What substrate do you use for your pythons?

[Jake007]

I found kritters crumble can last a while if takeing ya snake out to do his dirty stuff and of u pick bits out and keep it clean last ages and smells good 24/7

Cheap looks good easy to clean out

 

[ozziepythons]

I use newspaper for a number of reasons. 1) It's free 2) None gets stuck on food and ingested and best part 3) When it is dirtied, you're throwing the whole lot away. You're not leaving any mess behind like could be possible with spot cleaning. Only downside is yeah it's boring to look at lol.

To break up the view of newspaper on the cage floor, find a dead branch of eucalyptus, strip the leaves off and scatter them on the cage floor (even just a couple of handfuls can do). This way you can check most leaves for inverts or other contaminents and is better than scooping them up from the ground when they start to break down and harbour organisms. Makes a natural addition to the cage and does justice to using newspaper.

 

[ausruss]

I use kitty litter, its inexpensive, easy to clean up when my fellow has is weekly, and is nice dark coulor, Bought a bag last year and used a third. It seams as if everyone has different ideas. But of most importantance is keep the floor clean. The kitty litter is great as I use a spoon and take out the stool as well as some substrata, then replace the divot with new. My snake it heathy 4ft 1 year old and the astetics of the substrata appeals to me. As for newspaper my snake may need glasses as he dosn't seem to read at present.....oh well he is only one!:lol:

 

[rileysbedding]

i would consider giving henp a try it has been very succesfull here in australia , and getting very popular .

 

[jakethomas]

Hi guys, could i use wood shavings for my pythons.
Cheers Jake

 

[silent36]

The best stuff ever and at $18 a bag from coles for 30ltr u cant go wrong

 

[jakethomas]

K, but i can get free wood shavings of a mate. I use it on my rats but want to know if i can use it on pythons?

 

[silent36]

K, but i can get free wood shavings of a mate. I use it on my rats but want to know if i can use it on pythons?

Would depend if the wood is treated or has dust in it ect personally i wouldn't risk it i love my pythons to much to not spend $18 on what i said above

 

[jakethomas]

Yer okay thanks.

 

[Gruni]

The whole dust/sand thing amuses me, they don't live in dust free environments in the wild and seem to survive rather well. Just a thought, if your snake is happy on your choice of substrate and you like using it more power to you.

 

[congo_python]

I use ozpet, its better than breeders choice as you dont get any plastic or staples in it as it is recycled wood chip only and no recycled paper.Smells great too boot and it is also cheaper than breeders choice.

 

[silent36]

The whole dust/sand thing amuses me, they don't live in dust free environments in the wild and seem to survive rather well. Just a thought, if your snake is happy on your choice of substrate and you like using it more power to you.

your quite right but also our pet snakes are captive bred so they dont build up an immune system ect to the wild

 

[Renenet]

Could substrates that expand, ie when they absorb water, cause impaction if a reptile swallows them?

 

[brown.snake]

i use red desert sand for all my reptiles never had any trouble looks good and easy to kleen

 

[The_Geeza]

in the past I have used breeders choice and it was good but every now and then the snakes would have a bad shed and require assistance so I ended up with a water bowl at both ends. I have just switched over to kritter crumble and will see how it goes. It looks great and my spotted python loves digging through it.

Cheers
James

You have a point but i lightly spray all my enclosures a few days before shed and always have perfect sheds :lol:

 

[buffcoat]

I use eco-earth for my royals, aspen for my carpet, corn and hoggie, cypress mulch for my boa and reptibark for my woma.

You can use wood shavings as long as its not pine or cedar. They have been known to kill reptiles because of the vapors it gives off.

 

[Venomous_RBB]

I use different things for my different reptiles.
My Spotted Python has Coir Peat from bunnings, she loves it ^^
My Black Headed has a mix of Coir Peat and Artificial Grass mats, she loves both.
My Bredli has Artificial Grass, she loves it
My Bearded Dragon has non-treated pine bark

All of them seem to be fine with what they have. My BHP loves the coir peat, she buries underneath it and lays under a few stray pieces of artificial grass I have put in there for her to play with.

 

[abnrmal91]

I used newspaper when I first started keeping and it's the easiest to use but it doesn't cause any issues for the snakes.
I used Kritters Krumble for a while as it looks great but I got a couple of bags that where really really wet (kritters krumble is always slightly damp when it comes out of the bag which is ok) so I stopped using it. Next I used Oz-Pet which seems to create a very dry environment so can cause shedding issues.

After all that I have gone back to using newspaper again.

Could substrates that expand, ie when they absorb water, cause impaction if a reptile swallows them?

Yes it could possibly cause impaction if a large amount is swallowed however I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

[snakes_666]

Butchers paper

 

[Crimson.Massacre]

I use Hemp substrate. It's soft, cheap and absorbent, low dust, retains heat from the mat and my MD loves to snuffle around in it. It's also an awesome texture for displays, it looks like mini-mulch/leaf litter I bought a 15kg bag online and in the past 8 months with a 3ft tank I've possibly used about 1/8th of it.