What are your thoughts on housing and feeding neonates?

[chris-uk]

Im not familiar with the term "scrubs". Its a baby garter?definition?

I think "scrub" is a colloquialism that is widely used on this forum. Doesn't Steve take some credit for originating the term?

[chris-uk]

Do any of you use NEWSPAPER over paper towels for a community?

I've never used newspaper, and it's not a substrate I'd look to use. I remember doing my paper round as a kid and finishing it every day with my hands covered in newsprint.

[Steveo]

Do any of you use NEWSPAPER over paper towels for a community?

I'll use it for a wild-caught snake that I'm just observing for a couple days but, other than that, no. It doesn't absorb liquid very well and it does nothing for the odor. I buy a large bag of Carefresh every other month and IMO it pays for itself with the time I save in not changing newspaper every 2 or 3 days.

[thamneil]

Newspaper can be used in the same respects as paper owl. A bit of an eyesore and not as thick and absorbent though.

[d_virginiana]

I keep all of mine on newspaper. It needs to be cleaned more often than other substrates and looks a bit 'bleh'. But IMO it's the best to keep dust down, and they don't seem to care as long as they have plenty of fake plants to burrow under. I started using it because my female has always had a mouth that doesn't align 100% making her prone to infections if dust or anything gets stuck in it, my baby had a mouth infection that still causes his mouth to puff out a bit and collect dust, and my very old male is blind so I don't want to risk anything like carefresh that he might accidentally pick up and eat if food rubbed across it.
Mainly, if you live near a Food Lion or WalMart, newspaper is free

[Kantar]

Do any of you use NEWSPAPER over paper towels for a community?

I work in the printing industry and often printers will use a lot of ammonia in their inks to thin it out

[d_virginiana]

I work in the printing industry and often printers will use a lot of ammonia in their inks to thin it out

If anything is in a tank with a garter longer than a couple hours, it ends up infused in ammonia anyway... Especially if it's something you don't want to take out and clean. Just sayin'

[Spankenstyne]

I keep my babies together for the first 4-5 months and then start separating based on sex (if I still have any left at that point). I find group feeding helps trigger the feeding response in the shy/slow feeders and the babies tend to act more confident in numbers. There always seems to be a shy feeder or two though so I keep an eye out for whoever doesn't look like they got their fill & separate them out just at feeding time for a feeding or two on their own, and haven't had to do more than twice for any before they eat fine with the group again.
This may not work for everyone, and group feeding can potentially have some risks but to limit them I chop the food into bite sized pieces & feel the benefits outweigh the risks. Your mileage may vary baed on many factors so it's something one has to be comfortable with.

As for substrate I keep the babies in paper towel for the first 6 months or so. Purely for my own ease of care and being more on top of cleaning. It's easier to see how messy they have been on paper towel. I always keep a moss hide in with the babies, and a large but shallow water dish so nobody accidently gets stuck in there but they can also go for a swim. Also several flattened toilet paper & paper towel rolls on both the warm and cool sides. It gives them some cheap hides and areas to expore and exercise, I'll just stack them randomly.

One note, I personally avoid keeping any humid hides & water dishes on the hot spot. It tends to become a bacterial breeding ground.

[ConcinusMan]

I group feed but others separate. I would be worried about a constant wet/damp living area

Yeah, be careful with that. Often you see pics of newborns on wet paper towels but this is just to get them through their first shed, which happens immediately following birth. After they've all shed the substrate shouldn't be damp. They need a very shallow, easily accessible water dish at all times though, such as a peanut butter lid. This can be a bit of a problem because certain substrates will "suck" the water out of the dish like a straw and deposit it on the floor. If you're keeping them in tubs, watch for condensation buildup and tend to them often to make sure the substrate is dry.

I've bought baby snakes that were kept it "sweating" tubs and when they arrived, I had to treat them for blister disease. Luckily it was early stage and they made a full recovery. It can happen quite quickly. Just a week or two of conditions that are too damp. This is less of a problem with screen top enclosures. With those you can keep a small area of damp moss or substrate in a corner or end, while still keeping the rest dry. If condensation is building up on the sides, you need to dry things out. When I keep litters in tubs I also tend to use paper towels and change them for fresh dry ones daily. If there's only a few and they have plenty of room I use aspen but check it every day to make sure it's not getting wet.