Alternative to Paper towels?

[Willow]

My husband and I where having a conversation about babys a few days back (we dont have one yet lol...but we do discuss it) and started talking about cloth diapers compaired to disposable ones

well...since every conversation in my life usually turns to my snakes...i started wondering about useing cloth or linens (or something of that matter) instead of paper towels in my snake tubs....since as of now...paper towels are my snakes "diapers" lol

i was just wondering if anyone else had thought of....or tried...some kind of cloth type bedding for their snakes

i use coco fiber in my boa's tank...but dont like how wet it can get in my ball python tubs....plus for some reason my ball pythons seem to eat dirt (when trying to kill their rats) more then my boa does lol, which i am never happy about

i do find paper towels in my tubs to be more to my liking then other substrates, as its easy to see when it needs to be cleaned and its rather easy to change out and its not as dusty or dirty as other substrates i have tried....but its rather costly sometimes....i can go through an entire cosco bag of paper towels in less then a month....and i really do hate throwing out all that paper lol

my thought was....to cut properly fitted cloths that fit my tubs....about 3 sets per tub...so i can pull one out and put a new one in....and wash all the dirty ones to be re used later

Im just tinkering with the idea in my mind...and wanted others feed back

do it seem like a good alternative to paper towels? what cloths do you think would be best? Any other ideas or inputs are always apperciated

 

[Kingetula]

I would stick to paper towels or newspaper.

 

[DAND]

This has nothing to do with your request but...

I would not suggest feeding in their tubs/enclosures for a few reasons. Snakes tend to get aggressive at times when fed where they are housed. If they are hungry and they are used to eating in where they are housed but you are only cleaning the water bowl you may get tagged. The bad part you already noted is the ingestion of the coco fiber, which when ingested can cause them to get impacted.

 

[Willow]

lol dont worry none of my snakes have ingested anything other then a rat in a long time lol, none are or have been impacted...i switched from coco fiber pretty quickly when i noticed it getting stuck to dieing rats and what not lol

it would be a real pain for me to have to move every snake, every week when i feed them...feeding in their enclosures has never been a problem for me or any other breeder i know...i used to move my rat snake...but he actually bit me when i tried to move him back to his enclosure after feeding, so i started feeding him in his tank to remove the stress of moving him....and havent been bit since =)

I was told by a breeder back in the day (when i did move my snakes) that a snake sees no difference in its enclosure to say....a feeding box...so moving the snake really didnt make it see feeding time any different other then the stress of moving it first....which with ball pythons and how finicky they can be anyway....is just no good lol

i do know some people move their snakes for feeding...to each their own i guess....but so far i have yet to get tagged by a snake becuase it thought i was food (at least since my rat snake did it that one time lol)

 

[Kingetula]

Depends on the snake and species Willow...

 

[Willow]

lol i know it depends on the snake...i dont dare stick my bare hand in my boa's tank....he gets a snake hook hehe, but as soon as he notices he is being picked up....he chills out and whatnot, sweet thing when he relaxes hehe =)

 

[[email protected]]

Glad I'm not the only one whose thoughts constantly drift to snakes!


I have gone through a whole bunch of different substrates too....I use aspen primarily, but for certain snakes I find paper towel much more convenient and sanitary, but ugly. I've tried newspaper before without much success and even place mats (found some cool ones that have a grass pattern). I even have a whole stack of colorful napkins that look nice in the viv. One of my bp's former owners used a reptile carpet and washed it every week, but I haven't used it since I've had her.

 

[Willow]

nice to be back on topic hehe =) my only reason for even asking is becasue i dont really mind the idea of doing an extra load of laundry once a week...my water bill is a fixed bill (same every month) and my electric bill dosnt get murdered by a extra wash or two lol...and of course i can handwash before throwing cloths into the washer if i feel the "poop" is to gross....tho my snakes tend to have nice solid poops that i can pick up and throw away easily

I have tried aspen before...but it tends to be to dusty for my personal enjoyment lol...i just figured since im useing a type of paper as it is...a type of cloth might be more to my likeing...im going to be heading to a fabric store in the next week or so to browse

i think cloth might look nicer then paper towels...plus in the long run be cheaper...i really hate to be wasteful...so throwing out big arm fulls of paper towels every week annoys me lol

 

[Artistry Exotics]

I've heard of people using shelf liner (not the sticky kind though) the same way. Just have a few sets and then rinse it off, dunk it in disinfectant or whatever, and reuse it. I'm thinking about doing this as well because I hate being so wasteful with paper towels and newspaper.

 

[angie.h]

I don't know if it's been mentioned but if your snake ate in the tank with the cloth towels it could accidentally ingest a towel along with the food...it might be a freak accident but it's a possibility.

 

[tinmantribe5]

I like to use bills that I get in the mail if I dont have the money to pay it gets shredded into bedding ,funny thing they (Bills) just keep coming,

 

[tinmantribe5]

Well you could also use your Husbands stash of so called (collectors Items) nudie books,boom into the shredder and walla Bedding.