Aspen vs. Carefresh (yay, another bedding thread!)

[d_virginiana]

I changed my snakes' bedding to aspen a week or so ago. Up until that point, I had only been using carefresh. I've noticed some things I like about it and others that I don't. I know a bunch of people on here have used both, so any opinions on it?

The aspen stays 'fluffy' a lot better than the carefresh. (idk how he does it, but Houdini somehow packs his carefresh into a solid mass after about a week).

I'm not crazy about how the little 'dusty bits' in the aspen seem sharp. I always have to carefully brush Harley off (she spends a HUGE amount of her time burrowed under it:cool:) to avoid sticking her with them. Has anyone had issues with these pieces irritating their snakes' scales?

I know carefresh can be really bad if swallowed, but the aspen seems way more likely to get brushed into my snakes' feeding dishes, and harder for them to knock off if it gets attached to their food than the carefresh was (I can handfeed Harley if I need to, but that's not really an option with Houdini).

[chris-uk]

Your aspen must be different to the stuff I'm using, and I can't compare it to carefresh as I've not used it.
I know what you mean about aspen staying fluffy especially with the lighter snakes, our adult radix will flatten it a lot quicker on her "patrol paths".
The aspen I've got doesn't have anything that I've ever had to brush off. It sounds like your aspen has some smaller pieces.

I can see why one keeper's experience of non-branded bedding can vary, aspen can be prepared in different ways so I guess the quality (and therefore experience for the keeper) varies.

[katach]

I've used both. The carefresh seemed to smell more quickly and was more expensive so we switched back to aspen. We also switched to buying our aspen at the local feed store. It is much higher quality with bigger pieces and little to no dust. It's also cheaper for us. The snakes seem to like the aspen better. The are out exploring more often than with the carefresh.

[BLUESIRTALIS]

I also use aspen and love it. I have never had any problems with it bothering my snakes scales or anything. It does stay fluffy longer and to me is real easy to spot clean, but in my opinion if you use aspen bedding the snakes need to be fed in an empty container because if ingested it could be fatal. I feed all of my snakes in an empty container or from my hand. The problem with the aspen is that it is so fine and light that it sticks to the food. As long as you don't let them ingest it it is a great, clean, and nice looking bedding. Keep in mind though that you always have to be cautious when it comes to ingestion with almost any loose bedding.

[Steveo]

I started off using aspen for my kingsnake. She would build tunnels and such through it. I worried about her inhaling the dust, though. After going to just newspaper for a couple months and scrubbing the tank down a few times I still couldn't get all of the dust out. I still find some dust on her head when I handle her sometimes.

I recently switched to carefresh and I really like it. I've started wetting a little of it in a few tanks to increase humidity. I'm sure there's better quality aspen but I can't get it locally. The carefresh ultra costs a little more but it's easier to spot-clean and lasts a little longer before it starts to smell.

[guidofatherof5]

I tried carefresh for a short while. During that time I very rarely saw my snakes.
The aspen I use is a compressed pellet. Very few of my snakes burrow in it.
It falls apart when wet so seeing an area that needs spot cleaned is good.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/aspen_pellets.jpg

[kimbosaur]

I'm currently using aspen, although I don't particularly love it. I really hated the Carefresh though. It was dusty, chunky, and didn't look very good. My snakes didn't really seem to like it either.

[d_virginiana]

The aspen I'm using is little wood shavings... I'd like to get ahold of some of the pelleted kind. Is that something you can find at a lot of feed stores or order online?

Huh, my little snake is hidden a LOT more in the aspen, which is why I was worrying about it. I went from seeing her very little to never (unless I get her out) and when I do she's covered in dust. :cool:

Yeah, I'm going to try feeding the little one in another container next meal. She ate one meal in the aspen, but it made me so paranoid that I'm not going to do that again.. Even though we put her food in small bites in the middle of a plastic surface, it's not worth the risk...
Ugh... I'm probably going to have to change Houdini's bedding back to carefresh before I feed him again (he was in shed and hasn't been eating for a week or so). He freaks out when he gets put in new places because he can't see; he won't even eat in his tank when the food dish is in a different place than normal!

Maybe I'll see aspen I like better somewhere, but I'm really not crazy about this brand...

[ProXimuS]

I've only had my snake for about a month, but I've been using aspen. What I have is like almost small splintery-looking pieces, but they're not sharp, and mine has no dust. So far I'm pretty happy with it. The color makes it easy to see messes, also.

[guidofatherof5]

With any wood splinters/product you have to be aware and concerned about the snake ingesting it.
If you feed in the enclosure be sure to monitor every feed so none of the splinters are eaten. They can be a death sentence to snakes.;)

[kueluck]

I use both, not at the same time, but when I empty out the tank I alternate her bedding. Gotta keep her on her toes........ah I mean her tail.:D

[ProXimuS]

With any wood splinters/product you have to be aware and concerned about the snake ingesting it.
If you feed in the enclosure be sure to monitor every feed so none of the splinters are eaten. They can be a death sentence to snakes.;)

Yea thats the only thing I've been worried about. So far he's only had fish, which he eats in his waterbowl. Once I get some pinkies and/or earthworms I'll have to figure out how I'm going to feed him. He's getting alot more comfortable now, so I think if I had to move him to another enclosure for feeding he would do ok with it:)


I'm kind of interested in trying the carefresh for him, because I used that with my rabbit(now passed away:(), and liked it for him. I'm wondering if he would burrow in it. He never burrows in the aspen, but he likes to mostly go in his favorite hide...I guess that better than burrowing to him!

[ProXimuS]

Well, speaking of burrowing....I switched my boy to his new cage today, and perhaps I put a little thicker layer of aspen in there, because he pretty much immediately burrowed under the bedding in the front, and is treating it like he usually does his favorite hide. Keeping most of his body hidden with his tiny head sticking out:D

[chris-uk]

One of our most curious girls will burrow so she's completely hidden, then pop her head up when she hears us walking past her viv. It's a comical sand eel sort of look. :D

[d_virginiana]

Harley actually decided today, for the first time since I put the aspen in, that she didn't want to burrow. I came in and she was climbing up the glue in the corner of her aquarium. She just turned her head to look at me and went back to trying to escape.

I'm not going to be feeding on the aspen again... Even though I put the food on a pretty wide plastic lid, and there was no evidence of pieces getting into the food (or food getting dragged out) I'm STILL paranoid over it, so I'm just not going to repeat that :p

[ProXimuS]

Hehe snakes are funny:)
When I found mine burrowing, I picked up a little bit of bedding where I thought he was, just to make sure, and he popped his head out really fast, like "What do you want!?!?" and went back under. Now he's gone back to his favorite hide, so I guess I'll see if he'll keep burrowing or not. I also made him a new hide for his new cage(a cardboard butterfly shaped box with a hole in the side:cool:), and want to see him go in it. He explored all around everything, just not inside the new hide yet....