Reptile & Amphibian Forums

it finally happened......stupid Lowes where I live has cypress blend this year and not cypress mulch......didn't smell....well...I just had one handful that was out of bag......sad......now what......the hardwood mulch is too much like dirt....too broken down....thinking about it.......peat moss is really really dirty and too fine....pine bark mulch and pine nuggets...yea...might work but pine sucks too ....

actually thinking of buying a few bags of dirt...as pure of dirt as I can get......and just trying dirt.....why not....

........aspen works , but some snakes I want to have more humidity and a more natural setting for them....

I'll keep you posted if dirt works.....as well as hardwood mulch......might get a bag or two fo that also...can always just use it outdoors.....

........have to look for "shagnum " moss too...not peat...moss...last year the normal store didn't get it......sad.........had to harvest my own......
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..J Yohe ....

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Try ace harware/true value if you have them in your area, they now carry blue flamingo cypress, its pure and has a lot better milling than the old stuff.
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J&J REPTILES
www.jnjreptiles.com
sales@jnjreptiles.com
(207)479-6658

Lowe's is 7 miles....
ACE is 3 blocks........LOL.......never think of them.....
..I look and see.........
what the heck.....
THANXX
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..J Yohe ....

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i had to order a pallet of cypress because i could not order it here in oregon so now i have way to much lol but i figured some people local would have the same problem i had with not being able to find it here in bulk. im sure you will be able to find 100% cypress somewhere where you are they dont even have it at lowes or home depot here
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reed&Sunny at www.ReedsDragons.com & www.KillerEnclosures.com

Try long leaf spaghum moss. My females love it for nesting.

that's what I used to get I guess...dried, big bale....they didn't get it last year accorind to a friend......

....hate to harvest my own....time consuming and hate to take wild stuff...better to let them grow .....

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..J Yohe ....

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NEWSPAPER! You are making this way too difficult!

I use all the paper I can get...and for big balls...as mentioned below...it doesn't absorb enough....

I use paper for 100 or more snakes....I use all I can get...and bug the gas station for more...trouble is there are like 6 people working there and noone smart enough to save them and call me...I am like less than a block away from 2 stores....duh..and they know us and know what we use them for....they stack them and let them for too long then clip the dates and dump them....duh...they piled for days then they have to go out right away after clipping?....

anyways........I use paper.........alot
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..J Yohe ....

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np

for balls untill they hit the 34 inch tubs...yes , they get paper........after they are in a rack....they get aspen (cypress)........some of my racks are open topped...cypress would be nicer for them,,,not me......

......Lowe's had it until this year....
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..J Yohe ....

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I get mine at the local Agway. Not sure if they have that in your area.

Regarding above, I don't like newspaper because once they reach a certain size, it's not enough to absorb the urine. It also smells a lot more when they go to the bathroom (before you notice and get to clean it).

Hey,

The thing I notice is that I use newspaper and I clean any time there has been a urine or defecation. The urine even from a smaller ball is significant. So my question is how often do you change your mulch? I bet my tubs are cleaner and more healthy than a mulch tub. Especially if you clean out the mulch only monthly. Spot cleaning can only get so much of the urine I would think. Just a thought. I use three large sheets in my CB 70 and I have had very good success and I feel a very clean environment as well.

Thanks for listening,
Bill

It's not that I don't clean my tubs, it's just that when you use paper they sit there in their own piss until you clean the tub.

Hi,

Let me try it another way. Yes my snakes could possibly sit in it's soiled paper for half a day or so. But when I clean the paper I clean the entire tub. I was thinking that may be better than having urine soaked wood chips collectively adding up until you change the mulch in the tub.

Regards,
Bill

I get my cypress mulch from Wal-mart. It's called N0-float and is labled "organic". I've never had any complaints about it.
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3.7 ball pythons
1.4.14 Eastern box turtles
1.1 corn snakes
0.1 scarlet kingsnake
0.1 bearded dragon

No Float?....No float where?....toilet or pool?......LOL....

wierd name......

and cedar is organic..........
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..J Yohe ....

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I never mentioned using cedar. Cedar is harmful to reptiles because of the oils in the wood that makes it smell good. Pine isn't recommended either for the same reason. I use organic cypress so that I don't have to worry about the dyes and pesticides that some companies put in their mulch.
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3.7 ball pythons
1.4.14 Eastern box turtles
1.1 corn snakes
0.1 scarlet kingsnake
0.1 bearded dragon

......I was just making fun of the name 'no float'...and didn't know what it was made of........and pine has been used by many people.......not me yet......

...thanxx..good luck
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..J Yohe ....

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>>........aspen works , but some snakes I want to have more humidity and a more natural setting for them....

Aspen makes terrific humidity. Just add water.

Except for the gourmet mushrooms I am growing at home I have never seen anything else grow on it.
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AMAZON REPTILE CENTER

add water to aspen and I got mold in a couple days...
like you said....fungus grows in it very well.....
.......aspen and water actually don't mix........

my room will be humid real soon.....just at times more humid yet would be good.....guess the word moist substrate would suffice here.....

......aspen will work till I find cypress.....started this thread because of other people's troubles finding real cypress also...and to remind them that there are blends out there....and to have answers to all problems as well as other choices for people...(as well as me)...(as in Ace hardware and other hardware....Agway has alot of cedar here......
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..J Yohe ....

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>>add water to aspen and I got mold in a couple days...
>>like you said....fungus grows in it very well.....
>>.......aspen and water actually don't mix........
>>

never seen it happen here. Nonetheless it may be your region and climate. However, PINE has antifungal qualities. Mushrooms CANNOT be grown on it.

Stays wet without growing anything for months. Have used it in moist hides for BRB and also for breeding Scolependra centipedes.
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AMAZON REPTILE CENTER

actually lots of mushrooms and molds can grow in pines..
check out fungiperfecti.com

....mushrooms and fungus are cool.....studied mycology with a group for a couple years.....check out Tom Volk's page too...fungus of the month and stuff like that...

...anyways.....if the aspen turns black it is growing fungus/mold.....

...won't kill snake...yet might hurt lungs according to stolen snakes pages???...hmmm....and mold might migrate to the wood in the home......walls, cielings, floors....

anyways.......

.......thanxx
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..J Yohe ....

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np
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Thanks and Take Care
Thomas Jones
sweetpetsshop2@yahoo.com

only in certain south/eastern parts of the country.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles