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I cant find cypress mulch anywere i literaly went to six stores today some people havnt even heard of it, the top soil i cant use anymore either cuz it gets in my BRN nose a lot and the doc said if it got into his lungs it oculd lead to infection so does anyone know were to get cypress mulch and or an alternative to both dirt and crpress mulch ( a good digging substarte).

Thanks

Latter
Sean Jordan
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1 Black roughneck Monitor
3 Crested Geckos (red, neon orange, and neon orange dalmation)
1 Vieled Cham
1 Leo

My Email

np

Your husbandry, period.
They dig and live in dirt almost all monitors do. So the dirts not the problem.
Cyprus mulch is 2 dollars a bag from lowes home improvement warehouse, on the east coast.
The dirt gets in their nostrils when they dig and they are designed for that. Any vet that tells you that they will get sick from it is not a competent herp vet, nor do they know anything about monitors. Check the ARAV website for a reptile vet near you, not a dog and cat vet. Need to look at your animals living conditions, is the basking temp to low or basking area of light too small (ie should be snout to vent length), is the cage soaked wet with mud or puddles? Dirt will not cause any health problems.
Most owners wont use it because it gets all over their house, then they look for justification not to use it.

hello.
I think your vet made a small mistake. Forgive him, as most vets aren't into all the detail on monitors.
Cypress mulch is a poor second alternative. They can burrow in it, my hatchling BRN did. But if it dries out at all, it is sharp. I had to pick a big sliver out of my little one's eye socket. So be careful.

Here is a pic of my female BRN (gravid). She is all dusty looking, because she sleeps in dirt. No URI here.
D.