Advice!

[sophia_carguillo]

I have a 3ish year old ball python. Never had any issues with her she eats perfectly, sheds perfectly, only once every few months though. She’s about 3 or so feet long, I have her in a 40gal tank. Her temps on the cold side range from 74-79 and her hot side ranges from 85-95 (depends on where the heat light is hitting).
I have used the same substrate, forest floor mulch mixed with sphagnum moss. I like how it holds humidity but i CANNOT stand that I get bugs in it every time I buy it. Whether it be one lonely ant, or spider, or hundreds of springtails, I keep her tank in my room, I do not like having a tank with bugs in it.
Recently she’s been soaking in her water bowl, (once every few days) i read that she could be too hot which is very likely as i live in central Florida and it’s very hot in my bedroom. Also read that she could have mites, freaked myself out, I checked her thoroughly at least 12 diff. times and saw not one mite on her. She hasn’t shed in a while, it could be that too.
Soo i went out and bought fir/orchid bark, and mixed it with loose coconut fiber, bought her all new plastic hides (had real logs and corks, was not about to try and clean the bugs out of them) and cleaned and bleached all her other husbandry (leaves etc)
She hasn’t soaked in her bowl in a few days now so i crossed mites off that list. Although i read that fir (repti bark) can come with mites in it... My worst fear is for her to get mites from this new substrate mixture.
ANY input (on anything) is greatly appreciated(:

[Albert420]

I have a 3ish year old ball python. Never had any issues with her she eats perfectly, sheds perfectly, only once every few months though. She’s about 3 or so feet long, I have her in a 40gal tank. Her temps on the cold side range from 74-79 and her hot side ranges from 85-95 (depends on where the heat light is hitting).
I have used the same substrate, forest floor mulch mixed with sphagnum moss. I like how it holds humidity but i CANNOT stand that I get bugs in it every time I buy it. Whether it be one lonely ant, or spider, or hundreds of springtails, I keep her tank in my room, I do not like having a tank with bugs in it.
Recently she’s been soaking in her water bowl, (once every few days) i read that she could be too hot which is very likely as i live in central Florida and it’s very hot in my bedroom. Also read that she could have mites, freaked myself out, I checked her thoroughly at least 12 diff. times and saw not one mite on her. She hasn’t shed in a while, it could be that too.
Soo i went out and bought fir/orchid bark, and mixed it with loose coconut fiber, bought her all new plastic hides (had real logs and corks, was not about to try and clean the bugs out of them) and cleaned and bleached all her other husbandry (leaves etc)
She hasn’t soaked in her bowl in a few days now so i crossed mites off that list. Although i read that fir (repti bark) can come with mites in it... My worst fear is for her to get mites from this new substrate mixture.
ANY input (on anything) is greatly appreciated(:

I have switched to news paper for two reasons , swallowed substrate and the fear of mites that come with substrates and other chemicals warehouses use which we are unaware of....

Just my 2 cents anyway

[Turningstar]

Ive never had a problem with mites in fir bark. I have heard that there are wood mites in some bark substrates, but that they dont harm snakes .
Perhaps some of the more experienced keepers can chime in.

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