Is red cypress mulch kosher to use?

Home depot is having a sale on red cypress mulch and I was wondering if it is suitable for substrate. Is the red dye dangerous? Would it be too coarse? If so I have an old food processor I could use to break it down a bit.

If there is a better cheap option please suggest. When I get my rack built (should be this weekend, heat tape gets in Monday hopefully) I think I am going to switch from packing / newspaper to some sort of mulch, but I am loathe to buy from one of the big box pet stores. I assume they are always over priced and I really don't like their husbandry practices.

I recently switched to cypress mulch on some of my animals. I think the undied mulch would be best. Also make sure no pesticides are in it.

I am sure you can find bulk shaved aspen online. That is my substrate of choice :)

I wouldn't use mulch from home depot personally. I would think it would be crawling with bugs and mites and such. The red dye might contribute to some scale discoloration (which isn't harmful, its just hard to tell if they are going into shed or have any scale rot going on).

in my opinion, stay away from anything that has dye in it, or let alone pesticides. I tried to use organic cypress mulch from lowe's once, I froze it and then baked it in the oven before using it. It was okay, but my main problem with it was that it was really really dirty, and if dry, dusty. I went back to aspen... then I switched to newspaper pellet and have not looked back.

Please do be careful! Home depot near me doesn't carry cypress mulch at all, but many different colors of what I believe to be cedar mulch - which would be toxic even before the dye!

~Bruce

Thanks for the advice, I was kinda thinking that may be the case.

Anyone know a cheap place to get cypress of aspen mulch in bulk online? I would think the shipping would be outrageous, but I really don't know. I may just check home depot for undyed cypress or aspen mulch and freeze it for a few days, then bake it at a low temp for awhile (I assume 250f would be sufficient).

I live in Florida, and it is really humid here all the time. That is why I have a slight preference towards cypress because I have heard that aspen has a tendency to grow moldy.

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Originally Posted by euphuistical

Thanks for the advice, I was kinda thinking that may be the case.

Anyone know a cheap place to get cypress of aspen mulch in bulk online? I would think the shipping would be outrageous, but I really don't know. I may just check home depot for undyed cypress or aspen mulch and freeze it for a few days, then bake it at a low temp for awhile (I assume 250f would be sufficient).

I live in Florida, and it is really humid here all the time. That is why I have a slight preference towards cypress because I have heard that aspen has a tendency to grow moldy.

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I have never heard that about aspen. If anything that would be true for cypress. People usually use cypress mulch if they have a problem keeping the humidity up. If you live in florida, you will never have that problem. Aspen will work fine in your case :)

aspen will mold,has a weird smell when wet any lenth of time,just switched to cypress it also has a tendacey not to mold.

We got 100% cypress mulch from Menards (might be a midwestern store). It took us a long time to find 100%, but when we did, we stocked up!

we have found a nice aspen that does not mold...it is not advertized for reptiles- it is unscented which is great and great. you can get it in fairly big bags at petsmart...forget the name atm, but i think its in the rodent section of the store.

If it's Cypress from a Red Pond Cypress Tree, then it's fine. I have never seen dyed cypress mulch, but if it is dyed I would stay away.

As far as the little wood mites and flies that come with cypress mulch... they really are harmless and more of a nuisance to you.

Another alternative is Mulch Block... made from Coconut Husk. You can buy it at your local Ace Hardware store. It's totally organic and works great. I only caution not add too much water when you first set up the mulch.

Hope this helps.

Oz

Check around at your local gas stations. A lot of them around here carry bags of cypress mulch this time of the year.

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Originally Posted by OzzyBoids

If it's Cypress from a Red Pond Cypress Tree, then it's fine. I have never seen dyed cypress mulch, but if it is dyed I would stay away.

As far as the little wood mites and flies that come with cypress mulch... they really are harmless and more of a nuisance to you.

Another alternative is Mulch Block... made from Coconut Husk. You can buy it at your local Ace Hardware store. It's totally organic and works great. I only caution not add too much water when you first set up the mulch.

Hope this helps.

Oz

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Good suggestion. I was looking around for pure cypress mulch (lowes and home depot only seem to have a blend), and Ace looks like it carries it. I even looked in to buying it at petsmart, but it is just so much more expensive, for example:
$19 for 24 quarts from Zoo med vs
$4-$10 for 3 cubic feet from Ace or similar stores
24 qt(US dry) = 0.933 cubic feet

Just insane how much they mark up.

Anyway, if the Ace doesn't carry the brand of mulch I may look in to coconut husk mulch. Another option that I have never seen mentioned is eucalyptus mulch that I saw at lowes. I didn't give it a really close look, so it may be a blend, but if it is not, is that a good option? I did a search and there didn't seem to be a definitive answer, but seemed like a negative response overall.

What about rubber tree mulch? Anyone have any info on that?

And there may be a chance that the red cypress mulch I saw at home depot may be from red cypress. I will check tomorrow. If thats the case I will be quite relieved.

Alright, just double checking here. I just bought this: https://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/(i...aspx?SKU=72242

It doesn't say blend anywhere on it, so its ok, right? I am just being paranoid, but I don't want to take any chances.