Is Aspen bedding a good substrate?

[Barak666]

Well the tittle say it by itself.

The sphagnum moss is way to moist, so I will put something else, I was thinking of Aspen bedding, is it a good choice? Did it dry fast?

Do you recommend something else (while keeping in mind it is a "natural" look enclosure, so I'm not interested into Scott towel)

Thanks

Mathieu

[Stefan-A]

I have a strong dislike for aspen (both chips and shavings). It seems to stick to everything and if it's ingested, it doesn't seem that there's any chance of it softening up and becoming easier to expel.

Frankly, I still like dry leaves on peat moss the best. It looks fairly natural, the peat holds humidity okay and the dry leaves prevent the peat moss from sticking to food items. Here, it's important to keep an eye on the humidity, it can easily drop to 15-20% during the winter.

[Barak666]

Do you take green leaves, that you then dry, or you take already fallen dried leaves?

[infernalis]

I'm a fan of reptile bark, it's big and chunky, does not stick to food, holds humidity, looks nice and had a rough texture.

[guidofatherof5]

I use compressed aspen pellets. They fall apart when wet and make spot cleaning easy. If they are ingested they fall apart and pass easily.
I know the owner(Brent). He's a very nice person. I'm fortunate I can drive(20 minutes) to the business site and pick mine up.
Gentle Touch Products - All Natural Pet Litter and Bedding

[Stefan-A]

Do you take green leaves, that you then dry, or you take already fallen dried leaves?

Freshly fallen ones. They dry when I heat treat them. It'll soon be time to start gathering them, by the way.

I have also used leaves that I have gathered just after the snow has melted in the spring. They work just as well. But I always heat treat them.

[Stefan-A]

I'm a fan of reptile bark, it's big and chunky, does not stick to food, holds humidity, looks nice and had a rough texture.

It's also expensive as hell. I was just shopping for reptile bark earlier today, it was about 1€/liter! That's about 17 times as much as unfertilized peat moss!

Next summer, I'm probably going to start making my own substrate mix.

[infernalis]

It's also expensive as hell. I was just shopping for reptile bark earlier today, it was about 1€/liter! That's about 17 times as much as unfertilized peat moss!

Next summer, I'm probably going to start making my own substrate mix.

US suppliers sell it a lot cheaper than that on ebay Stefan. I get it really cheaply.

[Stefan-A]

US suppliers sell it a lot cheaper than that on ebay Stefan. I get it really cheaply.

US suppliers are unfortunately not available. Add taxes and freight.

[ConcinusMan]

US suppliers sell it a lot cheaper than that on ebay Stefan. I get it really cheaply.

Agreed. In fact, I have a delivery from amazon.com coming any day now. I like the stuff, it doesn't need changed too often, spot cleaning works for quite some time, and it sure does absorb odor very well, and looks natural. I spent $36 total (including shipping) for enough to fill my 20 gallon, 55 gallon, and 10 gallon for months to come. Dang local stores want $10 for an 4 quart bag! I got 8 quart bags online for 5 bucks. I mix it with a little loose coconut fiber. However, reptile bark does stick to food and is dangerous to ingest. Not really an issue as I do not feed snakes on it, or I use a large feeding tray and watch to make sure no snakes swallow it. I found peat moss to be to fine and dusty. I don't like hearing my snakes sneezing to expel it from their nostrils. Coconut fiber looks about the same, without all the fine dust found in peat moss.

Aspen bedding is a great substrate. Snakes love it and it's practical. However, it doesn't really look natural at all. Looks more like the floor sweepings of a wood working shop.