A substrate incident

[python_guy44]

Hey all,
I just thought i would post this announcement on an experiance i hav had with a particular substrate. What happened was i bought some of those zoo med dry bricks that grow 8 times larger when soaked in water.
So i got these bricks soaked them and put them in the enclosure.Then out breaks of seed ticks would occur in there hundreds so i would get everything out of the cage use the repti-spray for mites and ticks then used a new block of the dry earth.Then another outbreak occured so i took my snake to the vet (as she had over 100 of these ticks on her) and realised that these zoo-med eco-earth dry bricks had seed tick eggs inside so once i had soaked the bricks and they had dried it made the right conditions for them too hatch.I now use newspaper and have no problems.
Anyone got an oppinion on this
Cheers, Jeremy

 

[Brodie]

Hmmmmmm. Certainly makes me feel lucky that I use BC

BTW
afro B.C is breeders choice hehehe

 

[Greebo]

You should of tried Breeders Choice instead.

 

[cyber_crimes]

YUP YUP YUP BC FOR ME!

 

[python_guy44]

Ok,
I would of used breeders choice if i new what it was!!!!!!!!!

What is the breeders choice of substrate


Cheers,
Jeremy

 

[Brodie]

BC is recycled papaer Kitty Litter that most people use as a substrate for their pythons.

 

[cyber_crimes]

Breeders choice is the choice breeders make lol...
Nah in all honesty though its what breeders choose!

 

[Greebo]

You should not make fun of Newbies Brodie. Not everyone is experienced as you. Everyone has to start somewhere and newbies are welcome on APS as this is a very friendly site.

 

[cyber_crimes]

3 Bourbons *hiccup* <burppp>

 

[Brodie]

OK greebo_whatever :roll:

 

[Greebo]

I am glad to see you deleted that slur on newbies Brodie.
That was very diplomatic.
We should all be nicer to the younger members because sometimes they do not realise when people are only joking.

 

[Slateman]

well done boys

 

[zoe]

is there any advantage of breeder's choice over plain old newspaper? i just find newspaper so easy to clean out

 

[lutzd]

Hi Zoe! This has been an oft-discussed topic, and usually raises a few hackles, as well as groans from the older members! :lol:

However, it's a valid topic for discussion for someone who hasn't discussed it before! :wink:

It's really a matter of personal choice (no pun intended - oh what the heck - yes it was!).

Newspaper is perfectly fine! Personally, I use breeders choice, as it absorbs a lot of the waste products and (I reckon) looks better.

Put it this way : Why not buy some and try it? If you don't like it, you can always go back to newspaper.

 

[zoe]

so i guess u gotta kinda scoop it out when it gets dirty then? i work at a vet and we actually use it for the cats litter there so maybe i'll just grab a bit when no one's looking... :wink:

 

[Brodie]

Hey Zoe,
I am happy to talk substrate because I wasn't here for the great substrate debate. When I first got my Bredl i had sand as a substrate and changed to BC on the advice of other members of the site. I find with BC you just scoop out the soiled are and replace with new pellets. I also do an entire cage clean out once every 3 weeks. IMO newspaper doesn't look to flash but is good if you have limited time .

 

[sarahbell]

i would not use bc on snakes small enough to choke on it
as this happened to my tree snake and i had to remove the bit of bc from its throat

 

[lutzd]

Yeah Brodie, that's what I'm talking about too. I just hit the soiled spots with a vacuum cleaner (making sure the snake isn't too close to the nozzle, of course! :shock: Simple and quick.

As you say, you still need to do a major change. I do mine once a month, which seems to work for me (and my snakes).

 

[zoe]

i actually think sand looks pretty wicked in a cage but i dunno much about advantages and disadvantages. can u just scoop out the yucky stuff with sand too? what about that calci-sand stuff...can u use that for snakes?
thanx everyone and sorry to python guy cos i kinda busted in on ur post!

 

[Brodie]

Sorry to hear that Sarah . That point has reminded me do not feed on BC, not worth the risk!!!!!!
Sand looks great, but what I was led to believe is that it can harbour parasites not sure though. Also I found with sand it all clumps together when moist and is a real pain to get off the bottom of the enclosure.