Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How are you using cypress mulch in your python cages. I notice the bags at home depot have a fairly high moisture content in them off the shelf. I would appreciate any advice or tips that you might have. thanks, tom

If it is really wet, which it usually is when you first get it, you might let it dry out a little. It being a little damp isn't a problem. It is kinda messy when it is wet though, i'm not really the biggest fan of it myself.

Jason

yeah it will dry out fairly quickly....may mist up your tank for a little bit but it won't hurt your ball.
Be careful about bugs though. Cyprus mulch can contain bugs. I got a bad bag once and had the little tiny things all over the place..they really liked to group around the water bowl too. Had to remove mulch and totally clean out tank. After that i stuck to carpet

merlin

I use Fir bark chips and they can contain bugs too. To prevent this problem, I always freeze the bag for 24 hours and then let it warm up before placing it in the cage. Freezing the bark seems to do a good job of killing off all the bugs since I haven't seen any of those bugs in more than a year.

Will not hurt your snake at all.
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Chad Bachman