Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Lets say you buy substrate from a reptile store, how long before you can put in with your snake . Where it is safe to do so. I haven't bought any yet. just wondering. And I do mean not even putting it in the snake room.
thanks Tom just thought I would throw this out there
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Tom S
1.1 Flame Lampropeltis getla Floridana
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If you are worried about bugs just throw the bag of substrate into the freezer for a couple of days.

What if the bag is bigger the the freezer. LOL

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Tom S
1.1 Flame Lampropeltis getla Floridana
1.0 Hypomelanistic Lampropeltis getula Floridana
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Buy a bigger freezer. lol

......you just go out and buy a big walk-in freezer!..

~Doug

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Now that's a freezer! but to the OP I have to ask, why are you worried about getting mites from store bought chips? I have never found reptile mites in any substrate I purchased from a store. I have found occasionally, some wood mites, but they are harmless. They may irritate the owners, but are harmless to snakes.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

If the bags are 100% sealed in melted end plastic bags that is generally true, but if there are tears in the bag and the store has a mite problem, it can't be guaranteed that no mites could crawl into the bags.

I know a girl that bought some huge bags of aspen from someone that had them stored in the same area as their snakes, and she discovered that mites were in the bags she had from this source and they were later everywhere in her collection. Those big paper bags have all sorts of nooks and crannies that tiny mites can crawl into if they want to.

I can only go by what she told me, and it is always possible that she could have gotten some mite-infested snakes or equipment from somewhere else, but this is still a very good possibility that this is exactly how it happened too,....hard to say. Those little bastards can hide anywhere if you aren't real careful about preventing this from happening in the first place. Heck, even a plastic bag of substrate that is COMPLETELY sealed could possibly have mites on the outside of it if the place they were gotten doesn't take proper steps to make sure they never enter the store. That is always a scary scenario!...arrrgh!!!

I have been very fortunate for decades regarding those gross little creepy crawlies..LOL!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

You know I can definately see that happening1 I've been buying wood chips from Wal Mart for years, and years. I guess I've been lucky? I recently saw an ad for shavings from a saw mill, I had better inspect those bags closely if I decide to get any.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

Yeah, but I have to say that a retail store such as Wal-Mart is FAR less likely to contain any mites than say a pet store, that's for darn sure..

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

I get mine from petsmart no problems. But if some one was to buy a snake and gets the setup from the reptile store, You just don't know. Most of the time I see the substrate right under snake cages.
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Tom S
1.1 Flame Lampropeltis getla Floridana
1.0 Hypomelanistic Lampropeltis getula Floridana
0.1 Axanthic Lampropeltis getula Floridana
1.1 High Yellow Lampropeltis getula Floridana
0.1 Hypomelanistic Lampropeltis triangulum hondurensis
1.0 Anerythristic Lampropeltis triangulum hondurensis
1.2 Tangerine Lampropeltis triangulum hondurensis het albino

I totally agree there man. You just never know sometimes, especially with the bags in such close proximity to the snake cages the stores may have.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Jorge I was just wondering. You go to reptile stores and they have mites and if the mites lay their eyes in the substrate by chance. plus I was board last night. LOL
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Tom S
1.1 Flame Lampropeltis getla Floridana
1.0 Hypomelanistic Lampropeltis getula Floridana
0.1 Axanthic Lampropeltis getula Floridana
1.1 High Yellow Lampropeltis getula Floridana
0.1 Hypomelanistic Lampropeltis triangulum hondurensis
1.0 Anerythristic Lampropeltis triangulum hondurensis
1.2 Tangerine Lampropeltis triangulum hondurensis het albino

I didn't really think that one thru. I'm just so used to buying from Wally world, but as Doug says, the chances of getting some with reptile parasites from there are slim to none.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

dunno about mites but one of hte bags i bought yesterday had frigging roaches in it >.< damn gross bugs
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.

I microwave it, just get a little at a time and place it in a small container or bowl without a cover and nuke it, i usually nuke on high and check it every 20 seconds or so to see how hot the bedding is, if it feels hot enough to burn your finger if you leave finger on it to long then it's done, no mites will survive the heat, you have to keep checking how hot the stuff gets because you don't want to burn it or start any fires, take note at how much time it takes to get hot for additional bowls, then i just let it cool down and it's ready to use

I guess freezing will work too but will freezing kill their eggs, i know that some types of parasites eggs can survive freezing.

I have a big box freezer and just throw the bags in for a few days and have never had a problem. Knock on wood!!! You could empty a large bag into grocery store bags and freeze them one or two at a time and leave the big bag outside in a shed or something. I, like Jorge, get my substrate from Wal-Mart these days and have had good success with it. Cheap as dirt too!!

Joe

That sound like a good idea. How much do they charge for dirt anyway. LOL
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Tom S
1.1 Flame Lampropeltis getla Floridana
1.0 Hypomelanistic Lampropeltis getula Floridana
0.1 Axanthic Lampropeltis getula Floridana
1.1 High Yellow Lampropeltis getula Floridana
0.1 Hypomelanistic Lampropeltis triangulum hondurensis
1.0 Anerythristic Lampropeltis triangulum hondurensis
1.2 Tangerine Lampropeltis triangulum hondurensis het albino

Sprinkle some Hartz flea powder in the bag, let sit for a few days. Should be OK.

BTW, do mites really come in bags of substrate? I guess it could happen if the bags are in a store close to snakes that have mites. But online bags are typically stored in a warehouse situation where mites are highly unlikely.
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Antaresia maculosa
Antaresia childreni
"Pythons the size of kingsnakes and with slower metabolisms"

Mark G