I have used both eco-earth and the aspen shavings and the shredded aspen. I prefer the aspen shredded as do my snakes. I noticed last week, after changing out everyone's "home", they seemed to enjoy burying and making snakie tunnels in the shredded aspen than they did in the eco-earth. In fact, one of the snakes I "snake sit" for, actually came out to rest upon the shredded aspen, which he did not do when it was eco-earth. I tend to use the eco-earth in the summer cause it doesn't seem to smell as much with our humid temps. Now that it is cooler, I can go back to the shredded aspen for a good 7-8 months.