Substrate question
 

Just a general question: anyone have issues with the dust in shredded aspen?

I haven't noticed any negative effects as of yet. I like the chips a lot better, but of course they cost more and you don't get nearly as much. I may just put the shredded in a big bin and try to shake out the dust with a fan blowing outside...

Thanks,

Bill

I stick with the chips myself, I just found that no matter what I did the shredded stuff always had more dust than I was comfortable with. personally I prefer cypress mulch but it is bloody expensive in comparison.

Some of the shredded is REALLY dusty, and I wasn't comfortable using it, however I purchase a "premium" aspen horse bedding that is basically shredded, though a somewhat larger shred than some I that I have seen. I don't know how they remove the dustiness from it (maybe they have a lot of big fans, lol)....but since horses will have issues from dust as well, it really does seem to be almost dust-free, and I have had no issues at all with it.

And even better - a 50 lb compressed bale of it at Mills Fleet Farm is under 6 bucks.

I've had problems with the dust in the finely shredded aspen, so much so that I had to stop using it for my black milksnakes and honduran milksnakes, as they would wheeze. Once I changed over to the larger cut aspen bedding, the resp problems disappeared. The dust content doesn't bother my BP's though, perhaps because they don't burrow into it like my colubrids.

Have you looked into buying the big bags of cypress mulch from garden centers of DIY stores or other places with outdoor bedding?

Here in the USA I just paid $3 per bag for 3 bags that I think weigh about 50lbs each.

Later!
HH

We used to use aspen bedding as our substrate when we first started out, but when we rescused a Burmese with a resperitory infection 4 or 5 years back, he had trouble recovering with the added dust, having always been kept by his previous owner without anything.

Now days we use mostly paper towels, simply because they're a bit cheaper and more cost effective, and they don't have any dust, or real chance of getting stuck in anybodies mouth or eye or anywhere else they can think of to make my day more interesting :rolleyes_
Only minor problem we have with them is that if you don't mist the cage every once in a while, there's a better chance you're reptile will have a bad shed, as paper towels are designed to suck up ALL the moisture :)
It's a good solution if you're running low on substrate and don't have the cash just yet to go buy a new bag when someone messes their cage.

That's just my two cents :o

Kind Regards,


Kylie Rae