Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Took me a while to realize that sphagnum moss has made a great substrate for one of my kings. I use the moss as an incubation medium, and when the bulk of last year's clutch was sold off, I left my anerythristic holdback in the sphagnum-moss filled container that held the eggs.

I'm almost embarrassed to say I've never cleaned out that one cage. Yet, it smells like moss to this day. I mist it really well when the snake is in blue, at other times it kind of dries out. But nearly a year later, it still smells great and I really never clean anything out of it.

So, anyone else use sphagnum moss as a substrate? I'm about to put the remaining few specimens in my collection on it.

I have done this exact thing in a screen-top cage with a CHE providing heat from above, and it worked so well.

When a cage is mostly closed off, for example using a tub in a PVC rack, I have had no real need for moss at all except if ambient humidity is quite low.

the snakes around here live in the sand, dirt and rocks, with maybe a few leaves here and there; no moss in a hundred miles that I know of. So, I put dirt and rocks in my cages, and leave the cages outside in the weather that they are used to.....Why not?

I friggin love it. Looking forward to more posts.

I figured it out and I was wrong: Yes they live outside in the dirt and sand, but they are free to move about as they please. In a cage/terrarium, they can not get out and will continue to try; in my kings case, the sand and dirt abraded it's nose until it was raw & bloody. I removed the course substrate and replaced with Aspin shavings and the snakes nose healed up quickly.