Bedding for ball pythons????

I was curious what is the best thing to use for bedding, Carpet or that mulch stuff? Thanks

Aspen. Aspen is the best wood bedding. That or newsprint paper. And paper towels for new arrivals or injured snakes.

Never use carpet or astroturf as it holds bacteria really well even if you clean it. The mulch stuff should only be especially for reptiles or kiln dried or it can carry bugs. Gravel and sand are HUGE NO-NO beddings!

Newspaper, paper towel or aspen.

Cypress mulch! :gj: Doesn't mold like aspen, and holds humidity better than paper. Just make sure you get pure cypress mulch, a lot of places are starting to carry blended cypress mulch -- which means it could have pine or cedar mixed in. You don't want your snakes on that.

Newspaper as its cheap and in abundance

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Originally Posted by m00kfu

Cypress mulch! :gj: Doesn't mold like aspen, and holds humidity better than paper. Just make sure you get pure cypress mulch, a lot of places are starting to carry blended cypress mulch -- which means it could have pine or cedar mixed in. You don't want your snakes on that.

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Do you know who carries it now I bought some a while back from home depot now they carry the blend with pine in it

Fir and Sphagnum moss, Coconut Filings, Coconut husk.

All hold moisture really well (great for keeping a steady humidity)

You must have some really different cypress there. In all my experience with Aspen and Cypress, it was always the Cypress that molded. I work entirely with Aspen now and have never had a touch of mold...even in my rabbit cage, and we all know how much rabbits pee. :)

aspen molds worse than Cypress just get some damp and put it under a water bowl

Used to use Aspen, now its just plain old newspaper, I save the Aspen for the King and Corn, at least they like to burrow through it.

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Originally Posted by Rcar77

Do you know who carries it now I bought some a while back from home depot now they carry the blend with pine in it

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Check around at some local garden centers and supermarkets that have a garden department. I noticed this past summer that home depot had stopped carrying pure cypress mulch also. Also, it's going to be tougher to find in the winter than in the summer.

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Originally Posted by Argentra

You must have some really different cypress there. In all my experience with Aspen and Cypress, it was always the Cypress that molded. I work entirely with Aspen now and have never had a touch of mold...even in my rabbit cage, and we all know how much rabbits pee. :)

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You may have had blended cypress. I've had aspen go moldy within a week with heavy misting where as I have yet to see ANY mold in the cypress I use.

I use cypress because when I was buying substrate, I looked at the bag of Aspen and next to it was a bag of twice-milled cypress. I think the brand for both was Zilla (PetSmart). And on the back of both bags, it listed all kinds of substrates and reptiles and a check mark to say not recommended, okay, or best. Aspen was best for cornsnakes but cypress was best for bp's. Looking at the list it seems like the ones that require higher humidity was marked with best for cypress. I have to say that ever since I switched to cypress from Aspen I was able to maintain humidity better.

I bought a huge bag of the twice-milled cypress at PetSmart.

I use Sani chips. CHeap to buy and easy to clean.