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RE: substrate question???
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by Rob_Carmichael on August 10, 2006
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This is a great discussion and many great points have been made. As a curator of a large reptile facility, I tend to agree with Doug's comments.
Our off display venomous are kept on newspaper. Even our bushmasters are kept on paper and they are provided a high humid retreat box that they use quite often; we've done this for years w/out a single problem (for higher humidity species). I just think that newspaper is by far and away the best substrate and Doug hit all of the major points on this.
For our exhibit specimens, we use the following:
For our desert dwellers, we use things like beach sand (fine sand that our Cerastes love), torpedo sand (combination of sand and small gravel) for our desert dwelling rattlers, torpedo sand/esu jungle mix or top soil with a little peat/leaf layer for our montane, prairie, woodland species, and, in most cases, we provide a layer of dried oak leaves, pine needles for certain species, etc. We also use large grade gravel and that works well too. The key, no matter which substrate is used, is to closely monitor feeding sessions. Our highly aggressive feeders are fed in a separate box while others are fed at "feeding stations" in their enclosure which minimizes accidental ingestion of substrate. Staff are always on hand with long hemostats to quickly take something out should it be stuck to prey. So far, we have never had a single problem due to our diligence in preventing potential problems. My home collection is ALL NEWSPAPER and that is my favorite.
Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
Lake Forest, IL
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