impacting problem? If so, wouldnt Aspen be just as bad cause its pretty small and would stick to the food and be ingested? Also, if it is just impacting that is the problem then what about if you fed your snake in a separate tub every time? I ask because I have a crazy idea but if I pull it off it will look awesome! I want to deck out the enclosure for my pygmy python as close as possible looking to it's natural habitat. I would include real grasses and whatnot. As I said, its a crazy idea but I wanna try it anyway. She has alot of growing to do yet so I have heaps of time to test out all my ideas thoroughly before its time to move her into something bigger.


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## nakerz_the_herp (Jul 12, 2011)

I only dislike sand because it gets everywhere. Personal preference really. I think I'm gonna get Kritter's Krumble for my frog and maybe for one of my snakes. I'll have to contact ANL and try to get some mulch for my blueys.


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## dihsmaj (Jul 12, 2011)

Kritter's Crumble. Now this isn't for snakes (I don't have one, yet), it's for my Bluey and my frogs, but when I get a snake I'm using KC. It's great.


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## unseen (Jul 12, 2011)

Zoo Med Aspen Snake Bedding


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## bluey87 (Jul 12, 2011)

i use kritters crumble in my blueys enclosure and in my bredli hatchy click clack, and i just bought some of that green carpet from bunnings and cut it to size for my beardies enclosure



nakerz_the_herp said:


> I only dislike sand because it gets everywhere. Personal preference really. I think I'm gonna get Kritter's Krumble for my frog and maybe for one of my snakes. I'll have to contact ANL and try to get some mulch for my blueys.



i use kritters crumble for my bluey enclosure looks good and does the job, i see u live in south east QLD if your ne where near pet city pop in there they sell it for roughly 12dollars a bag each bag lasts me a while


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## nakerz_the_herp (Jul 13, 2011)

Yeah. I go to Pet City every no and again. I think the I'll hold out for the GC expo, but I'll go have a look at Pet City when I'm there next. My blueys have fairly big enclosures (4ft x 2ft x 2ft) and I use deep substrates so, I guess I'll be buying 2 bags or so.


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## Sock Puppet (Jul 13, 2011)

nakerz_the_herp said:


> I'll have to contact ANL and try to get some mulch for my blueys.


You don't have to go to ANL, Bunnings sell it. I'm sure a lot of nurseries etc would also stock it.
I only use newspaper for my blueys, due to the frequency & quantity of their excrement (& tendency to sometimes walk through it, spreading it everywhere), it's easy & quick to change. 
I use the mulch for my snakes though.


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## Chris (Jul 13, 2011)

Does anyone have any photos close up of KC in an enclosure?


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## lazylizzy (Jul 13, 2011)

tea tree mulch for inside, grass for outside


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## nakerz_the_herp (Jul 14, 2011)

Sock Puppet said:


> You don't have to go to ANL, Bunnings sell it. I'm sure a lot of nurseries etc would also stock it.
> I only use newspaper for my blueys, due to the frequency & quantity of their excrement (& tendency to sometimes walk through it, spreading it everywhere), it's easy & quick to change.
> I use the mulch for my snakes though.



After researching ANL I discovered that the nearest one is on the north coast of NSW LOL. Thanks. My dad works at Bunnies so that should be nice and easy to get.


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## Allybean (Jul 14, 2011)

For my Centrilian, Blue tongues and Jackys I use EU Mulch... never had a problem.
The Scorpion has Sand and One of my Beardys has EU Mulch whilst the other has newspaper.

I would love to have them all on the mulch but im worried about my little Beardy eating the mulch.
I know they can easily get compacted, wether it be on sand or mulch, so I'm trying to figure out what is the best substrate for these guys.


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## Em1986 (Jul 14, 2011)

Ok, a bit off topic but just wondering what everyone's views on calcisand are for bearded dragons? I have read all this info on a website that is called wild crystal or something like that and they say that their calcium sand is digestable but everything still tells me it could still cause impaction. The sand come in 3 consistencies and i was considering the fine one. It is also repellant to water so easy to spot clean and water evaporates off the surface so there wouldn't be an issue with humidity etc.

By the way i love the fact that so many people use so many different substrates and are sharing what they use and their opinions on the substrates, good thread


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## Shiresnakes (Jul 14, 2011)

Has anybody experienced dryness in their snakes/ dry sheds not coming off in one piece from using kritters crumble or similar product? Thanks


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## Ricochet (Jul 14, 2011)

I use oz-pet, which says it's made from waste plantation timber, Dunno if this is the same as kritter crumble or any of the others. So far my darwin hasn't had any prob shedding. I keep his water bowl reasonably close to his heat "lamps" which I hope will help with humidity (changed reguarly). He's a carpet and spends most of his time up in his branches or basking shelf and not on the cage floor (substrate). Maybe a snake that spends more time down on the substrate may be effected more.


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## ChloeR (Jul 15, 2011)

i use kritter's crumble for my blonde mac, 
aspen snake bedding for my BHP,
reptibark for my coastal, 
and a sand/kritter's crumble for my bluey...

no really reason for the different types of substrate only what i think looks good in there enclosure...


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## SamNabz (Jul 15, 2011)

I used Kritter's Crumble as the substrate for most of my snakes for a short while. I have now gone back to newspaper after a piece of the 'fine' stuff got into one of my darwins eye and caused a bad infection.

Upon asking a few keepers about Kritter's Crumble, I got a lot of bad feedback from people I trust in the hobby who have also got rid of it due to problems with it getting into eyes, vents etc.

**The snake is fine now after a vet visit and few shots of antibiotic.

For the geckos I use a mix of red and washed play sand for _Nephrurus_, mix of coir peat and washed play sand for _Oedura_, peat moss for _Phyllurus_ and coir peat for _Strophurus_.


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## Schnecke (Aug 24, 2011)

Just re-opening this thread as I made a trip to bunnings the other day to discover that I can only get their brand of EUCI Mulch, which is a pine mulch and not the ANL one (Shame, was so keen to go there and grab a bag! but nowhere on the packaging did it say Cypress (I thought it might be an ANL re-branded one) Will have to try and find another supplier, I did ask the guy and he knew everything they had (he was great actually for a Bunnings employee, told me everything that was in the bags as he went through them) and he'd never heard of ANL (Australian Native Landscapes) being a Bunnings stock item here.

Was just looking for a cheaper alternative to Aspen (which is what my hatchy came with in his CC)

Anyway, I bought myself a bag of "Aspen Snake Bedding" from my local Pets Domain for $44.95 (24.4 Quart - About 26ish Litres) and the local PetStock was $66.xx!!!! $22 cheaper for just making a phone call and going 800m down the road. I have got it in the enclosure and it looks like I could to 3-4 full changes. So with spot cleans it should last a decent amount of time in there.

Will keep searching to see if I can get cypress mulch locally to try and save a few $$ but the Aspen doesn't seem that expensive when I weigh up the amount of time I will save with cleaning (compared to artificial turf - there is a weekly scrub, disinfect and dry process that will be nice to avoid, as it means I have to shift the timber in the enclosure and although it's very stable, I want to be able to do it while Moose is in there without annoying him too much)

I have a 1.5cm layer that I've slightly compacted that's over 3 double sheets of newspaper. I will get a photo tonight and post it up. Pretty happy with the look and feel of it.


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## Sock Puppet (Aug 24, 2011)

Schnecke said:


> I made a trip to bunnings the other day to discover that I can only get their brand of EUCI Mulch, which is a pine mulch and not the ANL one.


Strange, perhaps each state or region has different suppliers for their franchise. I was in my local Bunnings the other day & they had pallets of it available. 
Spelt Eucy mulch, I don't know if it mentions anywhere on the package that it's cypress, I found that out from ANL when I contacted them. Extract from the response I received quoted below



> The Eucy Mulch is mulch only, with no additives. The name is also somewhat confusing because it is not Eucalyptus in origin. The name has been used in the landscape industry for many years, and the majority of suppliers now have Eucy mulch that is based on Cypress sp.


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## Schnecke (Aug 24, 2011)

The bag at Bunnings was EUCI-Mulch (not EUCY) and it is their own brand (not Bunnings on the packet, but the guy pointed out that it is "their" brand (like in Target they have a label "hot options" or in Myer they have "Miss Shop" it's a brand within a brand (I hope I'm making sense)

It just has "pine bark mulch" written on the packet (so, not Cypress or Eucalypt - very misleading) and it was very very fine, not like the pictures of cypress mulch I've seen. This is what it looks like:

JPW Landscape Supplies :: Soil, Sand and more.....

It's definitely finer (and when I ran it through my hands it looked very dusty) compared to Aspen or Cypress mulch.

The hunt continues 

EDIT: Photo's of the Aspen in the bottom of my enclosure (with Moose looking on while using it as a Jungle Gym naturally! I put a plastic rail in there last night so the bedding doesn't fall out when I open the door.


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## Ricardo64 (Oct 21, 2011)

I too use sand, what's the dilemma, after all you'll find sand in there natural environment.

I too use sand, what's the dilemma, after all you'll find sand in there natural environment.


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## AndrewHenderson (Oct 22, 2011)

Exo terra plantation soil and Kritters Krumble is just coir peat, you can buy compressed blocks of it for 3 bucks in bunnings or the bigger blocks of coarse stuff for 10 bucks. You just need to hydrate it again and dry it out before use. HEAPS cheaper and exactly the same, another product that gets reptile put in front or in the name and gets inflated 300% and flogged off by exo terra.


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## 69blottfilms69 (Oct 22, 2011)

When i get my thickys ill use desert sand


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## Cockney_Red (Oct 22, 2011)

When newspaper is soiled, you have to change it, all other options allow for spot cleaning, and therefore, laziness, which can lead to issues with husbandry....jmo


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