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Which bedding is best for bp's?

A

Araidia

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I'm thinking of changing the substrate I use. Right now I use coco fiber and I like it but I have a problem with some snakes not eating because the bedding sticks to the f/t rats. I was thinking either orchid bark or something similar or coco husk chunks. anyone have experience with any of them? Any problems with the snakes swallowing the bark? I usually watch them to make sure they don't have a mouthful of something. I need something that holds humidity well, won't mold and can be found at a decent price. Any suggestion on where to get any of them for a good price would be awesome too, thank you : )
 
Are you sure the snakes are refusing specifically because of the pieces stuck to the rats, and not because they "dislike" the coco fiber altogether? If it's because the stuck fiber changes the rats color/smell enough to throw them off or something along those lines, you might be able to get them to eat just by placing the rat in the tub on top of a paper towel to keep it off the substrate.

I recently read an article that had some theories about substrate changes being good for ending some hunger strikes in general, so changing things up might not be a bad idea regardless. What works for one snake may not work for another though, and you should take your climate/set up into account when deciding what to use. May be best to start with "trial size" bags. [emoji6]

Personally, I keep all of mine on paper towels. Easy to spot any messes, keeps the snakes clean, and if they feel insecure they can crumple up and hide under the paper towels to their heart's content. That said, I have some fairly large water bowls that maintain the humidity and many of my snakes were on newspaper before I got them, so it wasn't a super drastic change. The only downside, as far as I can tell, is that the tubs look kind of boring compared to plant-based substrates.

Best of luck with your picky eaters! I feel your pain - one of my boys only just started eating after a year of having a touch and go appetite.
 
Droptine10 said:
You should feed in different tub , problem solved
Click to expand...
Er, no. Using a different tub increases the likelihood of getting bitten by a foody snake, and while a nip from a BP isn't a big deal, it's still a risk for the snake if it loses a tooth and ends up with an infection. Also, there's the potential for added stress causing a regurgitation.

During the winter I use cypress mulch to retain humidity, any chunks are big enough the snake just knocks them off the feeder. If the snake does eat a smaller piece it's just extra roughage, these guys digest bone after all. In the warmer weather they're on newspaper.

I wouldn't feed on a paper towel as you don't want your snake eating it. If you feed f/t put down a plastic plate first (before you thaw the feeders) and let the snake eat on that.
 
Er well I have fed all my snakes in a separate feeding tub, NEVER a problem , I think it cuts down on
the chance your snake will strike every time you put your hand in the tank.
 
It's not that they're on a hunger strike, they take their food just fine but some of them eat it neatly while it's still coiled up and some like to drag them everywhere, get them wet then the bedding sticks to them and they get big mouthfuls of it then don't eat it because they lose interest by the time they get the bedding out of their mouths. I hate paper towels, the snakes pee once and the entire tub is soaked, I don't like them having to be in that all day until i get home to clean them, they work fine for the babies but adults make too much of a mess. The coco bedding absorbs very well and is easy to spot clean so it keep everything to a tiny corner so they're not laying on wet towels. And as for feeding in a separate tub that usually doesn't work out for ball pythons, if mine are picked up or touched at all before feeding most of them won't eat. I also have about 30 snakes to feed, I don't have enough room or time to leave them in a separate tub for as long as it will take for them to relax enough to eat. I'm just looking for a courser bedding that can be spot cleaned like coco bedding but won't stick so much.
 
chkadii said:
I recently read an article that had some theories about substrate changes being good for ending some hunger strikes in general, so changing things up might not be a bad idea regardless.
Click to expand...


I've had a lot of success doing that with picky eaters, I have an old wc female that would for ten years only eat for two months in the summer then refuse for the rest of the year. I kept her in vision cages for years, she's a big girl and even 41 qt tubs look kinda small, then i tried tubs with paper towels, I switched her to a small tub with lots of coco bedding and she magically started eating all year. I put her back on paper towels just as an experiment and she stopped again. My clown on the other hand only eats well with the paper towels. moving them up or down in the racks seem to stir things up too. BP's can be such weirdo's, my carpet pythons eat anything that moves no matter where they are.
 
Cypress sounds good, anyone know a good place to get big bags of cypress mulch? I've only seen little bags that were expensive.
 
Awesome, thank you :D free shipping is great, I was checking out some other places that wanted as much as the bag cost for shipping.
 
I have mine on aspen right now ,, I want to switch them over to cypress mulch and eco-earth mixed.
I'm new to ball pythons right now, had one 10 years ago, nightmare !!.
So far so go with these 2 , male spider (1030gram) and a pastel female (900gram).
I'm a mess right now, I have them housed together because that's how the person had them.
I know this is not right , I am going to get them each in their own tub asap !!
A 41 quart tub seems too big , I think I will go with a 32
 
A 41qt should be fine, I have a few 900g girls in them, a 32 is a bit small for an adult girl. I used aspen years ago but had a very hard time keeping humidity right without daily misting, i love the the eco earth, besides my pain in the butts that can't eat without dragging their rat into their water lol, it's very easy to keep humidity up and easy to clean, just make sure it's not kept too wet which will lead to belly rot. I think I'll try the eco earth cypress combo too, need to use up the rest of my eco earth anyway. Good luck with your new snakes :)
 
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