Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ive been using aspen shavings for a while ,but have run into a problem getting it as of lately.I have been using newspaper over the last few months,but am not satisfyed with it.Snakes spill water,deficate,humidity,and it does not help with smells.My question is I know some people use cypress mulch I was wondering if anyone has had any problems with it,such as ingestion during feeding or parasites.Thanks

I've used cypress mulch for years for a decent number of balls and have never had any adverse issues with it.

Tom

If you're not able to maintain proper humidity in the room with humidifiers, then cypress mulch is excellent for maintaining humidity in the box.
The only problem that I have had is little bugs in the mulch. They don't bother the snake, and you will only see them when your snake deficates.......they will be all over that.

I have never had a problem with a snake ingesting the mulch with their food.

I have stopped using the mulch and now use the shredded aspen. I couldn't stand knowing that there are bugs in the boxes......plus the dirtiness of the mulch just iritated me.

I bought my first small bag of cypress mulch from the Daytona show this past weekend to use in my new boa set up. It was made specifically for reptiles...not purchased from a home improvement store. It was COVERED in ants, which I didn't find out until after I had the entire cage set up. I then had to take everything out, and bake it in the oven to kill the ants. That worked, but was a PITA. I love the look, as I was really going for a naturalistic look in the boa cage, I just don't plan on using it for the ball python rack, I'll stick with aspen shavings. Now I do like how the humidity is a bit higher with the cypress mulch, and wish I could get the same results from the aspen.
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