Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a pair of asian water monitors. I usually use a mixture of orchid bark and leaf litter for their bedding. Today I cleaned their cage and replaced all of the bedding with cypress mulch. I noticed that my male has been keeping one of his eyes shut most of the time. I was not sure if cypress mulch could cause an adverse reaction. I suppose I should have asked the question before I changed the bedding that had worked so well for me. I hope I haven't caused any irreversable damage to my guys. I have raised just about every kind of reptile you can imagine. This is my first run with monitors. I currently have them in a fifty gallon tank. I am building a new house and plan on making a 10 x 15 ft encloser once I move into my new home. Both of my monitors are about two feet long. Should they be a certain size before I introduce them to an enclosure of this size. I know from past experience with iguanas that it was not a good idea to intoduce small iguanas to large enclosures. I was not sure if the same holds true with monitors. My main concern right now is with the new bedding material. I would really appreciate if someone could help me out with this question. I am very nervous about the situation. I am the kind of reptile enthusiest that will do just about anything to keep my guys happy and healthy. I'm rambling.....please respond ASAP.......Thanks

Two 2' water monitors in a 50 gallon tank is a bigger problem then cypress mulch. However if they were fine on leaf litter and are not fine on mulch (or atleast it appears that way), then why not switch back to leaf litter?

If it aint broke don't fix it.

I totally understand the problem with my current housing. I was supposed to be in my new home in March. I am still waiting. When I first purchased them they were tiny. I have moved from a 3800 square foot home to a 1200 square foot apartment. I do not have any room at this point for a bigger enclosure. If I new that I would be in this position I would have held off on my purchase. I should be in my new home very soon and plan to build a 10 x 15 foot enclosure as stated in my first post. I have been on numerous forums both asking questions as well as answering questions. I must say that the bulk of the people on this forum don't understand what the purpose of a forum is. I was asking if anyone had ever heard of any problems linked to cypress mulch. I would not have switched, but I cleaned out the cage and when I went to purchase more orchid bark they were out. We are currently under a hurricane warning so I did not have time to search for the material at other stores. I won't use this forum any longer. It seems that there are a few people who love to berade those who only seek knowledge. I know that I have helped many on other forums and that makes me feel good. I understand that some of the questions on the forum are rediculous and that some folks shoud not own reptiles. The one thing that I always tried to remember is that it is not for me to decide who should or should not keep reptiles. It is the job of those with knowledge to help those without.......Thanks any how. I have removed my lizards from the enclosure and they seem to be doing fine...I will go back to the original bedding once the storm has passed.

Good or bad that is what you got. If you do not like the opinion don't use it. Noone yelled at you or called you names. I was not coming down hard on you. If I were you would know it.

Instead I only mentioned about your cage rather then going into great detail and possably hurting your feelings.

I suppose I could of told you I have used cypress mulch and never had a problem but what good would that have done, if in your case it was causing a problem? Nothing so I chose to just say the obvious if it is a problem then fix it. Your monitors were obviously telling you something was wrong or not to their likeing. They are better to listen to then I or my monitors or someone elses monitors. Don't ya think?

I'd rather point you in the right direction then hold your hand or carry you there, but thats just my prefered method of helping. Maybe that is what you did not like about me and my reply.

Jody did not jump on you, did he?

Some have problem with cypress mulch, some don't. Me i didn't had any but i change for leaves. If you have any problem using it, change for something else. Is this what you wanna ear?

i used reg cypress for years never had a problem some times i found bugs that about it but i would go back to the old stuff you were using