Opinions on EcoEarth substrate

I've herd of wood mites in cypress mulch, but those aren't snake mites and won't hurt them.

I use EcoEarth in conjunction with Aspen - this was more out of a need to hold humidity for everyone as the humidity in CA is non-existent and it seems that my place of residence is as dry as the Sahara.

Even in a tub I was having humidity issues so I decided to mix 50/50 EcoEarth and Aspen and haven't looked back. Those sheds are soooo good now.

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

I've never quite understood that suggestion of a substrate containing SNAKE mites , how would they get there in the first place PLUS how would they survive without blood ?

I got the impression that any mites brought in to a house were simply ON bags of substrate or whatever has been purchased from a reptile store

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Makes sense... these reviews appear rare/isolated, they could be outright wrong about the origin or maybe their substrate was in close proximity to an infestation at a pet store when purchased (adult mites can live ~ 40-days without a host). Better safe than sorry I threw my cypress & eco earth bags in the freezer... read all stages of snake mites cannot survive more than a few days below 35F

Freeze everything. I freeze rodent bedding, reptile bedding, rodent food, everything but dirt. I've had grain mites and it's horrible

I've never gotten snake mites from substrate ever and I don't freeze or bake or any of that stuff. Just don't buy substrate from questionable pet shops or better yet, order it online. I did get snake mites once on Luna which I'm not sure how she got them as none of my other snakes got them. And I know it wasn't substrate as I use the same stuff for everyone. And that's in like 20 years. Just avoid the places where they are probably going to be like shows and run down shabby pet shops and QT your new snakes.

Hmm it sounds like the bark/chips and ecoearth are both good. Since my buddy is captain derp with his feedings also and pretty much did the same thing, I might just start feeding him in a separate tub without substrate. He does seem to burrow and hide a bit in the ecoearth, so I'm assuming he likes it.

What I do is dangle the feeder in front of them with tongs. Then once they grab it, I just keep a hold of it and slide a sheet of printer paper under them and then set the food with them still attached to it down on the paper. Works good and you would play heck trying to get a boa to let go of dinner lol.

Haha sometimes my BP is kind of indecisive and will set the mouse down and contemplate life for a couple minutes before eating it. Idk if that trick would work. I just fed him in a tub and he has no problems with it :)

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Originally Posted by TattedLass253

Hmm it sounds like the bark/chips and ecoearth are both good. Since my buddy is captain derp with his feedings also and pretty much did the same thing, I might just start feeding him in a separate tub without substrate. He does seem to burrow and hide a bit in the ecoearth, so I'm assuming he likes it.

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I feed all mine ( very successfully ) in their vivs / enclosures and simply place a few pieces of card down on top of the substrate before feeding ..


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If that works for you then that's great!

I just don't see that working with my boy. He drags his food everywhere after moving it around/poking it. He doesn't just snatch and eat it where he gets it.