What do you all think is the best bedding for a king snake?

Discussion in 'Other Colubrids' started by iloveherps, Apr 6, 2006.

  1. iloveherps

    iloveherps Member

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    What do you all think is the best bedding for a Florida king snake?
    Thanks,
    ~Samuel
     
  2. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  3. Ash19

    Ash19 Well-Known Member

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    RE: What do you all think is the best bedding for a king sna

    Probably aspen, or coconut bark. Those are the best for corn snakes anyway :)
     
  4. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  5. CornyGuy

    CornyGuy Well-Known Member

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    RE: What do you all think is the best bedding for a king sna

    They are one of the best for all snakes.

    Newspaper is the cheapest, easiest, and most sanitary substrate, but Aspen ans Coconut Bark are both great alternatives. :)
     
  6. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  7. iloveherps

    iloveherps Member

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  8. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  9. Ash19

    Ash19 Well-Known Member

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    RE: What do you all think is the best bedding for a king sna

    Yeah I think that would be ok. Are you getting a king snake?
     
  10. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  11. Skunky

    Skunky Well-Known Member

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    RE: What do you all think is the best bedding for a king sna

    You can probably get Aspen for half the price..and it works brilliantly B) Just my $0.02
     
  12. iloveherps

    iloveherps Member

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    RE: What do you all think is the best bedding for a king sna

    Naw i already got a king snake and i have her on paper towels but every time i have to clean out the tank i have to take all the rocks and logs out just to get out the paper. So i think i will go with a bedding that i can just scoop out the one place.
     
  13. iloveherps

    iloveherps Member

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    RE: What do you all think is the best bedding for a king sna

    Also i never have liked aspen. It is almost to small. Can i see a photo of one of your vivs with aspen in the bottom? The photo one lllreptile is pritty bad.
     
  14. ayasha

    ayasha New Member

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    SubStrate

    My guys love the ExoTerra stuff...costs more but I really enjoy a natural Viv. though one thing about the Aspen is that is has good compaction. this is beter for excercise with burrowing.... or so it's said (my standard 'Herp opnions abound' disclaimer lol)

    As far as the product you mentioned, it is hard to say. It is stated 'For reptiles' not snakes specifally and there is no list of ingredients... hard to say definatively.

    I have some ongoing substrate madness in this post;

    http://www.reptilerooms.com/forumtopic-31605.html
     
  15. iloveherps

    iloveherps Member

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    459
    RE: SubStrate

    Well i got the four paws nature bedding. It is a wood chip like aspen. and i was wondering if it would be ok for my bearded dragon? I will post a photo of my kings tank with the new bedding.
     
  16. iloveherps

    iloveherps Member

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    OK,
    Here are some photos of here cage. Sorry they are not the best.

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  17. CornyGuy

    CornyGuy Well-Known Member

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    I've never heard of four paws nature bedding, but it should be okay as long as it doesn't have pine, cedar, or fir bark.

    As far as the enclosure... you need more hides. Anything will do. A cardboard box, a flower pot, or some brand name stuff like half logs or caves. They need to feel secure. Snakes can't see far so they want to be in a closed space where they touch all sides while they are in it. It needs to be the right size, though. A large hide defeats the purpose of a hide at all.

    And it looks as if you brought those branches from outside? That's perfectly fine as long as you baked it in the oven and boiled it in water to kill all parasites and bugs.
     
  18. ayasha

    ayasha New Member

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    bedding and hides and brances Oh my!

    Ok, Corny..me again..lol.

    Branches; “And it looks as if you brought those branches from outside? That's perfectly fine as long as you baked it in the oven and boiled it in water to kill all parasites and bugs.”
    Actually we still need to ascertain the type of wood. Baking is fine for parasites, but certain woods should be avoided. See the link in my earlier post on a bevy of info.

    To quote; “I was reading a copy of Reptiles USA mag today, an article on Vivariums, and got a more comprehensive list of woods not to use;

    "Some woods contain noxious or toxic compounds. These include most coniferous soft woods, such as pine,juniper,cedar and redwoods; all fruit woods of the genus Prunus, including apricot,cherry,nectarine,peach,plum; and most nut woods including walnut, butternut, almond etcc." “


    Substrate; As far as the 4 Paws bedding, GREAT! I use similar mixtures (that even support plant life, which I do). F you can afford it, it is a great way to go.

    Hides; I like 3 hides. One in the warm zone, one in the cool zone and one in the middle. I spot check surface temps around and inside each hide to ensure all is just right.

    Do read the posts in the link I had in my post above for more goodies.

    ..and Corny, are all snakes short sighted? I find my corns, being nocturnal have poorer eyesight than say, my Black Pine, which is diurnal (daytime dweller) has much better eyesight and reacts to visual stimuli from a far greater distance to the corns. Interesting…. I may go on another web fact finding mission on that one..lol
     
  19. PythonStriker67

    PythonStriker67 New Member

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    RE: bedding and hides and brances Oh my!

    Hello id have to agree aspen or the coconut bedding would be good i wouldnt recommend the repti bark or chips to big of chunks & with king snakes they like to hide & burrow down to hide so some sort of hid box with aspen or coconut bedding would be great trust me newspapers are cheap to come by from anyone & fast clean up but you can never ever see the beautiful snakes because they hide under the papers almost everytime.I found to here where i live anyways the local pet stores sell these blocks of coconut bedding which you place inside a bucket as we all know & it expands 10 times its size & there is enought to do at least 100 10 gallon tanks the pet stores sell blocks of it here single one's for like $2.99-3.99 a block or 2-3 blocks for like $7.00-$8.00 well i found a store here that sells coconut block bedding for which people will use it for plants & such same exact stuff at a hydrophonics store for plant growers for only $1.25-$1.50 a block much cheapier & the exact same stuff it just doesnt come packaged in plastic with cute little reptile cartoon pictures all over it..thanks good luck from Striker....i have 4 kings 4 ball pythons 7 3 huge burmese pythons i breed yearly my two female burmese are pregnant now i have been dealing with reptiles for over 24+ years & run my own rescue service good day & happy herping peeps..
     
  20. iloveherps

    iloveherps Member

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    459
    RE: bedding and hides and brances Oh my!

    I have two hides in there both are the right size. And any thing i bring in from out side i bake in the oven at 350F for 30min. I just redid her tank so there is not as much furnishings in there but I am getting some potted plants and also some more rocks and tree branches. Oh and the hide log is poplar and the climbing branch is sassafras.
    What do you all suggest for live plants?
     
  21. CornyGuy

    CornyGuy Well-Known Member

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    1,223
    RE: bedding and hides and brances Oh my!

    I would just go for fake plants. Live ones might have bugs and pestisides. Also, you don't have to water them.
     
  22. iloveherps

    iloveherps Member

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    459
    RE: bedding and hides and brances Oh my!

    ya i guess that is easer. I'll see what i can do. lol
     
  23. lestat

    lestat Moderator

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    1,468
    RE: bedding and hides and brances Oh my!

    I use live plants in all my cages. There are various sites that you can order plants from specifically for animal cages. Avoid anything with sharp 'teeth', carnivorous, or fragile. For my king, I go for plants with kinda bulky leaves and stems. They will dig the plants up to hide under them, so the plants need to be fairly hardy. Prayer plants seem to work pretty well. Ivy does not work well at all. It takes some experimentation, but I think it's worth it. I really don't like fake plants, myself.
     
  24. Ash19

    Ash19 Well-Known Member

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    3,104
    RE: bedding and hides and brances Oh my!

    Me neither. I have bamboo in my corn's cage. But I was thinking of getting some fake greenery. Something like ivy or with suction cups that I can hang from the sides of the tank. I just have no idea where to get it from. The bamboo looks nice but I just don't think my snake is happy with it. Not enough to fill the tank I guess. Last night he knocked it over and covered the opening of his hot hide with it.
     

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