Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Home depot is having a sale on red cypress mulch and I was wondering if it is suitable for substrate. Is the red dye dangerous? Would it be too coarse? If so I have an old food processor I could use to break it down a bit.

If there is a better cheap option please suggest. When I get my rack built (should be this weekend, heat tape gets in Monday hopefully) I think I am going to switch from packing / newspaper to some sort of mulch, but I am loathe to buy from one of the big box pet stores. I assume they are always over priced and I really don't like their husbandry practices.

Watch out for Cypress at Home Depot and at Lowes. This year they have gone to a Cypress "Blend" instead of pure Cypress.
I am still looking for a place in NOVA to get pure Cypress.
Any luck anyone?

Best cypress Ive see safe too www.kamlar.com they only sell it by the pallet though...But I know a breeder that sells smaller amounts www.boasandballs.com.....

dyed mulches...I would not use...
I have no experience or knolege of them if they are safe or not...but I would think the dye would not be good for reptiles...might even dye them....can't be too bad it's used outdoors.....

I actually always wondered what they use to dye the mulches...red, black etc....

be careful...the label doesn't always tell what's in the bag....I got ":hardwood mulch" and it smelled REALLY like pine rotting.....it went to the yard....

...I am stuck with aspen and paper, no cypress around here anymore.....

.....Lowe's and Home depot and all....read online about them, they signed an agreement to not use non-renuable recources like cypress, the trees just grow too slowly ....

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Ah, that sucks about the availability of cypress mulch in your area. I am in Florida, and there is an Acehardware that supposedly carries pure cypress mulch. It is way more expensive than the "blend" I got, 3.50 vs 10.50. Maybe Florida has a good supply of cypress trees and thats why I can find it here. Though who knows, maybe I'll check tomorrow and they won't have it =/

At the worst I can just go with the T-Rex cypress mulch from petsmart. It is 10 dry ounces vs the 3 cubic feet of the cypress at Ace. I really have no idea how they compare until I take a look at both.

I use the cypress mulch from Ace hardware. It's fine. Just make sure it doesn't say "Cypress Blend".

If the Ace doesn't carry pure cypress mulch may look in to coconut husk mulch.

Another option that I have never seen mentioned is eucalyptus mulch that I saw at lowes. I didn't give it a really close look, so it may be a blend, but if it is not, is that a good option? I did a search and there didn't seem to be a definitive answer, but seemed like a negative response overall.

What about rubber tree mulch? Anyone have any info on that?

And there may be a chance that the red cypress mulch I saw at home depot may be from red cypress. I will check tomorrow. If thats the case I will be quite relieved.

Just Cypress is fine BUT THE TYPE WITH ADDITIVES MAY CAUSE CHEMICAL BURNS SOMETIMES RESULTING IN SEVERE BURNS AND DEATH. I've seen this twice with other folks [newbies who thought it was pretty] and both times the snake died. One was a Pastel Ball Python back when they were about $1,000 ea and the other a Colombian Boa. Cypress alone is nontoxic and fine but any that looks very red should be suspect and I wouldn't take the chance.....
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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

I forget the name, but it has an eagle logo on it. I have used it for BPs and other snakes for a year or more without any problem.

I would not want to use Eucalyptus because it has aromatic oils in it. Although the oil is supposed to be healing to certain conditions, I would not want animals exposed to it in close confinement 24/7. I have no idea if anyone has used it and found it safe. But I would be concerned about anything that smells like that.