Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have decided to switch from paper to cypress mulch.

I started with aspen 3 years ago. I got a mite infestation in the bag, but didn't find them until it was an INFESTATION. I bombed 3 times. Have not seen them since. I moved to unprinted paper/paper towels after that.

I have now decided to try cypress mulch and would like to know how to treat it so that there is NO WAY any bugs could survive the treatment and YET still be safe for my balls.

Any and ALL info/expertise/experience/products/techniques would be GREATLY appreciated.

Matt.

I believe if you buy the cypress mulch from a Garden Center there would be zero chance of mites getting in. Since mites are snake specific, mulch from a pet store or from a show might carry it in but I've never gotten mites from mulch that I've bought from my local nursery.

People with more experience feel free to weigh in!

The mites that I got were not snake mites either. They were "i believe" wood mites. They ended up in our beds, carpeting, snake bins, and most of them migrated to our rats. It was a MAJOR fiasco! Im not worried about snake mites so much as I am worried about the OTHER mites that come in bags of mulched wood...u know?

So if anyone knows how to treat the mulch please let me know.

n/p

I use Cypress mulch, I love it. For ball pythons this type of substrate replicates the same conditions in west africa. Cypress mulch will give you some nice humidity. I buy my bags from lowes for $2. All I do is rip and pour. No special technique to kill anything. The bag of Cypress mulch with the yellow label comes clean with no bugs.
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Chris Berrios
~S.Fl Constrictors~

It was a long time ago, but I think it was a Rid-X bomb. I bombed the whole upstairs, waited 2 weeks for the hidden eggs to hatch, bombed again, waited another 2 weeks, then bombed again. After dealing with what I had to deal with, I decided to go "over-kill.".... obviously I moved ALL of the animals from the upstairs before I decided to bomb. It was a lot of work doing it 3 times, but I felt much better afterwards.

mites in mulch eat mulch

reptile mites don't come in aspen or mulch

....cypress ...can't find it here......

...good luck.....

...I have no trouble with aspen or cypress adding mites to the collection....

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......JY

n/p