Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all,
Im having an issue with my male gabby. He greatly enjoys using coconut bedding so that he can burrow into it. Whne i first got him he had an issue with mites, which i treated and they went away. During that time I had him on newspaper so I could easilty treat him, and see the mites. Now that hes back on the coconut, he seems to get white specks on him (looks like salt crystals). I was wondering if anyone has had an issue with this, or if they could recommend a good substrate to use.
Any info would be appreciated, as Im new to gaboons, (not new to venomous though)
Thanks in advance,
Adam

cypress mulch

Although cypress is widely used for gabbies and other high humidity herps, I personally don't like it due to the possibility of ingestion of large slivers (if ingested, this can be fatal and at the very least, very expensive). Right now, we are using a combination of ESU Jungle Mix, orchid bark (which are tiny nuggets with dull edges), leaf litter....it looks real nice, the gabbies love to burrow into it and easy to replace as needed. No knock on cypress as many have used it successfully but I have not had very good experiences with it UNLESS you can either feed the snake in a separate enclosure, or, place a large piece of paper over the floor and feed on top. Rob Carmichael, Curator, Wildlife Discovery Center

>>cypress mulch
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

I've been using Zoo Med's Reptile bark without any problems on all of large Bitis.

Good Luck,

Al

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"Fighting on the forums is like competing in the Special Olympics, even if you win, you're still retarded."

DH June 2005