# snake bedding



## Dreaper (Jul 30, 2012)

what do you guys use for snake bedding, looking for something that looks good but is a little cheaper then the aspen bedding,


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## TheReptileCove (Jul 30, 2012)

I like to use aspen, as i have a small collection. Plan on moving to something like un-printed newspaper when i have quite a bigger collection. Although i purchased two 2KG bags of bedding at the expo recently for a nice price. Believe it was a new type of bedding, agrisorb if i'm not mistaken. It has hemp in it i think is the main difference, and will be available in certain pet shops shortly the owner of the table told me.

-Harrison


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## Dreaper (Jul 30, 2012)

yeah i saw that but didnt pick any up, my collections is starting to get alot bigger so the aspen stuff is just getting to expensive, where do you get unprinted newspaper from ?


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## TheReptileCove (Jul 30, 2012)

At the moment i don't purchase the unprinted newspaper as my collection is still quite small. But i am sure if you go to some store that has like paper, printers and so on, they may stock it. Other than that i don't know with-out doing a little searching.

Edit: apparently some sort of art shop or moving companies may also stock it.

-Harrison


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## thomasssss (Jul 30, 2012)

coir peat from bunnings , normally less than $2 for a block that makes 9 litres , just get the one that has no added fertilisers im pretty sure its the one with the blue packet , the red one has fertilisers also the big block that makes 30 litres or something has fertilisers added 

a tip that i got from someone on here is to not use as much water as the packet says ,y you might have to break it up and leave it for a while but it will take for ever to dry with the recommended amount of water


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## leamos (Jul 30, 2012)

Not the cheapest option, and not sure how it compares to aspen on costs but I'm a big fan of kritters


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## miss_mosher (Jul 30, 2012)

Not sure about comparison to aspen either, but I'm loving hemp


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## TheReptileCove (Jul 30, 2012)

miss_mosher said:


> Not sure about comparison to aspen either, but I'm loving hemp



I think i am using the same bedding as you at the moment, is the make "agrisorb"?
I like it, how-ever had a strong smell, guess it is to over-power any feces/urine smells.

-Harrison


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## Dreaper (Jul 30, 2012)

that sounds awesome thankyou


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## miss_mosher (Jul 30, 2012)

TheReptileCove said:


> I think i am using the same bedding as you at the moment, is the make "agrisorb"?
> I like it, how-ever had a strong smell, guess it is to over-power any feces/urine smells.
> 
> -Harrison



I've used two brands, one from reptile direct and I think it's agrisorb brand from the expo. Yeh it's strong smelling at first but dies down. It's awesome because I find it clumps up around any moisture or poo, do its real easy to clean


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## BlackDog4 (Jul 30, 2012)

I just use woodchips that were baked. It gives it a more natural look then the other options (depending on what look youre going for).


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## jairusthevirus21 (Jul 30, 2012)

Ive been mucking around with substrate and beddings for while... i first started with Aspen, loved the stuff! but my collection grew and it was rather expensive to keep using. Also the availability of this substrate became very scarce for a few months so i had to change my options. I used news paper for a while but the smell was never absorbed enough for my liking. now i use a product called Chipsy it is very similar to Aspen and looks the same but i think its even better! I absorbs any defecations and smells very well and i highly recommend it because it the cheapest substrate iv used and works better than all the others. Give it a go!


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## caleb96 (Jul 30, 2012)

Oz pet kitty litter works great really absorbent and looks good pet barn sell it but if you didn't have a pet barn close by you could get your local pet shop to order it in i pay $20 for 15kg bag


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## pythonmum (Jul 30, 2012)

Compressed shavings in a huge bag are only $20 and last ages for me. I put them on newspaper and it looks good. I do not use them for hatchlings in click clacks because my little Darwins need a bit more humidity to shed well. Adults of _Morelia_, _Antaresia _and _Aspidites_ are doing fine on them.


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## disintegratus (Aug 2, 2012)

I'm using the compressed pine shavings for the pythons as well. Breeders choice, kiln-dried, dust-extracted. Love the stuff! It's cheap, effective, and doesn't look completely terrible
I did notice that at first they all had terrible sheds, but they've all come good since then and their sheds have been fine. Maybe they were adjusting?
I wanted to use coco-peat, but couldn't figure out how to dry enough of it quickly enough. And i dried some in the oven for my shinglebacks, but I burnt it, the kitchen stank for ages.


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## thomasssss (Aug 2, 2012)

not meaning to be rude disintegratus but i have heard people say quiet a number of times on this forum to put things like sub straights and sticks and such in the oven to sterilise it or dry it , where do people get the idea that putting something that is easily combustable in the oven , it just doesn't make sense to me ovens are designed to cook food which normally isnt easily combustable , like i said im not looking for an argument or trying to be rude i just dont get the logic


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## disintegratus (Aug 2, 2012)

Stop looking for an argument  

When I said I burnt it, I singed it a bit, I didn't set it on fire (which is awesome).
My logic behind it was I had wet coco-peat, but I needed dry coco-peat, and I needed it quickly. 
So wetness + excessive amounts of heat = dryness.
How does everyone else dry out large amounts of coco-peat?


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## ZsaZsaGaboa (Aug 2, 2012)

Tumble dry it 

(I take no responsibility if your house catches fire.)


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## disintegratus (Aug 2, 2012)

Lucky I don't have a dryer, I'll have to take it to the laundromat


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## thomasssss (Aug 2, 2012)

ok learnt your lesson though huh  

when i do large amounts of coir peat i dont use anywhere near as much water as they say to use and let it sit for alot longer to expand as much as possible , add a little more water if needed 

then once its fully expanded i get an old towel and put bunches of coir peat in that and roll it up like one of those kangaroo tails you made as a kid to whip people with , i stand on one end with my foot and twist it up really really tightly , this effectively squeezes out most of the water , note that you may have to change towels once it become to wet or just squeeze the water out of the towel best you can 

then once you have done this to the bulk of the coir peat , you can either spread it out over a tarp somewhere it isnt to windy and not in the way and it will dry really quick or you can put it in a big tub and continue to turn it over depending how much there is that can take a little while as well , its best off on a tarp 

and remember peeps ovens + easily combustable items is a bad idea


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## ZsaZsaGaboa (Aug 2, 2012)

Natural selection.

If you're stupid enough to cause a fire with your oven, it's your own fault 

I'm not trolling, that's just my opinion.


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## Wild~Touch (Aug 2, 2012)

No probs with the drying time when you live in sunny Queensland


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## AirCooled (Aug 2, 2012)

Same as caleb96,I use the Oz-Pet pellets is the ultimate anti microbial litter that will stop the strong pee pong in your litter tray by eliminating rather than masking the smell of ammonia.The eucalyptus oil in the wood pellets will stop the bacteria growing that causes the smell of ammonia in other types of litter.
Other key benefits are


Garden Friendly - Oz-Pet litter is recycled and manufactured from waste plantation timber that would otherwise be destined for land fill or burned.
Will soak up 3-4 times its own weight in odour causing liquids
Economical &endash; Greater absorbency and less litter used in a tray allows Oz-Pet to last longer than other types of litter
Safe - No added chemicals and will not clump.
Recyclable - After Oz-Pet Animal Litter is used it can be composted or used as mulch.
Suitable for a wide range of pets, including cats, kittens, birds, reptiles, mice, rats and guinea pigs.


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## Kimberlyann (Aug 2, 2012)

I use breeders choice kitty litter $18 for 30kgs


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## [email protected] (Aug 2, 2012)

kritters crumble alright little bit expensive but looks good and snakes such as adders mulga ,red belly, etc seem to love it. ill give it ago for a while. though you could just buy a mulch machine and make your own ...


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## thomasssss (Aug 2, 2012)

[email protected] said:


> . though you could just buy a mulch machine and make your own ...


thats sort of something ive been wondering , not using a mulch machine but when i was using a electric wood plainer one day i noticed that the shavings very much resembled that aspen stuff , the only thing that stopped me doing it was not knowing what type off wood is safe to use in that way , so does anybody know of a cheap type of wood that would be safe to use like this ?


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## [email protected] (Aug 2, 2012)

thomasssss said:


> thats sort of something ive been wondering , not using a mulch machine but when i was using a electric wood plainer one day i noticed that the shavings very much resembled that aspen stuff , the only thing that stopped me doing it was not knowing what type off wood is safe to use in that way , so does anybody know of a cheap type of wood that would be safe to use like this ?



any non treated timber would be fine , though im not 100% but just broken limbs off trees should be ok just plane it up n wash it and dry it out. rather then spend heeps of money there are plenty of other ways.


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## thomasssss (Aug 2, 2012)

cheers , it would be good to just make up a heap of shavings for the odd time i dont have any coir peat or am waiting for it to dry , i like using the coir peat for my womas as they always burrow though it , its really cool to watch them use their head like an excavator

should i maybe put the wood shavings in the oven to sterilise and dry it :lol::lol:


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## [email protected] (Aug 2, 2012)

thomasssss said:


> cheers , it would be good to just make up a heap of shavings for the odd time i dont have any coir peat or am waiting for it to dry , i like using the coir peat for my womas as they always burrow though it , its really cool to watch them use their head like an excavator
> 
> should i maybe put the wood shavings in the oven to sterilise and dry it :lol::lol:



yeah you could do that or even just wash it and dry it out in the sun .

you could probably also dry it out on the bbq lol if your got a cover flip lid rather then inside , just have it on foil away from the flame lol


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## Goth-Girl (Aug 2, 2012)

Breeder's Choice Kitty Litter..


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## thomasssss (Aug 2, 2012)

[email protected] said:


> yeah you could do that or even just wash it and dry it out in the sun .
> 
> you could probably also dry it out on the bbq lol if your got a cover flip lid rather then inside , just have it on foil away from the flame lol


i was joking about that mate , i think oven + anything that isnt food = bad idea


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## oOLaurenOo (Aug 2, 2012)

I use breeders choice, but I am searching for something that absorbs the smell a bit more. As for the wood. I seal it with pondtite so that its easy to clean and doesn't absorb anything if they poop on it!


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## GabbyRAWR (Aug 2, 2012)

I use reptibark. Holds humidity and controls smell. Not sure about the price though, I only have one snake so it doesn't bother me.


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