I'm in the Pacific Northwest and Cypress Mulch is unavailable here also.

Peat moss is litterally mined from the ground from dried up bogs. It can be thousands of years old. Leave it in the ground a few million years and you get coal. They pull peat from the ground, pull out the sticks, put it in bags then sell it. I think it makes a bad substrate for a cage, but the best substrate for a nice humid hide box.

I think that the best choices we have here on the WC is aspen shavings or newspaper. I've heard Care-Fresh is quick to mold when wet which is bound to happen with indies. I've never used it myself as it's a lot cheaper for me to use safe and known aspen.

Just a few of my thoughts.

Doug T



>>Tried Peat Moss? I did and had a bad experience with Charina bottae. It tends to get very dry and dusty which seemed to irritate the nares and may have caused a swelling, I had trouble keeping it "just right" humidity, either too dry or too wet... I like the use of humid hides with spaghnum moss (which I think is "peat moss" that hasn't been dried...right?) I live in California where Cypress mulch is generally not available, so I too am looking for the ideal substrate. What do you Dry guys think about CareFresh, a wood pulp product? Thanks, Vic

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