Have you switched to Aspen yet?

[The_Boaphile]

I have been switching as I have time. It has been a huge job since all my cages and tubs are lined with plain clay kitty litter and then have newspaper over the top of that. More than 40 hours work so far but the Boas seem to be digging it! Do you think this Boa is liking the Apsen? I didn't bury her in this stuff. I just found her like this the day after I changed her to the Aspen. I like it a lot but I think my Boas LOVE it!

[dragons182]

I have used aspen before but didn't like it too much. I think I will stick to newspaper. It is cheaper and can be changed as often as needed.

[Dennis_Gulla]

I know aspen is much better looking then newspaper, and I have been thinking of using it myself. I am just a little concerned that some of the aspen may be ingested during feeding. Is this something you are concerned about? I would like to know!

Thanks,
Dennis

[anthony]

This is just a warning. I had this idea a month ago to put aspen in one of my boa cages to see how it would work out. Ok Ok to try and save some time and make my life easier I admit it. I cleaned the cage thoroughly and put newspaper on the bottom and about 2" of aspen on top. The very next morning I checked the cage and she was open mouth breathing and her nose was stopped up. She had no signs of illness before that night so I suspected it was the aspen. I then remembered I put the rest of the bag of aspen in one of my kingsnake cages so I looked in and shure enough her mouth was wide open and was having trouble breathing. I removed and discarded all aspen and took off to the veterinarian. He came to the same conclusion that there must have been something in the aspen. The aspen in question came prepackaged in a plastic bag from a well nown avian product company and was said to be dust and oil free.
The kingsnake took about a week to clear up with no injections ( I don't like to jump straight to antibiotics I like to access the situation) but after a week the boa was getting worse and we started her on amakacin and she is almost well now. I do not know if I am an isolated case or if this has happened to someone else but I will never use aspen again even though I now plenty of breeders that have had no problems using it. I just thought I would share this with you.

[surfimp]

I don't want to have to build a Crap Vac to vacuum all the stuff up! Too messy for me, thanks! LOL :)

Plus, the local weekly newspaper, the Santa Barbara Independent, is totally FREE and on newsstands everywhere around here. A couple issues a week does me just fine ;)

[Linda]

I think I'm going to stick to the newspaper for now. I used wood shavings many years ago(20 or so) and had an unfortunate experience. I had two boas, male and female, housed together. It was a huge cage and I dicided to use pine shavings for substrate. The adult snakes never had any health problems from the shavings, but I didn't know the female had become gravid and she gave birth on the shavings. All of the babies were fine, except for one. One of the newborn boas had a large piece of the wood shavings inside it's body, but still poking out so you could see it. It went in where the umbilical cord is. I rushed it to the vet, but it died on the way there. The vet said the baby must have been born before it had absorbed all of it's yolk. After it was born it finished absorbing the yolk and somehow the wood was absorbed as well. Since that day I've always used newspaper. Anyway I just thought I'd share my experience with wood substrates.
Linda :)

[Ryan]

Isnt pine not good for snakes any way? At least that is what I was told cwm19.gif

[Linda]

I heard that pine shavings aren't good for snakes too, but it's only been in recent years I've heard this. It was 20+ years ago that I used pine shavings and the person I got the snakes from recommended I use it. He had kept them on it for the 6 years he had them. Back then the only type of shavings I heard to stay away from was cedar. I do know a couple of people that keep colubrids on pine shavings, but that's only when aspen isn't available. I think, for me, the newspaper is the best way to go. Especially for the ones that might be gravid.
Linda :)

[ophiophagus-hannah]

She sure does look like she loves it! :)

[Goob]

pine is where alot of company's get terpentine wich is used in pinesole and such. You can also use it as a heart burn releaver, atleast the green pine neadles

[Panama_Red]

I have used ground corn cobb in the past and found it to be a good bedding it is attractive, scoopable, and heavy enough that it doesn't get pushed to the sides or turned into a mountain in the center of the cage, it also keeps the humidity up,and if your snake gets some of it in its mouth it just corn, the only down side to it is that it costs more than paper.

[cb76]

i have been using aspen for the last 5 yrs and i highly recomend it to anyone over anything else.

glad to see your boa likes it. i feel its more natural for them too!

if you have ever seen a boa in the wild, you will see that they burrow too!

hey jeff- i have to ask! i had this prob in the beging- how are your heat temps going??? does it penetrate through???

i found that mine couldnt so i stood with the che's.

anyhow- aspen is great!

i litterally never had 1 problem, ever!

i talked to dave barker- he has used it since the 70's! no problems

[NavyHM]

aspen is cool but newspaper is free!!!!!!
s32.gif s32.gif s32.gif Newspaper the great American Substrate!!!! s32.gif s32.gif s32.gif

[Larry]

I have found that it is easierr to keep humidity at a good level in my cages that have aspen (currently just my corn snake). I used aspen for my ball python up until recently (she's about 4' and I find newspaper much easier to clean). My boa (born in May) has newspaper but I've been thinking about switching her to aspen for the humidity. Ingestion shouldn't be a problem is the snake is fed in a different enclosure. In the past, I have had zero problems, (health or otherwise) with the aspen.

Larry
Waynesboro, VA

[Red]

Ok here it go's... pine is bad if it get's in to the snakes water... ceder is bad because it has dust that gives your snake respatory problems... If you use new's paper make sure that paper is ether nothing but black and white pages... or is a soy based ink... the color in new's paper is absorbed through your snakes skin and can cause some liver problems... aspen is good but you still want to get dust free and make sure it is... I don't know what you got for your snakes but it does not sound like aspen... maybe you got ceder insted... respatory infections are hard to enduce in one night... may-be they chiped both types of wood in one chipper... Corn cob works good but you have to clean around the water bowl evey time you change the water or it can and will mold...(it holds the humidity to well..) Also you have to make sure when spraying the cage down to only spray the walls with corn cob.. I would not suggest using alfalfa pellets they just make a mess and they make your snake smell.. I use coconut bark in my corn snakes cage it seem's to keep the temp's humidity, and cleanability that all of the other's do plus it is real nice look'in.. they can burrow real nice with it, my corn has a hidi cave he has made... well any way that is my two cents....
Eric aka...Red