The breeder we bought our first girl from suggested Eco Earth and we have been using that since November. Both girls seem to like burrowing and making pathways and tunnels.
I hope you've given Kent a raise...he's really taken on a lot of new roles: camera man, marketing, he's got his viral Kent's Corner segment, and now he's doing SFX... the Kent's corner segment in this video was even pretty informational and didn't have too much negativity geared at the snakes.
I used a blend of coco chips, coco soil, eco earth, and the substrate my white dwarf isopods from josh’s frogs came with. The surface level is made from more coco chips in places, live mood moss in others, and river pebbles in some places on the cool side.
Thank you for this video. I found it both helpful and entertaining. I have just adopted a full grown ball python and I’m a worry wart about making sure I do the right things, like a first time mom. I am appreciating all your videos actually. I’m still looking for a step by step process video on how to set up a good bioactive for a ball python specifically on how to set up the substrate and how many bugs to add and more in depth info.
Even a reliable brand like reptichip, i have found plastic and heard stories of mites. Its a good idea to freeze the block for 24-48 hours and then after watering, sift thru for plastic and try to remove any you can find. This suff happens in all blocks and is almost impossoble to sift it all out and kill all bugs without adding harsh chemicals. Do your due dillegence and take caution. Best of luck, thank you for the awesome video
I occasionally find bits of plastic but I just pick them out. Snake mites are specific to snakes so you wouldn't find them in a plastic wrapped block of substrate. People who complain that their substrate came with mites usually picked the substrate up from a pet store or a reptile show where they also handled snakes and brought home mites on their clothing... It's also possible that a small company could be manufacturing substrate in the same room that they have snakes but I think that's pretty unlikely. I always get my substrate from larger companies and I know that it's not in any contact with snakes before it gets to me. Have never had a problem with snake mites in substrate :-)
@@GreenRoomPythons thank you for this, neither have I, I think for the most part people are just saying mites when they mean wood mites which is very common up north for them to find their way in everything
Home Depot sells rolls of "packing paper" for wrapping glasses and cups if moving - it is essentially unprinted newspaper. Way better properties than paper towels as you have said. It does not suck up the humidity like paper towels do. Uline has it as well, and actually calls it unprinted newspaper. Oh, your question - coconut husk does not harbor microbes very well but can grow fungus. Especially when you add snake waste. Adding soil will add microbes which helps control fungus. As do isopods. I don't want to deal with all of that, so I think letting it dry out some before misting avoids any problem.
Man, I was super worried cuz I just got a ball python, Melon. (I've been using eco earth mixed with terrafirma, recommended to me by my local store. Doing bioactive with my isopods.) But I got her two hides on each side of the enclosure but she chose instead to burrow under her water dish instead. Scared the hell out of me cuz I couldn't find her anywhere, almost turned over the whole enclosure before I checked under the bowl. What a stinker!
Same here, we recently changed our corn snake enclosure into a bioactive terrarium. We started with a 1 1/2" layer of the clay balls, then a substrate screen, then a 3 1/2" to 4" inch Josh's Frog ABG bioactive substrate layer and topped it off with Chilean Sphagnum Moss. He disappeared on the 1st day and we didn't see him again for about 5 days. He loves to burrow in the substrate layer and seems to be more active now. I was so nervous when he was hiding but I fiquared I would gice him a week to adjust to the new substrate and I am glad we did. I added 20 isopods, but I think he needs more we never see them. His enclosure is 36" long by 19" width and 19" height. We keep a 1" layer of distilled water in the clay rocks and the humidity is staying high so we have added a fan inside to help lower the humidity. But he loves all the new live ferns and plants for him to hide in.
I love coco soil/Ecco earth for my reptiles. I did try my corn snake on aspen and the aspen got stuck in her mouth with her food. So I changed her sub to echo earth/coco soil and she now burrows and seems to be a lot happier. For my ball pythons I like it cause it seems softer, not as rough and really helps with my humidity issue. Which so far is only in my 75 gallon tank its always going from 60 to about 70. So I'm always watching that encloser. Might try these chips to see if that helps her encloser any. Thank you for another awesome video :)
It's funny you talk about snakes not caring about what substrate they are on, I agree to a point. So I got my ball (first snake ever) a year ago I had him for the first few months on forest floor (I got him as a baby) then switched to jungle mix as recommended by a guy at a local reptile shop because he said it holds humidity so much nicer. Anywho, my snake hated the new texture or whatever the case was! He looked like he was playing hot lava and crawling from object to object trying not to touch the ground, he even slept in the open on top his hide. He eventually adjusted because I added some forest floor to it and that helped him transition but I thought it was funny
Yes! They do that (especially babies) if the substrate is a new texture that they've never encountered. They'll be reluctant to touch it until they get used to it and realize it's safe.
I've had the most difficult time keeping my tank's humidity up sufficiently. I use a layer of damp cocoa soil a thicker layer of cocoa husk and then some repti chip on top. I've been misting the enclosure at least 5 times a day and its still not staying at 65% humidity it at 30-45% humidity which is not enough. I've tried several tricks like a wet towel on top of the enclosure which helps a little but I've noticed mildew on the cocoa husk
Don't mist. It will evaporate almost immediately. Pour the water right into one spot on the substrate. You want it to get down into the substrate so that it evaporates slowly over time, keeping the humidity up. Not on the surface, where it will quickly evaporate and stop helping.
@@GreenRoomPythons do u plan on putting any snake babies up for sale when u breed? Im currently raising a female for breeding myself. She a Enchi Pinstripe 100% het pied..shes gunna get bred to my male banana cinnamon when she's up to weight by either next season or the season after
@@nemolank that will make some great combos!... Yes, hopefully I'll get a few clutches this year and will have some of those babies available. I don't even have eggs on the ground yet though, so we'll see 😉
Love the content thanks for all the info. I'm setting up my son's terrarium and I'm wondering if you have any suggestions on how I should setup the drainage layer.
You don't need a drainage layer unless you are trying to do a bioactive vivarium. I don't use a drainage layer in my bioactive because I have soil that deals well with the moisture. There are videos on other channels though that talk about how to set up a drainage layer if you're doing that with a bioactive.
So I was using a jungle mix type of substrate. It has coco fiber and a little moss and some small wood chips. I've noticed that my one snake had like little splinters poking out of between her scales. I pulled them out with a tweezers, they were really in there like a splinter. I got all that stuff out. Now I'm watching this video, to decide what's the best thing to use as substrate for ball pythons.
I know this video is about Ball Pythons, but I using this information for my Eastern Indigo. I'm having trouble with humidity (or lack thereof), so will try something like ReptiChip/Eco Earth.
I started of with coconut substrate however, I find this more suitable for tropical snakes since this can be VERY moisty Sometimes I think people tend to forget that a ball python actually comes from West-Mid Africa where the ground is pretty dry. I now use beech snips, and I keep the humidity around 50-55% manually with a mist-waterspray. During shed I push this up to 70-80% and I use a shedding spray as backup just in case if it needs some help with the shed. What is your opinion Bob?
Yeah that will work. 50%-55% is usually fine for a ball python. There are some that need more humidity just because they won't drink enough or have problem sheds for whatever reason. The air in west Africa is dryer but the burrows and dens they tend to stay in has higher humidity. I like to keep mine between 70%-80% at all times, but if it dips below that it's not a problem.
Coco husk isn’t anti microbial. Soil needs bacteria microbes, but it is resistant to moulds like you say. I use Arcadia Earth Mixes and Eco Earth both really good. I also add charcoal. Also I make my eco earth with boiling water. It expands very quickly and once cool is ready to use.
When I got my first ball python 3 years ago I was using Aspen. I thought that was okay then someone told me that knew more about snakes and I did that coco husks were better. And this took place about a year-and-a-half two years after I had been using the Aspen.
I just cut my text off. I started using the cocoa husks I bought the Repti Chips coco husks. It was a lot better! So I ordered online a couple of blocks of it at a time because I had more than one snake at that point I was paying that extra for shipping just recently I discovered a place where I bought a snake from which sold be Pro Coco chips. I think both brands are good. I'm not paying for the extra shipping by buying it in person which it's a nice Saturday road trip where I go to to buy it. I do find that both brands which are pretty much the same type Coco chips do have a little dust that settles in the bottom of the tank but I'm satisfied with the Coco husk and I will continue buying it! And I didn't save my paper but I believe the pro Cocohusk is a 20lb block and I pay about $20 for it with +tax.. I like the product and my snake seem to like it too because I have a couple that seem to burrow in it! I don't know if this helps any that's just my opinion I wouldn't go back to Aspen or the I did in the beginning. It's easy to clean I keep my tanks cleaned and try and check everything at least every other day to make sure that they stay clean!🐍🐍😊
Aspen works really well for a lot of people but it just depends on their humidity situation. Its a bit too dry for me in Southern California so I use Coco husk for the ball pythons and retics. I still use Aspen for the black-headed python though and it works great.
@@GreenRoomPythons I have 15 ball pythons now after almost 3 years they've kind of grown on me after my first one I wish I'd a known about them yrs ago when I was a lot younger. I learned about snakes an what they are really like from friends I met here where I live Illinois, that have snakes. I got to hold my first snake at the young age of 73yrs. And OMG have I missed out on a lot over the past yes. Anyway with the kind of weather that we have here in Illinois which is constantly changing you never know what it's going to be like from day today. This past March I think we had more warm weather than we did cold weather and snow! Here it is the 1st of April and we're supposed to have really warm weather tomorrow our temperature today was about 73° it's supposed to be warmer and hot tomorrow. Severe thunderstorms and who-knows-what! But my point is with the humidity in the moisture that we have I like the Coco chips in the snake tanks it works pretty well here in Illinois with our weather changes.
I like to use sphagnum peat moss topsoil, but I put puppy pads under it so it's an easy cleanup and seems to work well. The soil also works very well with humidity.
Dear @GreenRoomPythons, currently I'm using lignocell, but humidity is bad, cause of it. It's too dry. The thing is, when I feed my BP on lignocell I have nothing to worry about, if he eats some of it. What I've been told in my local reptile shops, that coco husk is not recommended due to danger of BP eating it with the rat and get sick. Is it true? Do you feed your snakes on coco husk/chips?
That's not a problem. Snake's digestive systems are designed to digest feathers, fur, and bones. They can easily digest a bit of substrate :-) Yes, I feed all my snakes on Coco husk.
I've been mixing eco earth and Forrest floor and I really haven't had a issue with humidity. At first I was just using eco earth because that's what I use for all my animals that aren't from a arid climate, I added Forrest floor because he likes to burrow and he was getting it into his heat pits and we can't have that so now I'm doing like 90% Forrest floor to 10% eco earth and I'm not having any issues what so ever. I tried using cocohusk with my crested geckos years ago and it wasn't holding humidity as well as the eco earth...however crested geckos require higher of a humidity then a bp... so I might have to look into it 🤔
Yea everyone has told me they don't like to burrow but I find him in the substrate all the time...I was also told they don't climb but I catch him perching on his branches every now and again...
@@missgrimm5574 they definitely burrow and climb. I've never heard anyone say they don't climb but I constantly hear the arboreal/non-arboreal argument... I would say they are terrestrial animals who will burrow and will climb a bit, but should not be considered a "burrowing subterranean species" or an arboreal species :-)
Even though this video is less relevant for me (I live in a very humid area so I use substrate that lowers humidity), I’m just a snake nerd and I love seeing how other people set things up for their snakes 😂 Entertaining as always!
Hey Bob, you have a link to the paper you order? I've been getting the rolls of painting paper from ikea. Comes in at about half the cost of whatever i can find on amazon.
I haven't shopped around much but I get this stuff: www.amazon.com/dp/B07HBVRGXP/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_9ACZ2PDN53ENKMSX57SY?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 I'll definitely check Ikea next time I order. Thanks for the tip!
Great job bob, Kent and Freya (which by the way is my youngest daughters name) I planned on doing a thicker paper towel (think car shop paper towel. I work in one.) And then coco husk. Currently we have our corn snake in aspen but been considering switching him. He likes to burrow and tunnel a lot though
@@GreenRoomPythons I didn’t mean switch the corn to coco. I know it’s not the best for burrowing. But thinking of a soil mix or something for the corn. But cocohusk for the bp
Dear Bob, l am a first time ball python owner and massively grateful for your videos as they have really help me with gaining more knowledge!! I am currently using Lignocel as substrate but want to switch to coco husk as l struggle to keep humidity above 60 without spraying the terrarium at least 2 a day. But is there any risk of a ball python picking up coco chip/husk substrate and digesting it during feeding...? A very big thank you from me and Connor Macleod 🐍
Hi Franka, yes they can pick up substrate and ingest it while eating. I don't worry about it with the adults because they can easily digest and pass coco husk. Young ones probably can too but I usually place them in an upturned hide after they strike the rodent to reduce the chances of them ingesting a larger chunk :-)
@@GreenRoomPythons Good morning and thank you so much for getting back to me so quickly - l am trying not to go totally cuckoo with worry but as a first time owner even a humble bit of coco chip is eyed with suspicion 😉 so l'll go ahead and order a small bag to start with and see how that works out...please keep making those videos for newbies like me, and all the best to you and your scaled family!!
@@GreenRoomPythonsHi Bob, just to let you know how the Dutch humidity conundrum got solved: reptichip coco substrate unfortunately did not manage to bring up levels above 42% and with my friend having gone into shedding (one week after l got him) l decided to get a fogger and connected it to a humidity controller that now keeps humidity stable at 65%. As he only uses his warm hide at the moment, l carefully added some damp sphagnum moss that will hopefully see him and me through his shed without shed skin getting stuck. Now all fingers crossed....all the best from NL!
My wife and I have tried Aspen, Repti-Bark, Forest Floor, & Eco-Earth. We've found that Reptichip is the BEST bar none. Thanks 👍🏾 for info Bob. Take care.
Hi, I love your channel. I'm picking up my first ball python tomorrow and I was told to have the tank setup with reptisoil. I wasn't told to mix it and now I heard it should have been....... Do I have to cancel the pickup of him tomorrow until I replace it with another substrate?...... Or will it be ok to just use that maybe.... helps. lol.
I’m trying a layer of hydro balls, a small layer of coco fiber soil, and a thick layer of the chips. I have a hard time keeping humidity with the aspen. This will hopefully work a lot better
I had my 2 ball pythons on aspen originally, because I'm in FL and our ambient humidity is pretty high. I had a humidity hide for each with some damp moss and they were both having perfect sheds. But yeah aspen needs to be kept dry. The snakes tend to press it down flat with their weight. I recently switched to coco blox because it was I saw most recommended when I did enclosure upgrades. I almost feel like it's too chunky? I don't know. It seems ok so far. If they do burrow with the right substrate, I feel like I should try to provide that for them. Or somehow put in some underground tubes. I just want to give them as much enrichment as I can. Both of them also love to climb.
So in most of your videos I see that u keep a area to where I’m assuming the heating pad isn’t being covered by the chips, does it matter if the pad is being covered by the chips or not ? Either way I have a 10 gallon. I’m fixing to buy a 25 gallon or a 30 gallon on Friday. But also imma switch to the pro coco also, so thank u on that note, Also. My issue was/is keeping heat in the tank. Trying to get it to where it stays around 90/95 durning the day. But I bought a light that doesn’t give off light but only heat and maybe it was a little to much for my little tank but like I said I’m getting a bigger one Friday and it’s a 100 watt, but my issue was keeping the humidity up bc I tried it last night and the heat was around 90 but the humidity was around 55. And it was too low, bc she’s starting to shed so I turned it off and sprayed it down and it got back up to 80 and the temp was around 75/80, I just hate this feeling cuz I over worry 🤣😭😭😭😫 so at night I put her in a steam bath Ig u can so to help and she seems to love it a lot.
Cover the screen top and mix water into the substrate instead of just spraying it. I pull substrate off of any belly heat so I get an accurate reading from my temp gun right where the snake is going to sit. You don't want to try to heat through the substrate.
Do u have to use 2 layers? Like I use coco chips and soaked them in water then put it in my ball pythons tank. Then I spray his tank about once or twice a day. Just nkt sure if I need a button layer before putting the chips in??
No, two layers is not necessary. I think you are thinking of bioactive enclosures that use a drainage layer. If yours is not bioactive, just put your substrate in, and then mix water into the substrate directly to keep humidity up. Spraying doesn't do much because it evaporates immediately
With living where I do in the small town that it is we don't have access to an array of products for Reptile keeping we have Petco that's it so my options are very very limited thus making me having to place orders through Amazon which I have done and am currently waiting for the Repti Chip to come in...however for the time being I had to settle on Repti Bark because the paper towels went cutting it with how low the humidity levels are here currently with it being the tail end of winter..is that a huge problem with me choosing to go the route of using Repti Bark for the short time frame it's going to be used in the enclosure with or handsome boy Delta??? Should I avoid using it all together??
I bought a terrarium kit with all the things i need but i recieved 2 substrate 1. Reptile bark 2. Dry humus. Do i mix them? Or do i just use 1 and if so which one should i use. Love your videos btw
Strange that they would give you dry humus, but that would work as a substrate I guess. You might try mixing them but you could do it either way. My guess is that once you run out of both of those you'll find that Coco husk is probably a better substrate than either of those two. But those will work for now.
I was gonna freeze my reptichip for 2-3 days just in case of mites. Would that be a good idea? And where would you store the rest in the been, at room temp or a colder spot?
It's probably a good idea if you got it at a pet store and the chip was potentially exposed to snakes. If it just came wrapped up from the factory, it wouldnt have been exposed to snake mites... I just order the wrapped blocks, break it up and store it in a sealed tub in my garage.
@@GreenRoomPythons thank you so much! I have been binging your videos lately to gather all the info I possibly can and you’ve been so helpful! If only I could just have you on speed dial for all my questions 😂🫶🏼
If one chooses the repti chip or coco chip product and rought um just assuming you can choose to mix up just enough product for the enclosure size and not the entire block at once however if the entire block gets made at once when its finished can it be stored in new plastic storage bin with lid and remain good to use for every complete cleaning when new substright will be added or will it eventually not be suitable for use after being stored for months between uses...just wondering with how often the substright actually gets changed out if one does spot cleaning like your self.. seems perhaps it could be a huge waste of both money and product if storing the made up substright isent a good idea or option...
Those are springtails and isopods that are added to a bioactive vivarium to clean up any bacteria and harmful pathogens that might be in the enclosure. Very beneficial to reptiles.
@@GreenRoomPythons Awesome. Also, I am not sure if you mentioned it but how often do you change out the substrate besides 'as needed.' Like, I am sure you probably spot clean but how often do you full clean and replace? Thanks again!
@Vulpox good question! I do a full change and washout of everything every 6 weeks. My spot cleans usually involve F-10 and I'm often pulling a good handful of substrate and replacing it with a clean handful.
I have a mixture of coconut husk chips & coconut soil, do you think my snake could be sneezing to dust coming from the substrate after a mist? He has 0 RI symptoms.
Any suggestions on a leucistic blue eyed ball python for a bedding? I use paper towels, but lately she has been going underneath them. What would be a good route to go. She is 2 years old
The morph doesn't matter really. It's up to you what bedding you want to use. Snakes tend to use paper as a hide - it just makes them comfortable to go underneath it. I use paper with one snake and Coco husk with most of the others.
@@zinaria56 The heat mat should be on the outside of your enclosure and as long as the temperature is around 88 to 90 on the warm side, regulated by a thermostat, she'll be just fine.
About to get my first noodle. I bought a breeder block of Reptichip. Would I be able to hydrate the whole block and store it in a tub, or should I just cut off a part of the block and hydrate that and store rest of it dry?
Good tiny movie, documentary style. I'm using paper towel for now with no issues. I have all the stuff, except springtails and plants, to go bioactive. I wanted biodude soil, but, it is costly. I am planning on several bioactives so I wanted something a little less expensive. I am basically gonna make a homemade abg, but, without the sand and topsoil. I got zoo med ecoearth, reptibark and sphagnum moss to experiment with. I have some isopods in a mix of it and they are fine so far. My only concern is the top staying too wet (I need to figure out how biodude keeps his dry on top, I suspect it's the coco), as so far in the isopod tub it stays dry on top. I'll drop an update on my "dirt" mix when I get a better idea how it works. Y'all have a badass day 🤘 p.s. this is for a ball python Edit: tree fern fiber is an ingredient that will also be left out. There is a real good chance I will add it later as it is excellent for helping keep the soil from compressing too much. I just had a hard time finding it in stock when I was buying stuff
Homemade is the way to go! You may want to order just one small bag of the ball python soil from BioDude, just so you can look at it and maybe break down what's in there. Best of luck, I'm sure those bioactives will be awesome!
@@GreenRoomPythons good call on the small bag of dirt, I'll probly do that. I need some seed pods anyways. I hope the bioactives turn out awesome, if they don't, I'll just have to rebuild em til they do 🤘
Speaking of reptibark, If i dry out reptibark, reptisoil, and cocohusk to silicone to the side walls with it development mold through misting my bioactive?
Hello! Had a question about the humidity. Do you add soil or a type of soil to your coconut husk? I was told to add that to my coconut husk to add humidity, instead of spraying the husk with water
My snake Mercedes has had a rough time these past few moths. She was a gift and if it was up to me the bedding she got would've been different. My parent bought some eco earth and it's very dirt like. I'm concerned that it makes her tank very dry and not humid enough and it gets on her food which she ends up digesting. She also isn't shedding properly. Is there any bedding you would suggest for humidity and any tips on how I can keep her tank more humid.
Just mix water into that eco earth and it should bump the humidity. Also cover the screen top if you have one. I use coco husk substrate and mix water in regularly:-)
@@GreenRoomPythons thanks so much! Oh one more thing lol, she has a glass tank with a mesh top and I'm not sure exactly how to cover it or what to cover it with to keep it humid.
Great video, what substrate do you think I should have for my corn snake and my juvenile ball? They are both on aspen bedding right now since I have surplus. I have been having problems with it getting stuck in there mouths when they eat. Thanks
I live in the carribean so the ambient temperature is usually accurate for my python but way too much humidity sometimes 70-90% humidity, I'm curious is it bad to have too much? Currently using aspen bedding but have been researching into it to find which may be the best bedding for him.
That's actually not too much humidity. You'll hear people talking about 50% humidity for ball pythons but that's actually too low for a lot of them and they'll have bad sheds. 70 to 90 ambient humidity is just fine. I think Aspen is probably a good substrate in that climate. Just make sure there's not too much water spilled or wetness on it and your snake will be just fine.
Would cocohusk work for a cal king? Remember it has to be only between 40-50% humidity... So yeah that's the reason I use reptibark. Also reptibark doesn't mold so easy.. That's also why it's so "expensive"..
Yep, reptibark is wood so it will occasionally mold or mildew (even though they say it won't). Coco husk is not wood and generally won't mold at all. Your humidity just depends on how much water you put in it
Considering renting a wood chipper once every few months to make my own wood chips. Bedding is the biggest expense. Could plant Paulownia trees, they grow fast and are nontoxic. Looks like maple, ash, oak and obviously aspen could be used.
@@GreenRoomPythons awesome I wasn’t sure! I will try to stay away from any of them with scents on them. Also I’m a licensed plumber and happened to be at the parts store and seen your video where you said we should use 2 of the exact same hides so I picked up two 6” pvc caps for sewer lines that will be heavy enough and cozy enough to use once I cut 2 holes in them and fine sand the edges of the holes down to make sure she can safely get in and out
I’m starting to hate cypress mulch forest floor my phantom spinnerblast gets substrate in his mouth everytime 😩 after feeding. Looking for an alternative ❤ Thanks so much
Why did my mind see kent trowing a coco block at you when he said i can do it xD knowing all his "super advise" he always comes with. And ow dang. Glad you made this video. I made a quarantaine tub with papertowels 😒 cuz that is whatyou see alot.... Ill use normal paper then. Thank you so much. Dont want my noodle to die cuz i made a mess up.
@@robteeuwiszen that's a good idea. I have one tub with a ball of sphagnum moss tied up in stocking material. It keeps humidity in the 70s with dry paper substrate.
@@GreenRoomPythons and its nice to see your view on coco fiber. Never realy thought about it cuz my cornsnake does realy well on it. Ill just take out half the fiber out the ball pythons bioactive and miz in alot of coco husk. Imma go cry in the corner for a bit though xD. But snaky wont be in there for the next 3 months anyway. Going in quarantaine and all that anyway. And i can still change substrate at the front there there are no plants yet. And under the hides
Based on my research and recommendations from my local reptile shop person, I g some cocohusk for my enclosure and I set it up today. The humidity is sitting at 91% at the moment. Will that go down as it sits or is there something I can do to bring that down?
I usually just leave the enclosure open for a bit and maybe mix in some completely dry coco husk. I try to get it down to about 75-80 unless they're in shed (in which case, 90 is fine)
@@GreenRoomPythons alright. I’m gonna try drying some of the cocohusk some and see where it sits and then leave it open if it’s still high. I’ve heard anywhere from 40-50 with spikes of 60 and 60 or higher during sheds to 70-80. I guess I’ll just have to experiment on that one to see how my snake does.
@@kesshami that's a bit low, although I know many keepers say 50% is the right number. Ball pythons often have trouble shedding at 50%. In the wild, the outside air is probably around 50 but inside the underground dens, it's much higher. 70-80% works great for their standard humidity. At that level, you don't necessarily need to bump it when they're in shed, but I usually do. I always get perfect sheds :-)
@@GreenRoomPythons my room, I learned, sits at 41 on its own so I think the enclosure may just need a little boost from that to get it up to 50 at the least though I won’t be bothered by higher if they don’t get scale rot or RIs or anything like that. I do have a humidity box I am giving them just in case, especially with winter coming and the fact I may need my heat on soon. This is my first winter in this apartment so idk what the heat will do to the humidity. 91 just seemed a little high
@@kesshami yeah 91 is a bit high. Scale rot would come from them sitting on wet substrate for a long time. RI is normally caused by unsanitary conditions. There's a myth that RI is caused by high humidity but if that were true, every ball python in west Africa would have an RI... Sounds like you're getting it dialed in nicely though :-)
Can yall help me out I have 2 ball pythons that keep getting scale rot im not really sure how their tanks are clean i use repti bark i always clean it when they make a mess or if they spill water on it i have a red tail boa never had an issue with her
Hi, again. So we are getting ready to transition our BP , Mr.Pink to his regular cage. I bought Repti Chip breeder block. Since we only have one snake , should I attempt to cut a portion of the block prior to soaking it? Rather than soaking the entire block? Or will it keep if I do the entire block at once? Thanks!
Either way will work. If you soak the block you can keep it in a plastic bin or something like that. But it's also easy to chip away or pull bits off with your hand if you want to keep it dry
You would be better off using paper because you would have to change the cloth and wash it probably a couple times a week to prevent bacteria from growing on it and making your snake sick.
Hey so I have a bad problem. I’m a beginner and have only one snake I have him for nearly a year now and yesterday he threw up. It never happened before and I don’t know what to do. The temperature is right on both sides, I wasn’t handling him after feeding, the food size is correct and I’m scared he might have that bad disease. I know I have to wait at least two weeks now before I feed him. Can somebody help me?
Waiting at least 2 weeks is the key. If your temps and humidity are good, the only other thing you can do is take him to a vet if you feel you need to. You might wait until the next feeding though and see how that goes.
eco earth awesome.what you think bot it mixed with jungle mix ? n a Lil terrium moss added ? .your python so pretty girl..I can't wait to get mine . I'm in process soon to set up enclosure n get all Ready..tell Kent come on dude .get snake friendly lol 😆
I feel guilty now to be honest, i have 2 ball pythons, have them for 6 years since the were 1 month old and i use calcium carbonate sand from zoo med. Im from Puerto Rico and the humidity is quite good, haven't had issues with humidity But havent realy had any issues, is it realy bad for them?
@@GreenRoomPythons thank god for your quick reply I was a butt hair away from doing it. Love your videos watching them now thank you for what you bring to the world
So my ball python is coming tomorrow it will do fine in its tub with just filling the tub up with paper towels? A hide and a water bowl correct ? You made a point when u said snakes live on rocks under houses 😂 even humans couches so it made me think I should maybe just use the paper towel method it will also be easier to swap paper towels weekly . Also may I ask will I encounter any problem if the heating pad is under the tub would it melt the paper towels ?
I'm sorry for asking all these questions, ive bought i baby ball python & the shops holding it until my tank, lights etc arrive. Can i use coco husk without having it crawling with insects? I don't know what substrate to use, ive changed my AMAZON shopping cart about 6 times in 2 days 😅🤣😂 coco husk? Coco coir? Aspen? Aspen not very good for humidity & mites. I want the tank setup a few days in advance like you said in other video, to get the heat & humidity right for snake coming home. Thanks in advance, can't reply to your advice 👍👍 watched & liked👍 at least 10 of your videos in the past few days
Glad you're enjoying the videos! Most people like coco husk but you u may have to experiment to get your humidity right - I'd start with that though. No need to add bugs - that's for a bioactive setup.
The breeder we bought our first girl from suggested Eco Earth and we have been using that since November. Both girls seem to like burrowing and making pathways and tunnels.
Yeah Eco Earth is a great consistency for burrowing. That's good stuff
Isn't eco earth just coco fibre...?
I hope you've given Kent a raise...he's really taken on a lot of new roles: camera man, marketing, he's got his viral Kent's Corner segment, and now he's doing SFX... the Kent's corner segment in this video was even pretty informational and didn't have too much negativity geared at the snakes.
Please don't encourage him to ask for more money - most days he's totally useless... He's a good looking young man though!
I used a blend of coco chips, coco soil, eco earth, and the substrate my white dwarf isopods from josh’s frogs came with. The surface level is made from more coco chips in places, live mood moss in others, and river pebbles in some places on the cool side.
Getting my son his first ball python glad I found your channel thank you 💪
Congrats on the new snake, I'm glad you're enjoying the channel :-)
Thanks for the help I find it much easier to control the humidity without the drainage layer
Such an underrated channel! I love your vids! And I love the beard man!
Aw thanks so much! I appreciate that!
Thank you for this video. I found it both helpful and entertaining. I have just adopted a full grown ball python and I’m a worry wart about making sure I do the right things, like a first time mom. I am appreciating all your videos actually. I’m still looking for a step by step process video on how to set up a good bioactive for a ball python specifically on how to set up the substrate and how many bugs to add and more in depth info.
thank you for always bringing a smile to my face and educating me!
Thanks for the kind words Arelene! ;-)
Even a reliable brand like reptichip, i have found plastic and heard stories of mites. Its a good idea to freeze the block for 24-48 hours and then after watering, sift thru for plastic and try to remove any you can find. This suff happens in all blocks and is almost impossoble to sift it all out and kill all bugs without adding harsh chemicals. Do your due dillegence and take caution. Best of luck, thank you for the awesome video
I occasionally find bits of plastic but I just pick them out. Snake mites are specific to snakes so you wouldn't find them in a plastic wrapped block of substrate. People who complain that their substrate came with mites usually picked the substrate up from a pet store or a reptile show where they also handled snakes and brought home mites on their clothing... It's also possible that a small company could be manufacturing substrate in the same room that they have snakes but I think that's pretty unlikely. I always get my substrate from larger companies and I know that it's not in any contact with snakes before it gets to me. Have never had a problem with snake mites in substrate :-)
@@GreenRoomPythons thank you for this, neither have I, I think for the most part people are just saying mites when they mean wood mites which is very common up north for them to find their way in everything
I love the side characters lol
Thanks!
You can get that paper ( 4:19 ) at Lowes. I think its called moving paper
Home Depot sells rolls of "packing paper" for wrapping glasses and cups if moving - it is essentially unprinted newspaper. Way better properties than paper towels as you have said. It does not suck up the humidity like paper towels do. Uline has it as well, and actually calls it unprinted newspaper.
Oh, your question - coconut husk does not harbor microbes very well but can grow fungus. Especially when you add snake waste. Adding soil will add microbes which helps control fungus. As do isopods. I don't want to deal with all of that, so I think letting it dry out some before misting avoids any problem.
That's great info, thanks for that! Yeah I've never had problems with mold or fungus on coco husk
Omg I’ve never been so early! 🥰 Kent’s the man
Way to slide in first!! ;-)
Man, I was super worried cuz I just got a ball python, Melon. (I've been using eco earth mixed with terrafirma, recommended to me by my local store. Doing bioactive with my isopods.) But I got her two hides on each side of the enclosure but she chose instead to burrow under her water dish instead. Scared the hell out of me cuz I couldn't find her anywhere, almost turned over the whole enclosure before I checked under the bowl. What a stinker!
Yep they do that sometimes! That's a nice secure spot for her ;-)
Sick!! thank you for being awesome
Same here, we recently changed our corn snake enclosure into a bioactive terrarium. We started with a 1 1/2" layer of the clay balls, then a substrate screen, then a 3 1/2" to 4" inch Josh's Frog ABG bioactive substrate layer and topped it off with Chilean Sphagnum Moss. He disappeared on the 1st day and we didn't see him again for about 5 days. He loves to burrow in the substrate layer and seems to be more active now. I was so nervous when he was hiding but I fiquared I would gice him a week to adjust to the new substrate and I am glad we did. I added 20 isopods, but I think he needs more we never see them. His enclosure is 36" long by 19" width and 19" height. We keep a 1" layer of distilled water in the clay rocks and the humidity is staying high so we have added a fan inside to help lower the humidity. But he loves all the new live ferns and plants for him to hide in.
I love coco soil/Ecco earth for my reptiles. I did try my corn snake on aspen and the aspen got stuck in her mouth with her food. So I changed her sub to echo earth/coco soil and she now burrows and seems to be a lot happier. For my ball pythons I like it cause it seems softer, not as rough and really helps with my humidity issue. Which so far is only in my 75 gallon tank its always going from 60 to about 70. So I'm always watching that encloser. Might try these chips to see if that helps her encloser any.
Thank you for another awesome video :)
Yeah people tend to love Eco Earth. I haven't used it but it looks like it's a mix that's similar to my bioactive soil. Glad you liked the video!
I use coco husk, it’s awesome my boy loves burrowing under it!
Coco husk works great
It's funny you talk about snakes not caring about what substrate they are on, I agree to a point. So I got my ball (first snake ever) a year ago I had him for the first few months on forest floor (I got him as a baby) then switched to jungle mix as recommended by a guy at a local reptile shop because he said it holds humidity so much nicer. Anywho, my snake hated the new texture or whatever the case was! He looked like he was playing hot lava and crawling from object to object trying not to touch the ground, he even slept in the open on top his hide. He eventually adjusted because I added some forest floor to it and that helped him transition but I thought it was funny
Yes! They do that (especially babies) if the substrate is a new texture that they've never encountered. They'll be reluctant to touch it until they get used to it and realize it's safe.
Prococo coconut husk + EcoEarth is the best in my experience, and maybe mix in some forest moss if you want.
Yes, mixes work really well for a lot of people
I've had the most difficult time keeping my tank's humidity up sufficiently. I use a layer of damp cocoa soil a thicker layer of cocoa husk and then some repti chip on top. I've been misting the enclosure at least 5 times a day and its still not staying at 65% humidity it at 30-45% humidity which is not enough. I've tried several tricks like a wet towel on top of the enclosure which helps a little but I've noticed mildew on the cocoa husk
Don't mist. It will evaporate almost immediately. Pour the water right into one spot on the substrate. You want it to get down into the substrate so that it evaporates slowly over time, keeping the humidity up. Not on the surface, where it will quickly evaporate and stop helping.
How it going man..love ur channel and the humor u add..nice to meet a fellow so cal python lover..im in LA county myself
Nice to meet you as well neighbor! Glad you're enjoying the channel :-)
@@GreenRoomPythons do u plan on putting any snake babies up for sale when u breed? Im currently raising a female for breeding myself. She a Enchi Pinstripe 100% het pied..shes gunna get bred to my male banana cinnamon when she's up to weight by either next season or the season after
@@nemolank that will make some great combos!... Yes, hopefully I'll get a few clutches this year and will have some of those babies available. I don't even have eggs on the ground yet though, so we'll see 😉
@@GreenRoomPythons looking forward to seeing what u produce..id love to help support a local when the eggs finally do arrive 🤘
@@nemolank awesome! I'll keep you posted. It would be cool to not have to ship one
15:30-16:05 Kent just made my day. Thank you! 😂😂🤣
Aw I'm glad!
Love the content thanks for all the info. I'm setting up my son's terrarium and I'm wondering if you have any suggestions on how I should setup the drainage layer.
You don't need a drainage layer unless you are trying to do a bioactive vivarium. I don't use a drainage layer in my bioactive because I have soil that deals well with the moisture. There are videos on other channels though that talk about how to set up a drainage layer if you're doing that with a bioactive.
Oh man! This was awesome!!! I’m ProCoco.. 🍀🤘🏽💚
Thanks Lucky 7! Glad you liked it!
So I was using a jungle mix type of substrate. It has coco fiber and a little moss and some small wood chips. I've noticed that my one snake had like little splinters poking out of between her scales. I pulled them out with a tweezers, they were really in there like a splinter. I got all that stuff out. Now I'm watching this video, to decide what's the best thing to use as substrate for ball pythons.
I know this video is about Ball Pythons, but I using this information for my Eastern Indigo. I'm having trouble with humidity (or lack thereof), so will try something like ReptiChip/Eco Earth.
I laughed so hard at the start lol😂
Also maybe you could do a vid on what to do when you get a new snake?
Glad you liked it! I've done that new snake video ;-)
@@GreenRoomPythons oh ok sorry for wasting your time thanks tho!
@@grumble4326 not a waste of time at all! There are a bunch of videos and they all don't show up on the feed
I started of with coconut substrate however, I find this more suitable for tropical snakes since this can be VERY moisty Sometimes I think people tend to forget that
a ball python actually comes from West-Mid Africa where the ground is pretty dry. I now use beech snips, and I keep the humidity around 50-55% manually with a mist-waterspray. During shed
I push this up to 70-80% and I use a shedding spray as backup just in case if it needs some help with the shed.
What is your opinion Bob?
Yeah that will work. 50%-55% is usually fine for a ball python. There are some that need more humidity just because they won't drink enough or have problem sheds for whatever reason. The air in west Africa is dryer but the burrows and dens they tend to stay in has higher humidity. I like to keep mine between 70%-80% at all times, but if it dips below that it's not a problem.
What shedding spray do you use and where can I find it? My snake won't shed at all, only in bits and pieces
Nice view count on this one, great topic! And, you are funny.😄
Thanks Mary! I appreciate that! :-)
Coco husk isn’t anti microbial. Soil needs bacteria microbes, but it is resistant to moulds like you say. I use Arcadia Earth Mixes and Eco Earth both really good. I also add charcoal. Also I make my eco earth with boiling water. It expands very quickly and once cool is ready to use.
Yeah, I thought that was the wrong word to use :-)
Good tip (charcoal add and boiling water) on the eco earth!
Helpful tips, thank you Bob!
Glad you liked it!
I use a mix of EcoEarth and Forest Floor, works amazingly.
That's a good mix!
Do you sterilize or bake either? I just ordered 7 bags of forest floor and 6 bricks of eco earth. Do I need to bake either ?
I just love ur channel 😁😁😁😁
Thanks so much!
When I got my first ball python 3 years ago I was using Aspen. I thought that was okay then someone told me that knew more about snakes and I did that coco husks were better. And this took place about a year-and-a-half two years after I had been using the Aspen.
I just cut my text off. I started using the cocoa husks I bought the Repti Chips coco husks. It was a lot better! So I ordered online a couple of blocks of it at a time because I had more than one snake at that point I was paying that extra for shipping just recently I discovered a place where I bought a snake from which sold be Pro Coco chips. I think both brands are good. I'm not paying for the extra shipping by buying it in person which it's a nice Saturday road trip where I go to to buy it. I do find that both brands which are pretty much the same type Coco chips do have a little dust that settles in the bottom of the tank but I'm satisfied with the Coco husk and I will continue buying it! And I didn't save my paper but I believe the pro Cocohusk is a 20lb block and I pay about $20 for it with +tax.. I like the product and my snake seem to like it too because I have a couple that seem to burrow in it! I don't know if this helps any that's just my opinion I wouldn't go back to Aspen or the I did in the beginning. It's easy to clean I keep my tanks cleaned and try and check everything at least every other day to make sure that they stay clean!🐍🐍😊
Aspen works really well for a lot of people but it just depends on their humidity situation. Its a bit too dry for me in Southern California so I use Coco husk for the ball pythons and retics. I still use Aspen for the black-headed python though and it works great.
@@GreenRoomPythons I have 15 ball pythons now after almost 3 years they've kind of grown on me after my first one I wish I'd a known about them yrs ago when I was a lot younger. I learned about snakes an what they are really like from friends I met here where I live Illinois, that have snakes. I got to hold my first snake at the young age of 73yrs. And OMG have I missed out on a lot over the past yes. Anyway with the kind of weather that we have here in Illinois which is constantly changing you never know what it's going to be like from day today. This past March I think we had more warm weather than we did cold weather and snow! Here it is the 1st of April and we're supposed to have really warm weather tomorrow our temperature today was about 73° it's supposed to be warmer and hot tomorrow. Severe thunderstorms and who-knows-what! But my point is with the humidity in the moisture that we have I like the Coco chips in the snake tanks it works pretty well here in Illinois with our weather changes.
I like to use sphagnum peat moss topsoil, but I put puppy pads under it so it's an easy cleanup and seems to work well. The soil also works very well with humidity.
Dear @GreenRoomPythons, currently I'm using lignocell, but humidity is bad, cause of it. It's too dry. The thing is, when I feed my BP on lignocell I have nothing to worry about, if he eats some of it. What I've been told in my local reptile shops, that coco husk is not recommended due to danger of BP eating it with the rat and get sick. Is it true? Do you feed your snakes on coco husk/chips?
That's not a problem. Snake's digestive systems are designed to digest feathers, fur, and bones. They can easily digest a bit of substrate :-)
Yes, I feed all my snakes on Coco husk.
I've been mixing eco earth and Forrest floor and I really haven't had a issue with humidity. At first I was just using eco earth because that's what I use for all my animals that aren't from a arid climate, I added Forrest floor because he likes to burrow and he was getting it into his heat pits and we can't have that so now I'm doing like 90% Forrest floor to 10% eco earth and I'm not having any issues what so ever. I tried using cocohusk with my crested geckos years ago and it wasn't holding humidity as well as the eco earth...however crested geckos require higher of a humidity then a bp... so I might have to look into it 🤔
Sounds like that mix is working well for you. Coco husk isn't nearly as good for burrowing :-)
Yea everyone has told me they don't like to burrow but I find him in the substrate all the time...I was also told they don't climb but I catch him perching on his branches every now and again...
@@missgrimm5574 they definitely burrow and climb. I've never heard anyone say they don't climb but I constantly hear the arboreal/non-arboreal argument... I would say they are terrestrial animals who will burrow and will climb a bit, but should not be considered a "burrowing subterranean species" or an arboreal species :-)
Another liked educational video. I also use coconut husk substrate next I’ll probably switch to bioactive but want to do some more research on it
Glad you liked it! Bioactive is fun to do
Even though this video is less relevant for me (I live in a very humid area so I use substrate that lowers humidity), I’m just a snake nerd and I love seeing how other people set things up for their snakes 😂 Entertaining as always!
Freya is GORGEOUS. What morph is she??
Also why was she bowl soaking? Is that not a common thing for ball Pythons?
Very helpful video Bob! Thank you!!
Hey Bob, you have a link to the paper you order? I've been getting the rolls of painting paper from ikea. Comes in at about half the cost of whatever i can find on amazon.
I haven't shopped around much but I get this stuff: www.amazon.com/dp/B07HBVRGXP/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_9ACZ2PDN53ENKMSX57SY?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
I'll definitely check Ikea next time I order. Thanks for the tip!
Great job bob, Kent and Freya (which by the way is my youngest daughters name)
I planned on doing a thicker paper towel (think car shop paper towel. I work in one.)
And then coco husk. Currently we have our corn snake in aspen but been considering switching him. He likes to burrow and tunnel a lot though
I like coco husk a lot but it's not helpful to burrowing snakes. Trying different things is good though!
@@GreenRoomPythons I didn’t mean switch the corn to coco. I know it’s not the best for burrowing. But thinking of a soil mix or something for the corn. But cocohusk for the bp
@@gabriellewilliams1110 good plan!
Dear Bob, l am a first time ball python owner and massively grateful for your videos as they have really help me with gaining more knowledge!! I am currently using Lignocel as substrate but want to switch to coco husk as l struggle to keep humidity above 60 without spraying the terrarium at least 2 a day. But is there any risk of a ball python picking up coco chip/husk substrate and digesting it during feeding...? A very big thank you from me and Connor Macleod 🐍
Hi Franka, yes they can pick up substrate and ingest it while eating. I don't worry about it with the adults because they can easily digest and pass coco husk. Young ones probably can too but I usually place them in an upturned hide after they strike the rodent to reduce the chances of them ingesting a larger chunk :-)
@@GreenRoomPythons Good morning and thank you so much for getting back to me so quickly - l am trying not to go totally cuckoo with worry but as a first time owner even a humble bit of coco chip is eyed with suspicion 😉 so l'll go ahead and order a small bag to start with and see how that works out...please keep making those videos for newbies like me, and all the best to you and your scaled family!!
@@frankadaniels glad you're enjoying the videos. Congrats on your new snake!
@@GreenRoomPythonsHi Bob, just to let you know how the Dutch humidity conundrum got solved: reptichip coco substrate unfortunately did not manage to bring up levels above 42% and with my friend having gone into shedding (one week after l got him) l decided to get a fogger and connected it to a humidity controller that now keeps humidity stable at 65%. As he only uses his warm hide at the moment, l carefully added some damp sphagnum moss that will hopefully see him and me through his shed without shed skin getting stuck. Now all fingers crossed....all the best from NL!
My wife and I have tried Aspen, Repti-Bark, Forest Floor, & Eco-Earth. We've found that Reptichip is the BEST bar none. Thanks 👍🏾 for info Bob. Take care.
Good to know! Some of those I haven't tried. I don't have any reason to not use coco husk, bioactive or paper at this point :-)
Welp
Everyone hates me
(My names Aspen lol)
Kent saved the entertainment value of the duel, GO Kent!
For some reason my gerbils love to pee on coco husk so I use it in their toilets.
It's super absorbent so that's a good idea!
Hi, I love your channel. I'm picking up my first ball python tomorrow and I was told to have the tank setup with reptisoil. I wasn't told to mix it and now I heard it should have been....... Do I have to cancel the pickup of him tomorrow until I replace it with another substrate?...... Or will it be ok to just use that maybe.... helps. lol.
Coco husk is better than Reptisoil for ball pythons but it's not that big of a deal, just trade it out when you can
@GreenRoomPythons oh thank you so so much 💕
I’m trying a layer of hydro balls, a small layer of coco fiber soil, and a thick layer of the chips. I have a hard time keeping humidity with the aspen. This will hopefully work a lot better
You might have some trouble with that Coco fiber soil getting stuck in the snake's nostrils and heat pits. Your best bet is probably Coco chips
@@GreenRoomPythons ok I ditched it!
I had my 2 ball pythons on aspen originally, because I'm in FL and our ambient humidity is pretty high. I had a humidity hide for each with some damp moss and they were both having perfect sheds. But yeah aspen needs to be kept dry. The snakes tend to press it down flat with their weight.
I recently switched to coco blox because it was I saw most recommended when I did enclosure upgrades. I almost feel like it's too chunky? I don't know. It seems ok so far.
If they do burrow with the right substrate, I feel like I should try to provide that for them. Or somehow put in some underground tubes. I just want to give them as much enrichment as I can. Both of them also love to climb.
What side of the tank was your humidity hide on? Warmer or cooler side?!
So in most of your videos I see that u keep a area to where I’m assuming the heating pad isn’t being covered by the chips, does it matter if the pad is being covered by the chips or not ? Either way I have a 10 gallon. I’m fixing to buy a 25 gallon or a 30 gallon on Friday. But also imma switch to the pro coco also, so thank u on that note,
Also. My issue was/is keeping heat in the tank. Trying to get it to where it stays around 90/95 durning the day. But I bought a light that doesn’t give off light but only heat and maybe it was a little to much for my little tank but like I said I’m getting a bigger one Friday and it’s a 100 watt, but my issue was keeping the humidity up bc I tried it last night and the heat was around 90 but the humidity was around 55. And it was too low, bc she’s starting to shed so I turned it off and sprayed it down and it got back up to 80 and the temp was around 75/80, I just hate this feeling cuz I over worry 🤣😭😭😭😫 so at night I put her in a steam bath Ig u can so to help and she seems to love it a lot.
Cover the screen top and mix water into the substrate instead of just spraying it. I pull substrate off of any belly heat so I get an accurate reading from my temp gun right where the snake is going to sit. You don't want to try to heat through the substrate.
@@GreenRoomPythons yes sir
Do u have to use 2 layers? Like I use coco chips and soaked them in water then put it in my ball pythons tank. Then I spray his tank about once or twice a day. Just nkt sure if I need a button layer before putting the chips in??
No, two layers is not necessary. I think you are thinking of bioactive enclosures that use a drainage layer. If yours is not bioactive, just put your substrate in, and then mix water into the substrate directly to keep humidity up. Spraying doesn't do much because it evaporates immediately
With living where I do in the small town that it is we don't have access to an array of products for Reptile keeping we have Petco that's it so my options are very very limited thus making me having to place orders through Amazon which I have done and am currently waiting for the Repti Chip to come in...however for the time being I had to settle on Repti Bark because the paper towels went cutting it with how low the humidity levels are here currently with it being the tail end of winter..is that a huge problem with me choosing to go the route of using Repti Bark for the short time frame it's going to be used in the enclosure with or handsome boy Delta??? Should I avoid using it all together??
Repti bark is just fine. Many people use that as their normal everyday substrate
I bought a terrarium kit with all the things i need but i recieved 2 substrate 1. Reptile bark 2. Dry humus.
Do i mix them? Or do i just use 1 and if so which one should i use.
Love your videos btw
Strange that they would give you dry humus, but that would work as a substrate I guess. You might try mixing them but you could do it either way. My guess is that once you run out of both of those you'll find that Coco husk is probably a better substrate than either of those two. But those will work for now.
@@GreenRoomPythons thanks a lot you have helped me very much with your videos
I was gonna freeze my reptichip for 2-3 days just in case of mites. Would that be a good idea? And where would you store the rest in the been, at room temp or a colder spot?
It's probably a good idea if you got it at a pet store and the chip was potentially exposed to snakes. If it just came wrapped up from the factory, it wouldnt have been exposed to snake mites... I just order the wrapped blocks, break it up and store it in a sealed tub in my garage.
for the paper one i won't have to worry about because im gonna take it out and feed it in a bin
Do you ever add sphagnum moss to your eco earth?
You can do that. I don't use Eco Earth but it's a good substrate and sphagnum moss is nice to have in there for additional humidity retention
@@GreenRoomPythons thank you so much! I have been binging your videos lately to gather all the info I possibly can and you’ve been so helpful! If only I could just have you on speed dial for all my questions 😂🫶🏼
If one chooses the repti chip or coco chip product and rought um just assuming you can choose to mix up just enough product for the enclosure size and not the entire block at once however if the entire block gets made at once when its finished can it be stored in new plastic storage bin with lid and remain good to use for every complete cleaning when new substright will be added or will it eventually not be suitable for use after being stored for months between uses...just wondering with how often the substright actually gets changed out if one does spot cleaning like your self.. seems perhaps it could be a huge waste of both money and product if storing the made up substright isent a good idea or option...
Most people (including myself) store it in a plastic bin. It's just organic Coco husk so it lasts a very long time.
What are those little bugs at 7:40? I'm assuming they're not harmful to the snake?
Those are springtails and isopods that are added to a bioactive vivarium to clean up any bacteria and harmful pathogens that might be in the enclosure. Very beneficial to reptiles.
Awesome video. I will probably give the coco husk a try. Do you use a humidity box during sheds too?
Glad you liked the video! I only use a humid hide for babies who are on paper. With coco husk, I just add a bit of water when they're in shed.
@@GreenRoomPythons Awesome. Also, I am not sure if you mentioned it but how often do you change out the substrate besides 'as needed.' Like, I am sure you probably spot clean but how often do you full clean and replace? Thanks again!
@Vulpox good question! I do a full change and washout of everything every 6 weeks. My spot cleans usually involve F-10 and I'm often pulling a good handful of substrate and replacing it with a clean handful.
@@GreenRoomPythons Thanks so much! Love the content and can't wait for more!
@@vulpox9948 glad you're enjoying it!
I like Kent is pretty cool
Mites in substrate would suck. Do you think you could sterilize it? Like with a microwave, maybe? (Prolly not the one you eat out of.)
I have a mixture of coconut husk chips & coconut soil, do you think my snake could be sneezing to dust coming from the substrate after a mist? He has 0 RI symptoms.
Possibly, but I would have a vet check them if a snake is sneezing
Any suggestions on a leucistic blue eyed ball python for a bedding? I use paper towels, but lately she has been going underneath them. What would be a good route to go. She is 2 years old
The morph doesn't matter really. It's up to you what bedding you want to use. Snakes tend to use paper as a hide - it just makes them comfortable to go underneath it. I use paper with one snake and Coco husk with most of the others.
@@GreenRoomPythons should I have to worry about her getting burnt if she does that from her heat mat?
@@zinaria56 The heat mat should be on the outside of your enclosure and as long as the temperature is around 88 to 90 on the warm side, regulated by a thermostat, she'll be just fine.
Thank you so much. I enjoy watching your videos and learning. I was afraid of snakes for the longest time. Your the best 😁
About to get my first noodle. I bought a breeder block of Reptichip. Would I be able to hydrate the whole block and store it in a tub, or should I just cut off a part of the block and hydrate that and store rest of it dry?
Either way works
I use coco coir mix with coco husk
Hi Bob! I wanted to ask what your opinion is on fake grass mat? I've seen at pet shops they use this and I don't know if it's good or not?
That's no good as bedding. Its a breeding ground for bacteria
You were right. Coco fiber is relatively bacteria resistant
Yep, Ive never had a problem with it
Nice video!🔥
Thanks! Glad you liked it :-)
Good tiny movie, documentary style. I'm using paper towel for now with no issues. I have all the stuff, except springtails and plants, to go bioactive. I wanted biodude soil, but, it is costly. I am planning on several bioactives so I wanted something a little less expensive. I am basically gonna make a homemade abg, but, without the sand and topsoil. I got zoo med ecoearth, reptibark and sphagnum moss to experiment with. I have some isopods in a mix of it and they are fine so far. My only concern is the top staying too wet (I need to figure out how biodude keeps his dry on top, I suspect it's the coco), as so far in the isopod tub it stays dry on top. I'll drop an update on my "dirt" mix when I get a better idea how it works. Y'all have a badass day 🤘
p.s. this is for a ball python
Edit: tree fern fiber is an ingredient that will also be left out. There is a real good chance I will add it later as it is excellent for helping keep the soil from compressing too much. I just had a hard time finding it in stock when I was buying stuff
Homemade is the way to go! You may want to order just one small bag of the ball python soil from BioDude, just so you can look at it and maybe break down what's in there. Best of luck, I'm sure those bioactives will be awesome!
@@GreenRoomPythons good call on the small bag of dirt, I'll probly do that. I need some seed pods anyways. I hope the bioactives turn out awesome, if they don't, I'll just have to rebuild em til they do 🤘
Speaking of reptibark,
If i dry out reptibark, reptisoil, and cocohusk to silicone to the side walls with it development mold through misting my bioactive?
Hello! Had a question about the humidity. Do you add soil or a type of soil to your coconut husk? I was told to add that to my coconut husk to add humidity, instead of spraying the husk with water
No, coconut husk by itself works great for holding water and keeping humidity up
My snake Mercedes has had a rough time these past few moths. She was a gift and if it was up to me the bedding she got would've been different. My parent bought some eco earth and it's very dirt like. I'm concerned that it makes her tank very dry and not humid enough and it gets on her food which she ends up digesting. She also isn't shedding properly. Is there any bedding you would suggest for humidity and any tips on how I can keep her tank more humid.
Just mix water into that eco earth and it should bump the humidity. Also cover the screen top if you have one. I use coco husk substrate and mix water in regularly:-)
@@GreenRoomPythons thanks so much! Oh one more thing lol, she has a glass tank with a mesh top and I'm not sure exactly how to cover it or what to cover it with to keep it humid.
@@shamarinevaeh4554 get HVAC tape (foil tape) at the hardware store and cover over the top of the mesh lid
@@GreenRoomPythons okay! And is it ok to put this tape around my heating lamps?
@@shamarinevaeh4554 yep, leave an opening for the heat element and just tape everything else
Great video, what substrate do you think I should have for my corn snake and my juvenile ball? They are both on aspen bedding right now since I have surplus. I have been having problems with it getting stuck in there mouths when they eat. Thanks
It depends on your humidity situation. Aspin tends to dry things out. I keep my pythons on coco husk substrate because it holds humidity well.
I live in the carribean so the ambient temperature is usually accurate for my python but way too much humidity sometimes 70-90% humidity, I'm curious is it bad to have too much? Currently using aspen bedding but have been researching into it to find which may be the best bedding for him.
That's actually not too much humidity. You'll hear people talking about 50% humidity for ball pythons but that's actually too low for a lot of them and they'll have bad sheds. 70 to 90 ambient humidity is just fine. I think Aspen is probably a good substrate in that climate. Just make sure there's not too much water spilled or wetness on it and your snake will be just fine.
@@GreenRoomPythons perfect thank you for adding a little bit of wisdom to my mind as I continue learning so my ball python can thrive. 😄
@@NickRyanBayon Happy to help!
Would cocohusk work for a cal king? Remember it has to be only between 40-50% humidity... So yeah that's the reason I use reptibark. Also reptibark doesn't mold so easy.. That's also why it's so "expensive"..
Yep, reptibark is wood so it will occasionally mold or mildew (even though they say it won't). Coco husk is not wood and generally won't mold at all. Your humidity just depends on how much water you put in it
@@GreenRoomPythons Okay thanks. Think I switch then next deepclean. Well no afther my second bag is empty I switch.
Considering renting a wood chipper once every few months to make my own wood chips. Bedding is the biggest expense. Could plant Paulownia trees, they grow fast and are nontoxic. Looks like maple, ash, oak and obviously aspen could be used.
Maybe I’m missing it but I was looking for a video of python safe “clutter” such as foliage.
My holiday video from a couple weeks ago talks a little bit about that But most things that are plastic or cardboard are safe. Fake plants, etc
@@GreenRoomPythons awesome I wasn’t sure! I will try to stay away from any of them with scents on them. Also I’m a licensed plumber and happened to be at the parts store and seen your video where you said we should use 2 of the exact same hides so I picked up two 6” pvc caps for sewer lines that will be heavy enough and cozy enough to use once I cut 2 holes in them and fine sand the edges of the holes down to make sure she can safely get in and out
I’m starting to hate cypress mulch forest floor my phantom spinnerblast gets substrate in his mouth everytime 😩 after feeding. Looking for an alternative ❤
Thanks so much
Can cocochip absorb amoniak ?
Coco chip acts like a sponge, so it will absorb any fluid
Why did my mind see kent trowing a coco block at you when he said i can do it xD knowing all his "super advise" he always comes with.
And ow dang. Glad you made this video. I made a quarantaine tub with papertowels 😒 cuz that is whatyou see alot.... Ill use normal paper then. Thank you so much. Dont want my noodle to die cuz i made a mess up.
For humidity i put a small plastic container in it with moist coco fiber. Stays at 75-85% so no praying needed in the tub
@@robteeuwiszen that's a good idea. I have one tub with a ball of sphagnum moss tied up in stocking material. It keeps humidity in the 70s with dry paper substrate.
@@GreenRoomPythons i mixed it with about 25% moss and 75% fiber. Works realy well. Only have to spray the thing about 1x every week to 2 weeks.
@@GreenRoomPythons and its nice to see your view on coco fiber. Never realy thought about it cuz my cornsnake does realy well on it.
Ill just take out half the fiber out the ball pythons bioactive and miz in alot of coco husk. Imma go cry in the corner for a bit though xD.
But snaky wont be in there for the next 3 months anyway. Going in quarantaine and all that anyway. And i can still change substrate at the front there there are no plants yet. And under the hides
@@robteeuwiszen sounds like you have plenty of time to experiment before the snake goes in
How often do you have to change / clean out the enclosure when using a bio active setup?. vs paper you can change everytime they poop.
Based on my research and recommendations from my local reptile shop person, I g some cocohusk for my enclosure and I set it up today. The humidity is sitting at 91% at the moment. Will that go down as it sits or is there something I can do to bring that down?
I usually just leave the enclosure open for a bit and maybe mix in some completely dry coco husk. I try to get it down to about 75-80 unless they're in shed (in which case, 90 is fine)
@@GreenRoomPythons alright. I’m gonna try drying some of the cocohusk some and see where it sits and then leave it open if it’s still high. I’ve heard anywhere from 40-50 with spikes of 60 and 60 or higher during sheds to 70-80. I guess I’ll just have to experiment on that one to see how my snake does.
@@kesshami that's a bit low, although I know many keepers say 50% is the right number. Ball pythons often have trouble shedding at 50%. In the wild, the outside air is probably around 50 but inside the underground dens, it's much higher. 70-80% works great for their standard humidity. At that level, you don't necessarily need to bump it when they're in shed, but I usually do. I always get perfect sheds :-)
@@GreenRoomPythons my room, I learned, sits at 41 on its own so I think the enclosure may just need a little boost from that to get it up to 50 at the least though I won’t be bothered by higher if they don’t get scale rot or RIs or anything like that. I do have a humidity box I am giving them just in case, especially with winter coming and the fact I may need my heat on soon. This is my first winter in this apartment so idk what the heat will do to the humidity. 91 just seemed a little high
@@kesshami yeah 91 is a bit high. Scale rot would come from them sitting on wet substrate for a long time. RI is normally caused by unsanitary conditions. There's a myth that RI is caused by high humidity but if that were true, every ball python in west Africa would have an RI... Sounds like you're getting it dialed in nicely though :-)
Great info
Thanks TCoop!
😂😂😂😂😂😂 I ❤ Kent!!
Can yall help me out I have 2 ball pythons that keep getting scale rot im not really sure how their tanks are clean i use repti bark i always clean it when they make a mess or if they spill water on it i have a red tail boa never had an issue with her
Hi, again. So we are getting ready to transition our BP , Mr.Pink to his regular cage. I bought Repti Chip breeder block. Since we only have one snake , should I attempt to cut a portion of the block prior to soaking it? Rather than soaking the entire block? Or will it keep if I do the entire block at once? Thanks!
Either way will work. If you soak the block you can keep it in a plastic bin or something like that. But it's also easy to chip away or pull bits off with your hand if you want to keep it dry
Hi I changed my BP bedding about 3 days ago. Same substrate as before.. but it seems so unhappy now. Is this normal
What behavior are you observing that you're interpreting as "unhappy"?
can I use a white cloth?
You would be better off using paper because you would have to change the cloth and wash it probably a couple times a week to prevent bacteria from growing on it and making your snake sick.
Biodude is fantastic
Agreed!
Hey so I have a bad problem. I’m a beginner and have only one snake I have him for nearly a year now and yesterday he threw up. It never happened before and I don’t know what to do. The temperature is right on both sides, I wasn’t handling him after feeding, the food size is correct and I’m scared he might have that bad disease. I know I have to wait at least two weeks now before I feed him. Can somebody help me?
Waiting at least 2 weeks is the key. If your temps and humidity are good, the only other thing you can do is take him to a vet if you feel you need to. You might wait until the next feeding though and see how that goes.
eco earth awesome.what you think bot it mixed with jungle mix ? n a Lil terrium moss added ? .your python so pretty girl..I can't wait to get mine . I'm in process soon to set up enclosure n get all Ready..tell Kent come on dude .get snake friendly lol 😆
Yeah, whatever works for your climate. That mix sounds good especially if your house is usually dry
😂😂 Can't make substrate more entertaining! I use Reptichip because my house is dry more of the time.
Glad you liked it Jessica! My place is pretty humid so I just have to be careful to keep the reptichip fairly dry
1 year later do you still think coco husk is one of the best?
Yep! It's what I use for most of my snakes. But there are a lot of good substrates out there.
I feel guilty now to be honest, i have 2 ball pythons, have them for 6 years since the were 1 month old and i use calcium carbonate sand from zoo med. Im from Puerto Rico and the humidity is quite good, haven't had issues with humidity
But havent realy had any issues, is it realy bad for them?
I would maybe switch to chips or even Aspen if you have high humidity in your area.
@@GreenRoomPythons the humidity is between 70 to 77 most of the time, is it too high?
And thank you for the feedbak man
@@edgardomaldonado8490 nope that's good humidity. The sand could be problematic for their heat pits though
@@GreenRoomPythons ok, thank you sou much for the help man
Coco blocx from freedom breeder is the best on the market it doesn't cost a lot of money
Cool, I haven't tried it. What's the difference??
@@GreenRoomPythons I had reptachip but It got moldy
And the is to Dusty
@@GreenRoomPythons the difference is they triple wash it and shake it before they pack it at freedom breeder and the pieces are bigger
@@jasoncovert9051 I'll have to order some and try it out
Is habitat carpet ok for ball python ?
No, I'd stay away from that for any reptile. It breeds bacteria
@@GreenRoomPythons thank god for your quick reply I was a butt hair away from doing it. Love your videos watching them now thank you for what you bring to the world
Always good to have an edible substrate 🙏🏼
Any suggestions on transitioning a bp from mice to rats?
Thank you for the video, we have not found a difference either.
I was wondering what other people thought about this. I just felt like I must not be very perceptive :-)
@@GreenRoomPythons we use pro coco just bc it's cheaper on amazon.
Why do I want to be homies with Kent?
So my ball python is coming tomorrow it will do fine in its tub with just filling the tub up with paper towels? A hide and a water bowl correct ? You made a point when u said snakes live on rocks under houses 😂 even humans couches so it made me think I should maybe just use the paper towel method it will also be easier to swap paper towels weekly . Also may I ask will I encounter any problem if the heating pad is under the tub would it melt the paper towels ?
they look the same to me lol
I'm sorry for asking all these questions, ive bought i baby ball python & the shops holding it until my tank, lights etc arrive.
Can i use coco husk without having it crawling with insects? I don't know what substrate to use, ive changed my AMAZON shopping cart about 6 times in 2 days 😅🤣😂 coco husk? Coco coir? Aspen? Aspen not very good for humidity & mites.
I want the tank setup a few days in advance like you said in other video, to get the heat & humidity right for snake coming home.
Thanks in advance, can't reply to your advice 👍👍 watched & liked👍 at least 10 of your videos in the past few days
Glad you're enjoying the videos! Most people like coco husk but you u may have to experiment to get your humidity right - I'd start with that though. No need to add bugs - that's for a bioactive setup.