Substrate ?

[Cristina]

I just got my 1st cornsnake..right now I have Aspen bedding down..I notice that alot of u w/ larger snakes use newspaper..could I use that?..right now all he does all day is bury himself and i dont see him unless i go and find him..and also it makes it hard to monitor which side of the tank he is on, so as if I need to change the temps...he has 2 hides..and I know hes nocturnal, but would the newspaper make him more use to people b/c he will be able to see us more during the day??

thanks

[Pete J]

I would stay with the aspen... especially if the corn is using it to bury... means less stress for the snake. i think alot of people with larger snakes use paper because of the ease. it can be bothersome opperating a larger 4v2 or 6v2 or 3 area with a loose substrate. with paper there is no chance of the snake accidently eating some substrate also.

if you want to see your snake more often, slowly adjust the day light cycle on your timer. get the lights comming on earlier so they kick off when you are home. once the snake is comfortable im sure she/he will come out and explore the cage as soon as the night timer kicks the lights off.... at least thats how all my snakes are.

my corn snake is great entertainment to watch at night for guests and us.

	Corn Snake The Corn Snake or Red Rat Snake (Elaphe guttata) is a species of Rat Snake.

[camille]

Although we arent using Aspen now. We actually plan to use it on almost everyone we have(Snake wise). More expensive yes. But the snakes feel more at ease(In my opinion, and everyone is entitled to theirs ) if they can burrow into it and hide. I find Once their socialised enough. It doesent matter if they can burrow. They will come out to you. Frosty our snow corn was the skitziest snake ever. She had to be handled for an hour before she would calm down enough to relax. But after a couple of months of steady handling she relaxed so much that she will come out of hiding everytime we are out and about. Alot of our snakes are very "Social" like that. As soon as your out they come out. And im not talking about feeding time. You can tell when they know its feeding time lol. Whole new movement then!

[Fenderplayer108]

I use aspen for all my snakes, top notch in my opinion.

Ryan

[Demona]

I definately prefer aspen, paper is much easier to clean yes, but it looks... well like paper. I think having a substrate that your snake can bury in is best, especially if he's actually burying

[Mister Internet]

Cris,
First off, make sure you have either a probed thermostat or in-cage thermometers to tell you the ACTUAL temps in the cage... you mentioned not knowing if you needed to change the temps. You should never have to change your temps once you've got the cage set up properly... unless, of course, there is a huge drop in ambient temperature (say if you're setup is in the basement and it's not insulated during the winter). Once your temps provide the proper gradient for your species, they should be left alone... that's the whole point of a temperature gradient when it's all said and done: to allow the snake to choose the temps it needs at any given time, not you. Just wanted to let you know so you didn't have to worry about it any more.

As for substrate, aspen will allow them to burrow quite a bit (although my corn all but quit burrowing once he became an adult) ... a nice looking substrate that is a bit harder for them to burrow in is Cypress Mulch, which is what I use. Looks fantastic, holds humidity great, easy to spot clean, and naturally fungus resistant. I just searched on here for "cypress" and found a ton of great info by louise and others about preparing Cypress mulch. I use it for both my corn and RTB. If you want paper but do not want the "cheap" look of actual newpapers, you can try going to your local newspaper publisher and asking about "roll ends", which are the leftovers of the rolls of newsprint when they have finished a run of paper. The newsprinter near our house growing up used to sell the stuff for $1lb on the roll... it's the exact same paper with no ink, so it's especially nice for albino/light colored snakes, as the newsprint doesn't rub off. My personal favorite paper substrate is indented Kraft paper, which is SUPER absorbent and more attractive than flat paper... I used to buy it here:

http://www.uline.com/Browse_Listing_...dented%20kraft

It was nice, but I eventually decided I would rather have the nicer look and humidity of Cypress... I use it now as "feeding sheets" so as to prevent impaction when feeding in-cage on the cypress substrate.

[ReptileMan27]

Aspen is fine but newspaper or paper towels are fine to. I guess its more personal prefrence then anything.