Question about cypress mulch

[reptile65]

I really like cypress mulch as a substrate for my ball python. I've been using the stuff from the petstore, which works fine, but I've noticed they have huge bags of it at Lowes and Home Depot for a lot cheaper. Is it okay to use this even though it's not specially made for reptiles? I would imagine it's the same stuff, but I just want to make sure there's nothing in it that could hurt my snake. Thanks!

[Strange_Evil]

Yep it's cool. No one really even uses the pet store brought cypress its expensive and comes in rather small bags. When getting cypress make sure your picking up all natural cypress mulch,this is important,other mulches with additives can prove to be deadly to your ball python like pine & cedar. It's also good idea (don't really have too) to your bake cypress i beleieve at like 250f or something for 30mins to kill any bugs in it.

[Bellabob]

I use cypress for both my BP's. It holds humdity very well, and looks good too. I get my bags for home improvement stores or even wal-marts garden center. Just to make sure its good to go, I let it dry out a bit, bake it in the oven at 350 for maybe an hour, take it out, let it cool off and put it inside the enclosure.

[Egapal]

I am trying this for my next full bedding change. I got a bag of cypress mulch from Lowes. It says no chemicals or pesticides on it. Its definitely a lot rougher than what you get in a pet store. Some decently sharp pieces and some pretty big chunks of wood. I took out the really big chunks and transfered the mulch to grocery bags and put those in my chest freezer to kill and bugs.

[Jason Bowden]

It's a heaven for mites!

I don't think freezing will work. Bugs get frozen in winter and thaw out ready to do their business.

May be safe if baked. Please don't burn down your house. LOL

[Egapal]

It's a heaven for mites!

I don't think freezing will work. Bugs get frozen in winter and thaw out ready to do their business.

May be safe if baked. Please don't burn down your house. LOL

Actually bugs that get frozen die. The bugs that live are the ones that don't freeze. They burrow into the trees, earth or survive on animals. There are very few things that can survive being frozen solid. Now let me be clear that based on all of the reading I have done this will work but its a much slower way to kill insects. Zero degrees will freeze the wood but some bugs might survive. Negative ten is a death sentence for anything that can't produce its own heat or escape. I have had the mulch in a chest freezer for 3 days now. I will leave it for a full week before I use it. I will be sure to let people know if I have issues. I am prepared if I do.

[Jason Bowden]

Lots of big breeders use it.

[mommanessy247]

reptile65-
HOLD IT! i got a big bag of the timberline cypress mulch from lowes awhile back cuz i liked that it maintained humidity and i was very happy with it BUT i later found out that NONE of those bags are 100% cypress...they all have some degree of cedar in them, some a little more then others. cedar is a big no-no for alot of animals, so i switched to exo-terra forest bark, it is 100% fir bark and it holds the humidity better then the mulch actually. my only complaint(s) are that it's dark color camouflages poo very well and you get tiny splinters if you handle it too roughly. i got mine at reptilesupply.com. i got 2 8 qt bags like several months ago (maybe longer) and i JUST got into my 2nd bag. i steer clear of the stuff in the pet stores cuz it's WAY overpriced and i didnt like any of the reviews on all their products.

[wny_luke]

I've just finished getting an enclosure setup for my first BP and first went with the $6 dollar 3 cu foot bag of cypress I found at my local gardening store that was left over from last season. After reading some warnings on the boards here about making sure it was 100% cypress, I called the manufacturer to learn that it was 80% cypress and 20% other. I ended up buying the .93 cu foot bag from zoo med for quite a bit more to get my enclosure setup.

I plan to look around for 100% cypress once the stores in my area start to get more in for the spring/summer. It's definitely important to make sure it's 100%.

[achilles_crutch]

i watched a snakebytes video on world of ball pythons.com just yesterday. the show was on substrates and what they like to use at BHB. Brian never gave the brand name that they use nor can you clearly see it on the bag but im 99% sure it was JOLLY GARDENER. It is double processed so the pieces are smaller and 100% cypress. im going to switch from shredded aspen to this as soon as i can find it local. i'll most likely pre treat it with PAM just to be safe.