Bedding

[Saboduh]

Hi,
Just curious about bedding...mostly the aspen bedding. Can it come with mites or mite eggs?
I use paper towels but im thinking about trying aspen or the coconut tree bedding stuff, as long as its clean and cant give my snake mites.

[Kinra]

I believe it is possible to get mites from Aspen, but I don't know how commonly this happens. I think the bigger concern with Aspen is that if you aren't careful it might have pine or some other wood mixed in that can make your snake sick.

If you are buying the stuff at the pet store, I think you should be fine and won't experience either problem.

[RestlessRobie]

I have been using EcoEarth for a month and a half and love it keeps humidity in a aquarium enclosure well just make sure I stir it up weekly durning his feeding while he is in a seperate tub. Have had no problems and just make sure to re moisten whenwe stir working great. Hope this helps
Robie

[Saboduh]

thanks for the help i think im gonna use aspen for now till i can try the coconut wood bark bedding

[tcutting]

I always vote and use good quality cypress. NEVER had any issues what so ever.

[Tree]

I have my girl on the Coconut bedding. I did not think she would like it (she was on cypress mulch at the breeders) but she seem happy with the new bedding.

I spray it down once a day and it keeps the humidity up at the 55-75% range all day.

Its not as messy as other bedding, easy to clean.

We like the coconut bedding so far.

[Tree]

oh yeah, No Mites

[jasbus]

Just treat your enclosure every month with Provent a Mite... You won't have to worry about mites no matter what bedding you use...

[benwallage9]

I use aspen in my rack system and like it. I use the shredded aspen the stuff meant for reptiles, I bought the crap petco sells in the big bags thats like $15 and meant for small mammals and that isn't 100% aspen it has other stuff in it and smells funny. So if you want to use aspen i'd just make sure it's the shredded stuff not shaved

[Inknsteel]

Just treat your enclosure every month with Provent a Mite... You won't have to worry about mites no matter what bedding you use...

Treating once a month is overkill. Snake mites are specifically that, snake mites. Even if they somehow made it into your bag of bedding, they wouldn't live long without a host to feed from. What you are more likely to see would be WOOD mites, which are harmless to your snakes. You can always bake the bedding before putting it in the enclosure if you're worried about wood mites.

If you're bringing SNAKE mites home in a bag of bedding, they're more likely coming from the pet store where you got the bedding rather than the bedding itself. You could have picked up some hitchhikers from infested snakes in the pet shop...

As for preventative PAM treatments, I think once every 6 months would be sufficient as a preventative measure, although I think it's highly unnecessary. Just buy a can of PAM and keep it on hand. Treat your quarantine tanks prior to bringing a new animal in and you should have nothing to worry about.