Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi.. someone at a local pet shop told me a good substrate for pythons is Cypress mulch. I read about it a bit a don't see a problem with it but I worry about any parasites or mites that might come in the bag with it. (I bought a $2 from home depot) Should I bake it or anything to get rid of any parasites?

I use just Aspen bedding and my littel girl seems to love it. Just a little bit of it goes a long way...... Sorry i can't be of any help about the mulch though.

Later.

Ses01

I have used it in the past and find it is the perfect place for mites to breed. If your snake only has a mite or two they will breed like rabbits. It does hold the humidity better than Aspen but I like Aspen better. Cypress has a dirty smell to it that is very noticable when you mist it. We have had guests in our home that have said our house smelled funny. This sent my wife through the roof and the cypress was gone.Cypress will also come with little bugs in it but they won't harm your snakes. My friend keeps his Ball collection on cypress and even feeds on it.Even his $10,000 Pied.... Sean

I've been using cypress mulch for about a year now without mishap. It holds humidity very well, and is very inexpensive. I find that if you spot clean for about 7-14 days, and then fully clean and replace after 14 days there is no 'funny smell'.

Newspaper is another cheap substrate that's good, no spot cleaning though, it's all or nothing. I just prefer cypress because it's a bit more naturalish.

So far as the bugs go; I've never had a problem with any sort of bug/parasite. None of my snakes have gotten mites, even though the rat colony got some 'wood tick' 'wood mite'? I am a big fan of quarentine and Provent-A-Mite though. Always better safe then sorry, unless you know where you have recieved your animal from indefinately.

Hope this helps.
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Violette Garcia
www.shakahnsgrove.com

I have been using cypress mulch for a couple of months now, I used to go to the pet shops and spend a fortune for substrates now I just go to Lowes or home depot and spend alot less. As far as mites or any other bugs go I havent seen any, I keep my cypress mulch outside so the cold weather may have something to do with the fact that I havent seen any bugs. I will not feed my snakes on the cypress mulch though,I tried once and noticed a piece in my snakes mouth fortunatley I was able to get it out.I use a seperate rubbermaid container for feeding.

Thanks for all the info! I will try it out probably tonight or tom. Hopefully everything will be fine.

I have used cypress mulch for about a year now and no problems. I however cannot find a home depot near me that even knows what the stuff is... they like to call it cyfress mulch (no amount of spelling it out for them works) and according to them they dont carry it ever. I buy mine from a local pet store that gets it in untreated form from some supplier. They then break it all apart and spread it out and spray it with Provent-A-Mite to kill anything on it. They let it air out for a day or so and then repackage it into smaller containers and sell them in 5qt, 10qt, 25qt and 50qt bags. If you are concerned about the extra creepy crawlies, try P-A-M on the stuff u get from the depot.
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Liz
1.0 bearded dragon
1.0 100% het for albino ball python
2.4 normal ball pythons
0.2 colombian red tail boas
1.1 anery kenyan sand boas
1.0 burmese python

I've used Cypress Mulch for about 3 years now. I've only had one time there seemed to be little bugs in it, which weren't mites or ticks. In the end I microwaved the bag to kill any parasites hidden inside the mulch. As far as price, if you go to a reptile shop they sell a 50lb bag for approx $30-$45 each, or like others have said it didn't matter though, if you go to a garden shop or hardware shop like Lowes. Good luck!

I've been using cypress mulch for about 6 years. I get mine from Wal-mart for $1.48 plus tax. I have never found any bugs in any of the bags. I don't think it smells funny, I think it smells natural- if that is a smell(lol). I have never had a problem feeding on it either. I use about 3-4 inches of it for each cage. Some snakes bury in it others don't. It does hold humidity pretty well for about 3 weeks. I spot clean mine at least once a week. And change it when it starts to dry out. I tried remoistening it but it just doesn't work(will mold then). I think it looks very naturalistic when you add some plants(artifical) and branches. I even had an old turtle lagoon buried in the mulch to make a miniature lake for my smaller Balls. Good luck.