Bedding

When keeping a reptile,  housing plays a vital role and alongside vivariums and heating is bedding. There are various different types of bedding available from pet stores worldwide and in today's post, I shall look at different types of reptile bedding. Just remember that it is important to get bedding that works for you and every reptile keeper will have different opinions on what is best.

For my animals, I personally use aspen shavings as it looks better and stays relatively dry. Although some people may not agree with me as some batches of aspen have pests such as mites. Like any item for your pets, ensure that you are buying from a decent and reputable source.

Aspen bedding

Here is a list of various bedding with pros and cons: 

• Newspaper/paper towels are easy to change when soiled or damp and are cheap. Alternatively you can go to a printer and ask for any faulty paper. This is paper that has been damaged and therefore can't be used for printing. The negative to this option is it is not aesthetically pleasing and can look cheap. This is also NOT suitable for burrowing snakes.
• Sand can be used for burrowing snakes but has more cons than pros as it can be dangerous if ingested. It can also get in under the reptiles scales. Furthermore, it gets soiled and wet easily. When this happens the entire bedding will need to be changed.
• Carpet/artificial turf can be cut to size to fit your vivarium. This is not suitable for burrowing animals. The turf can look pleasing as it mimics grass but has to be cleaned which will eventually effect it's look, although it is durable and lasts a long time.
• Cypress mulch is comfortable and suitable for burrowing animals. It retains humidity well and has a pleasant smell plus it is cheap. This type of bedding is available at most garden shops but ensure you bake the mulch in the oven for thirty minutes as this will kill any pests.
• Aspen is especially used for small snakes and is cheap whilst also being pleasant to look at and is great for burrowing reptiles. Although they can get moldy from too much moisture and can get under a large snakes scales.
• Coco bedding is comfortable, soft fibered bedding for reptiles which has natural odor prevention, also great for burrowing snakes. Furthermore it is relatively inexpensive. Although it is only made for animals that require high humidity as you have to wet it to use it and it holds heat under it so can't be used with a heat mat.
• Hardwood chips are heat treated to prevent pests and any waste is easily removed although this can be ingested which will injure the animal.

Cypress mulch

Note, depending on the bedding you choose this may effect how you feed your animal. Any bedding that is loose, for example aspen, may get accidentally ingested by your animal and could result in digestive problems and feeding problems. In this case, ensure that you have a box free of bedding that you can feed your animal in. I myself do this as I use aspen and feed my snakes in separate plastic feeding boxes.

It is also very important to not acquire any bedding that has pine or cedar in it as this is harmful to your reptile. This should be avoided at all costs.

Feeding box

Lastly for more information on reptile housing and heating, have a look at my previous blog posts: for housing click here and for heating click here.