How is fir and sphagnum peat moss mix as substrate?

[moespeaking]

Trying to keep ball pythons humidity up during the winter as it drops into the 40's. I went out and bought zilla fir and sphagnum peat moss mix. I want to know if this is safe, and does anyone else use it?

[butters!]

just give them a humid hide on the warm side.the humidity in my tanks are around 20%.i give them a humid hide and they shed great.i know people will disagree but ive been to vets,showed them my snakes and gave them info on my tanks and they both said the snakes looked great and to keep doing wat im doing.yes it is best for the humidity to be at least 50 but as long as they have a humid hide(wich is where they spend 90% of the time,you will be fine.

hope this helps ya!

[moespeaking]

she has a humid hide but only spends about 30% of the time in there, and will shed in pieces during the winter.

[butters!]

where is the humid hide?is it on the warm side?is it cosey or does she have alot of room in there?

[moespeaking]

warm side and cosey, my question is if the substrate is safe and has anyone used it?

[butters!]

never used it,sorry.it would prolly be very hard to clean if you kept it damp.just my 2 cents

[Clyde Frog]

I use the exact mixture that you're talking about - the Zilla one. It works great for me. I prefer to use Coconut Filings because they're organic but I don't feed inside his normal enclosure so ingesting substrate isn't an issue too much for me. But, I do know it's not toxic to them. There is a grid on the back that shows you which substrates are optimal for different reptiles.

As far as cleaning goes, I line the bottom of my tank with newspaper and then add the moss so that theres less of a mess and it's a quicker cleaning process.

Also, living in Massachusetts I get bombarded with snow and cold weather for almost 5 months of the year and have found that the moss holds moisture and keeps the humidity really well. A little thing I learned for helping with humidity is to buy a sea sponge, cut it into about 3 different parts, soak the parts, and put each one in a different spot in your tank - hot side, cool side, and in the middle.

Since they retain so much moisture, they raise the humidity in well under an hour.

Hope that helps!

[moespeaking]

thank you clyde

I also live in Mass.

[Clyde Frog]

Really? Haha. Small world!

Good luck to us this winter lol.
Just got hit with an ice storm and almost 2 feet of snow in less than a week here in Worcester County.