T O P I C R E V I E W |
Razee |
Posted - 17/10/2014 : 08:32:22 I have recently had several bags of aspen that is really dusty - and I mean really dusty. You can't see any dust from the outside, but when you open the bag, and take some aspen out, clouds of really fine dust are everywhere, even at the back of the viv, on the vents, on the outside.
I took it outside, pouring it into baking tray, giving it a good shake - but even then there's still some dust left. I was in the middle of cleaning vivs, and didn't have any more aspen, so had to use this batch.
Last year I had similar thing happen, and Seb, who loves burrowing and is really active, started sneezing. When I changed the aspen for a different batch, the sneezing gradually stopped.
I'm starting to get fed up with aspen, not just the dust - I like natural look of the vivs, too, and aspen looks a bit clinical.
I was thinking about swapping to something like eco earth, as you can then also achieve places with different moisture gradient. Does anyone use eco earth or similar for corn snakes?
I don't want to go fully " naturalistic " - I have wooden vivs, and I don't think that long term, they would last. I also don't like creepy crawlies, and hubby would definitely NOT approve, either. But something one step closer to naturalistic would be nice - any ideas?
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4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
LadySybil |
Posted - 21/10/2014 : 10:33:54 I've never heard those horror stories about it but it's finer than aspen and has less chance of compaction if swollowed while eating. Thinking about it, unless the snake was going around with its mouth open, I don't see how it would get in there as it just flies away when hit by their tongue.
The tunnels hold even better than aspen, Vimes is a burrower and he loves it. |
Razee |
Posted - 19/10/2014 : 10:16:53 Thanks, both - eeji, that's what I suspected...oh well. I was inspired by friend's viv back at home, she has royals ( I know they like higher humidity than corns ) on something like earth, or potting soil, and provides varied areas of humidity with some parts kept damper than others.
Lady Sybil, I did look at lignocel, but I was a bit put off by horror stories about it clumping in snakes mouth and choking them, if they get a mouthful. I don't know if this is true - as it's perfectly possible that the snakes died of completely something else, and got a mouthful of bedding in the process. The one thing I do like about aspen, is how well it hold the tunnels they make, and I don't know if lignocel would, but I suppose at least it wouldn't be dusty. |
eeji |
Posted - 18/10/2014 : 14:26:19 eco earth is ok if its kept damp (which won't be much good for a corn), when its dry its very fine so you'll most likely get the same problem. |
LadySybil |
Posted - 17/10/2014 : 09:55:19 Probably not as naturally looking as you want but lignocel is great for burrowing and is softer than aspen. I've never had an issue with dust either, I've used 2 different brands an no dust in either. |
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