Your top 3 Substrates to use!

[MrBrute]

Shall we list them? Reasons why? Thanks

[Scincus]

Not in order of favourites but:

ReptiBark- Pros: Nice looking, easy to clean, little dust; Cons: if cleaning with hands you will get splinters, sometimes hard finding feces, doesn't hold tunnels

Shaved Aspen- Pros: inexpensive if you get the rodent kind, holds tunnels; Cons: some dust, if it gets wet it can mold if not removed

Soil/Coconut Fibre- holds moisture well, natural, great for digging, no dust; Cons: make sure there's enough air so it doesn't mold, messy

CareFresh- great for holding and digging tunnels; Cons: a lot of dust, do not get too wet

[Seth_I.]

1) Kritters Crumble/Coco Soft: absorbent and no noticeable odor, natural looking, very low dust, eco friendly, easy to burrow in, soft, light, and can hold moisture if needed.

2) Fir bark/ Repti-Bark: absorbent and natural but rather dusty and can be rather hard.

3) Cypress: holds moisture well and is nice for them to burrow in. It looks pretty natural but can have rather large and small chunks.

I didn't like aspen. It made a mess and was always stuck to my socks! I thought it looked odd. It also was very dry and I had to add extra moisture to their hides for shed periods.

[MrBrute]

do you all have links to the substrate? I'll looking for the best fit lol Thanks for the replies!

[Seth_I.]

This is the one I am currently using and like the most:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004A8ZQD ... ref=plSrch

[Sebastian]

Aspen shavings:
Pro:
- I love the smell and the look.
- Holds tunnels great.
- I've not had any mould issues (even with a misting every now and then, but I assume it all dried out during the inbetween periods)
- Cheap (rodent variety)
- Easy to spot poop

Cons:
- A bit dusty
- there's cheaper stuff out there
- Not good if you need higher humidity levels

50% Peat Moss / 25% Cyrpruss Mulch // 15% Reptibark // 10% Tree Fern (Aka ABS minus the charcoal and coco bark)

Pros:
- Holds good tunnels
- Looks very natural
- Holds moisture
- super easy to grow plants if you wanted to

Cons:
- Expensive initially to get all the supplies (but once you have them they last forever)
- Peat moss is NOT environmentally friendly at all
- Tree fern can be a pain in the ass to find in Canada (not sure about other places)
- Dusty
- I'll give you 10$ if you can find the poop

Coco Coir (bought at a garden center)

Pro:
- CHEAP, so cheap. Cheap cheap cheap.
- Environmentally better then peat moss
- holds moisture
- the stuff I buy is chunks, so there is less stuff to get up his nose
- CHEAP
- Natural looking

Cons:
- Poops are still going to be a bit harder to find
- Can't grow anything, if that was something you wanted to do
- Comes in blocks that need to be hydrated with boiling water then cooked in the oven to dehydrate again (AKA time consuming to prepare)

I used the blended substrate initially but I ran out of materials so switched to the aspen shavings. Now i'm almost out of my last bag and will be moving to coco coir which I use in my gecko tanks and have used in the past.

[jclaiborne]

I use to have my childrens python and Beardie on Sani Chips, and the Blueys and Tegu on Cypress Mulch, but I recently bit the bullet and decided to put ALL my reptiles on the same "substrate", I am trying to get some bioactive soil going, but as of now it is a mixture of sand, topsoil, peat moss, and leaf litter. (I will be adding springtails, worms, etc once I get my last 3 cages built) Holds moisture well, but doesn't get muddy, holds burrows well, clean up is easy, and as soon as I switched my animals over they were actively digging and exploring. I doubt I will ever go back to a wood type substrate.