yet another substrate ?

pxtyson · 10-03-05, 05:19 PM

I would like to know any or all subtrate materials
I know of newspaper which is what all mine are on
but i want my growing burm in and have it look natural
so i need a lot of something that is cheap
thanks for the help

iLLwiLL · 10-03-05, 06:11 PM

i use corn cobb litter. Its super absorbant, great for burrowing, and looks great. only draw back is it will mold if a water spill is left to soak in for a number of days. I get at my LPS/Feed store for about 10 bucks for 25#

~Will.

pxtyson · 10-04-05, 04:47 AM

I use that for my 4 1/2 foot iguana and it is great

backdraft1320 · 10-04-05, 07:44 AM

I use aspen shavings

rrrrr · 10-04-05, 07:51 AM

For a natural look, you cant beat cypress mulch.

pxtyson · 10-04-05, 09:42 AM

I do like the cypress mulch but it is very expensive at superpet
I would like to fill a very large enclosure for a burm with it
i was just at the toronto zoo this weekend and their retic cage has a sort of mulch or bark and was wondering of anyplace to get a safe but large amount of this

iLLwiLL · 10-04-05, 10:08 AM

go to the petshop and carefully examine whatever it is that you want to use as your bedding. flip the bag over and read the fine print. then go to a landscaping place or walmart, home depot, etc. and ask some knoledgeble employee to point you in the right direction. pet bedding is very similar to standard mulch, its usually in different sizes and sometimes treated for specific pets.

also if your buying in bulk like that it would be a good idea to bake watever kind of mulch you end up with at 200* for about 1/2 - 1 hour in the oven. just incase theres any bugs crawling around, if there is then they'll be incinerated.

~Will.

Steele · 10-19-05, 09:51 AM

you can get it at cannon nerserys rilly chep

boatj · 10-19-05, 04:33 PM

You Could Try Eco Earth I Use This With All My Reptiles Its The Best In My Opion

pxtyson · 10-24-05, 04:00 PM

where would i find ECO Earth?

jjpython · 10-24-05, 04:09 PM

i wouldn't use eco earth it will turn to mud when wet and can be very messy have fun picking your burm and not getting mud all over you. stick with newspaper, remember the more stuff you have in your cage, the more stuff you have to clean, the more stuff you have to clean the less your gonna want to clean, so less is more, but i would go with the aspen shavings.......for the more "natural look"

"Rep"mutations · 10-24-05, 04:24 PM

we use aspen because we found the corn cob litter dehydrates the snake and it is dangerous if the snake injests any of it cause it swells inside of them

slowfoxbird · 10-29-05, 09:06 AM

I like cypress mulch. You can but 1 cubic foot of it from a pet store for $20, or you can go to the hardware store, and get 2 cubic feet of it for less than $2. I like it becuase it looks good, and it holds moisture good for humidity.

spiritcatcher · 10-29-05, 12:35 PM

i have used mulch before... it has its own drawbacks. i have noticed that if it gets too wet it is a good medium for bacterial growth - which in turn causes problems with shedding. bacteria will get under the shedding skin and create scaler ulcerations... which leads to major infections.

all the big breeders i know of use newspaper, they do this for a reason - to keep there animals in top breeding health... i say function over fashion.

... you really cant beat the naturalistic look of mulch though.

pxtyson · 10-30-05, 07:21 AM

i am not wanting to breed my burm but i do want to have a nice show tank for him.
i have many snakes which are all on paper but i so want to display my burm and am in the process of building a very large cage for him and want it to look really good. you loose the effect with paper. i think that people worry a little to much about there snakes due to the fact that they live in swamp areas and do spend a lot of there time in water and high humidity area in the wild with out problems other than gators rippen them up from the inside.