One more substrate question.

Would you say that in a display tank situation, if there are NO bugs, cypress mulch is the best substrate for ball pythons for humidity, looks, absorbency, creature comfort and of course cost?

I know probably half of you use tubs and newspaper... this questions is specificly for display tanks where newspaper just doesn't look good enough.

please share your thoughts.


Thanks!

Mike

I was a bigger fan of cocounut fiber, and at 1.99 a brick when you get it at a home and garden centre it's most likely the cheapest.

It also has no sharp edges-it's much like using dirt, and it holds humidity very very well (in fact, you'll have to dry it out for a few days or blow dry it before putting it in, unless you do a full switch out during shed when you want the humidity to go way up).

I use Repti-Bark. I actually dont think its the "repti bark" brand, but its heat treated and junk. Ive only seen 1 spider come out of the bark, and it wasnt scary at all.

I use to use cypress mulch as it did a good job keepin up the humidity and it looked nice... now that I have have more snakes it would just be too expensive to use it in each tub. If you check out my gallery I have pictures of the custom cages I built that could be considered "display cages"... Im not sure if this is your first snake or if you just recently got it but if it is Id throw down some paper for a couple weeks so you get an idea of how much these animals poop n pee. Although the bedding looks nice its a pain to get it clean... u can spot clean but thats pretty much only for poop n the solid urates... all the other liquid crap that does come out and you cant see... will be chillen in the snakes cage until you change the bedding. I supported the whole "display" cage when I got my first snake... but after seing them sleeping all day I realized hey theres not really much to display.

Something that holds humidity better so Repti-Bark, Cypress Mulch, Coconut fiber, Jungle Earth, and other types of bark/mulch will work.

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Originally Posted by JoshJP7

I use to use cypress mulch as it did a good job keepin up the humidity and it looked nice... now that I have have more snakes it would just be too expensive to use it in each tub. If you check out my gallery I have pictures of the custom cages I built that could be considered "display cages"... Im not sure if this is your first snake or if you just recently got it but if it is Id throw down some paper for a couple weeks so you get an idea of how much these animals poop n pee. Although the bedding looks nice its a pain to get it clean... u can spot clean but thats pretty much only for poop n the solid urates... all the other liquid crap that does come out and you cant see... will be chillen in the snakes cage until you change the bedding. I supported the whole "display" cage when I got my first snake... but after seing them sleeping all day I realized hey theres not really much to display.

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I currently have 4 snakes, the oldest I have had for 4 years. When you are an night owl like me, display tanks make perfect sense. I am up several hours after they come out of their hides to play!

I think I am going to try Mulch because it is very good looking and costs $2 bucks for a BIG bag. Considerably cheaper than all the other display type stuff.... As long as I make it bug free, i figure it should be the best looking, most cost effective, good for the snakes option. Just wanted to see if there is somehting I am not considering....

Mike

I actually like a homemade mix of aspen and double milled cypress mulch for heavier snakes like bigger boas in display type environments. You get the best of both worlds that way. The loft and softness of the aspen combined with the higher humidity abilities of the cypress. I wouldn't recommend regular milled cypress however, it tends to be chock full of huge sharp silvers and often is packed soaking wet. Double milled cypress can be harder to find and a bit more pricey but isn't too expensive when mixed 50/50 with a nice aspen. The cypress also helps the bedding to not compress as much under the heavier weight of a bigger snake as it would with pure aspen.

As some of our female ball pythons are reaching some heavier weights I'll likely to go this homemade mix of bedding for them too. :)

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

I actually like a homemade mix of aspen and double milled cypress mulch for heavier snakes like bigger boas in display type environments. You get the best of both worlds that way. The loft and softness of the aspen combined with the higher humidity abilities of the cypress. I wouldn't recommend regular milled cypress however, it tends to be chock full of huge sharp silvers and often is packed soaking wet. Double milled cypress can be harder to find and a bit more pricey but isn't too expensive when mixed 50/50 with a nice aspen. The cypress also helps the bedding to not compress as much under the heavier weight of a bigger snake as it would with pure aspen.

As some of our female ball pythons are reaching some heavier weights I'll likely to go this homemade mix of bedding for them too. :)

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Franky, that is a pretty neat idea. think I might try it.

Where are you guys getting your cypress mulch? I don't understand those that think it is too expensive. I just went out tonight and bought a 2 cubic feet bag for $1.67 from home depot. That is a HUGE bag for less then 2 bucks!!!! Is it cheaper here in fl then other places? that is about 1/4 the price of an equal amount of aspen!

Well I stuck it in the deep freezer. I plan to leave it there for about a week. I figure being frozen solid for a week should kill whatever critters are in it. Will let you know how it goes.

sorry by the way.. didn't know there was already a similar, better set up post already going on!

Likely for that price you've gotten "premium" mulch which isn't the double milled stuff. Premium is just really a dressy way to call grade B cypress so do watch that for being wet packed and having those slivers I mentioned. Grade A cypress is good stuff, the best I've ever found is sold as "play ground cypress mulch". It's double mill/double shred cypress and is more expensive generally but saves me the incredible hassle of messing about with those darn big slivers.

I think you'll find the mix of cypress and aspen is a very nice balance in some enclosures. It's also quite visually appealing with the blend of the light aspen and the more reddish cypress. :)

2 questions franky... why does it matter if it is wet packed? (I plan to freeze it for a solid week in my deep freezer to kill whatever critters and things are in it)

When you talk about slivers, what are you talking about? Sharp pieces of much? other stuff in the mulch? If you are talking about sharp pieces of mulch, do you really think that would be an issue?


Thanks!

Mike

Wet packed as in soaking wet, far too wet to want to put under any snake in my opinion. I've had lower grade cypress so wet it took either days of sun drying or I had to bake it to dry it out enough for use. As far as the slivers, I don't like any substrate in an enclosure so sharp I've had to pick it out of my own skin.

I originally had 100% aspen in my tank, and then switched over to cypress mulch to raise my humidity. When I got it from Home Depot it was already frozen solid, so I actually had to let it sit for awhile to thaw out. There are some larger pieces and a few sharp ones, but if you pick a hand full of the bad ones out and then pack the rest of the bedding down so that its a little smoother and has no sharp edges sticking up then it is fine. I haven't had it long enough to deal with cleaning it though, so we will see if my opinion changes after that.

so far i'm still loving the eco-earth substrate. looks good, retains humidity, easy spot cleaning.

I voted Aspen solely on my tank is definitely a display tank and so far the aspen is working great for me. I also put beaked moss in there and mist it down good in a few key locations once a day.

Tried some of the substrates, but even in our 4 unit display rack we went with blank newsprint paper. we were very surprised at all the stuff we were probably missing the clean up on by using anything but the paper.

I LOVE cypress mulch. We are currently using triple milled and it is awesome!

I use reptibark myself. I think it holds the humidity well and it looks nice.

i use both aspen and reptibark.in my opinion reptibark looks better and has a wonderful smell fresh or when misted.i use aspen for the snakes that like to burrow

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

I LOVE cypress mulch. We are currently using triple milled and it is awesome!

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Where in heck did you find triple milled cypress and how is it cost wise compared to other bedding material?

The bedding I think looks best in displays is the T-rex Desert Snow.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Where in heck did you find triple milled cypress and how is it cost wise compared to other bedding material?

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pm being sent!

i like aspen in display cages for ball pythons because it decently holds humidity, looks clean, doesnt smell and is very light which makes replacing substrate and cleaning the enclosure pretty easy.

i use cypress mulch for some of my green trees and i find its kinda messy but great for holding humidity.

I've said it in a million threads but I just love saying it - Fir and Sphagnum Moss is my substrate of choice! :P

It looks nice and it's nice and soft so there's no worries about your snake's belly getting cut up. In terms of feeding, I prefer to feed out of tank because my tank is sort of on display so I like to have my tank need the least amount of clean-up issues as possible.

Holds humidity great. With it being winter time, its very dry here in the Northeast and sometimes I have to spray but usually only once in the morning and that's it. Even in the winter it maintains a 55% if I don't spray the whole day.

Looks nice too. Easy to flatten out and looks like regular dirt.

I started out with white Desert Snow but changed it out because it didn't match my "decor". It's awesome because if it gets wet, it changes to a cream color, so you know where to spot clean. I changed it to Aspen because the aspen is more "natural" looking and matches my "forest" scene. But then, I changed to Cypress Mulch because I had humidity issues. I got the Cypress from Petsmart, so I don't know what kind of "milled" it is. On the back of the bag, there's a label thingee that tells which substrate is best for what type of reptile and listed on there is ball python and it says Aspen is better but Cypress is best. Aspen is listed as best for cornsnake. The only thing I don't like about the cypress is the damp-earth-aroma to it. It smells like wet dirt which is not my favorite... I like the dry summer aroma of the Aspen.

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Originally Posted by Mike Cavanaugh

2 questions franky... why does it matter if it is wet packed? (I plan to freeze it for a solid week in my deep freezer to kill whatever critters and things are in it)

When you talk about slivers, what are you talking about? Sharp pieces of much? other stuff in the mulch? If you are talking about sharp pieces of mulch, do you really think that would be an issue?


Thanks!

Mike

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Freezing will kill most things, but there are many strains of bacteria that can survive the freezing process. When they are frozen, they go inactive, and reanimate themselves once they return to their breeding temp.

I do not know what effect it would have on mulch, but heating above 205 F for thirty minutes will kill most everything. That should be below the kindling temp of the mulch, and would kill everything in it. There are other methods for killing bacteria but I don't it would be a good idea to try it on mulch.

LOL! how do these threads keep getting pulled up from the dead!?

By the way folks, this I have since seen the light! I will never use ANYTHING but newspaper. Tub or tank.

I use newspaper, & for under the hides, I add some aspen. I have a tank for my girl-George. But getting a male tomorrow, so I am using a tub. May switch George to a tub later!!

the aspen seems to be working so far. no problems.