Ball python quiz?
What substrate to use for a ball python.Also can I use a shoe box that is 10 and a half inches by 7 inches by 4 inches as a covering.If i can use it how long can I use it.
I use a mulch for my orb python. Personally I wouldn't use a shoebox, you probably could for a short amount of time, but a rock is much more natural for a snake.
Aspen bedding is one of the best substrate for snakes. It could finishing you long because you only take out the part that be soiled. Aspen is also very clean compared to weekly or mulch.It holds humidity pretty well. And it does cost that much. A shoe box would be fine for a hide spot but i wouldn't keep it to long.When globe python shed they need there humidity to be raised.The best style to do that is to mist.Water and cardboard don't mix.
Answers: Your snake's hides will change in size as your python get bigger and out grows them. You will know when to up size the hide because it will become obvious. I have have to replace my 5ft female's hide several times in the 7 years that I have have her. Substrates that have cedar or pine shavings in them contain oils and phenols that are detrimental to snakes. Avoid substrates that say "blend" on the bag because they also may contain bits of pine or cedar. Newspaper is the easiest and most available substrate to use. For a more natural look to an paddock you can use treated fir bark chips which can be misted to produce and raise humidity. Sand is not a ball python substrate. Cypress "bed" is also pleasing. Some of the cypress beddings have large bits of rough shavings in them. If you aspiration to use this substrate, avoid the chunky brands. Too many sticks and shards will eventually irritate your snake's belly. Many keepers use aspen. It is a pretty angelic soft substrate but, it does not produce much humidity when you mist it. I use a 50/50 mixture of aspen shavings and fir bark chips. It makes a soft friendly substrate that raise humidity when misted.
snakes like the littlest darkest places to hide. so get a shoes box or something that it can just fit in. and aspen bedding is the cheapest and best way. repti bark is virtuous too but its kind of expensive when you can use news paper or aspen
you can use many different things for a substrate, mulch (not ceder), moss, turf, towels, sand, woodchips, newspaper, nearly anything. and for a hide box, you can use anything. a container w/ a hole in it, a cereal box, a shoe box, it doesn't really event
Get Newspaper or Aspen Shaving the reptile safe kind. And take a half log hide for him, my ball loves that. apt luck
