Moss for use in ball python cage...

I have a glass aquarium tank that I keep my bp in and naturally it is difficult to keep the humidity up. I recently purchased some moss to drape over some of the decor I have. Is this safe for the snake? Is their any concerns or descrepencis with using moss for ball pythons?

As long as they're not sitting on damp moss, I don't think it will be an issue. You'll want to change it out frequently to prevent bacteria and mold grown. Consider covering most of the top of the cage with plastic to help keep humidity in.

Rather than straight moss, I like a mixture of moss/mulch for substrate. It looks really nice and holds humidity a bit better than just mulch, aspen etc.

The substrate should be dry, so I wouldn't recommend putting moss in the substrate.

It should be alright, as long as it isn't in the way of your bp if it's headed for the other side of the enclosure or the water, because some bp's (like mine) hate getting wet, even if it's only a little bit damp, so I wouldn't want to make the bp have to choose between staying dry and warming up, but that's a very minor concern, so I think moss in the enclosure is fine as long as you change it every now and then to avoid bacteria formation.

I use small clumps of moss that I moisten in the mornings and change once a week placed on top of my aspen substrate to help with humidity. I also have a fluker's mini dripper which slowly drips into a ramekin filled with sphagnum moss to raise humidity as well when I need it. Since my BP is only active at night, he rarely, if ever encounters the damp moss.

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

The substrate should be dry, so I wouldn't recommend putting moss in the substrate.

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I guess that's true for most climates, but here in AZ we have to heavily spray the substrate almost daily to accomplish anything close to high enough humidity. And no, we don't get scale rot problems. Just another thing to consider when keeping reptiles.

The surface probably dries out very fast in that climate, but many folks have had problems with damp substrate and scale rot, so beware recommending it to folks who don't live in deserts.

I just dampened some sphagnum moss and put in both my BPs hides. They both immediately went in and curled up on it. Even with a room humidifier running 24/7 I struggle to keep humidity at 50-60%, never mind 70% for shedding. That requires misting 4 times a day. And I live in GA. I use forest bark for substrate.


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Loose sphagnum tends to end up everywhere.
Previously, I was cramming a spare hide with sphagnum moss and it keep up humidity but took a lot of space so what I've decided to do is get a small skull ornament and cram in some damp moss, it will be easy to keep moist and change out every week.

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Originally Posted by The Golem

Loose sphagnum tends to end up everywhere.
Previously, I was cramming a spare hide with sphagnum moss and it keep up humidity but took a lot of space so what I've decided to do is get a small skull ornament and cram in some damp moss, it will be easy to keep moist and change out every week.

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Change out every week? I use mine repeatedly unless it gets soiled by the snake but even then I only discard what is heavily soiled and wash the rest to be reused.

I have a few big clumps in my balls tank to camouflage the black hide and it stays in place and together nicely. I do have a very well behaved snake though.