Need advice on bedding for borneo blood

[susannwv]

Hello to all, I am currently using T-rex cypress mulch as bedding for my borneo. It does not retain moisture enough to keep the humidity up. Has anyone ever used the zoo med repti bark with the borneo? Would it retain more moisture? My concern with the repti bark is the odor it has. I have her in a 40 gallon critter cage which I know its hard to keep humidity up with that much ventilation but I have tried covering part of the tank around the heat lamp and the UVB lamp but all it did was increase temps too high and actually lowered the humidity even more which I thought was crazy. She has shed once and it was a complete shed but from what I have heard a constant low humidity will cause RI in these snakes. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

[2kdime]

Bloods dont require UVB, ditch that thing ASAP

Are you wetting your cypress down?

When I used Cypress for a bit, I never had any issues with humidity at all.

For what its worth, I use newspaper with a humidifier in the room set at 60% and its smooth sailing

[BAMReptiles]

eco earth, lots of it, and then dump a gallon or two of water in. works great for mine and it hold the humidity for weeks. i also keep 95% of the screen top covered with very think plastic trash bag ( cut open and layed out )

a note on the water, how much water to use will depend how much eco earth you have, i have ~3 bricks in mine, and it takes a good bit of water and mixing to get it all worked in so that the substrate is nice and damp

[susannwv]

Thanks guys. I know they do not technically need uvb but I did read they should have a 12 hour light cycle. I use a red heat bulb and use the uvb for a light cycle. Should I change the heat bulb during the day to one that gives off light like a Sun Glo and then change it back to the red at night? Do you think that would be better? I use an entire spray bottle to wet down the cypress and Im spraying 2 to 3 times a day. Im going to try the humidifier though. I never thought of that. I know the air in the room is real dry now with the heat going.

[marbo]

Ditch the bulbs and get her an under tank heater and thermostat. Get her out of that tank - glass tanks are terrible at maintaining temps/humidity. Get her a tub instead. It will be much easier on you..

[Ham]

If you want a day and night cycle do not use any form of UVB bulbs, UVB is very intense ultraviolet radiation, it is for desert reptiles like lizards, not snakes, your blood python does not naturally reside anywhere near a desert, UVB bulbs emit a wide spectrum of UV light that can actually cause blindness in animals that are not used to UV exposure levels of that magnitude (not only that your snake has no eyelids, so it cannot shut its eyes to protect itself from the light). If your poor snake is sitting under a UVB bulb all day I can guarantee that his eyes will be hurting him. They dont need that light as they synthesize their own vitamins for absorbing calcium straight from their preys bones and other tissues. Do not use a UVB bulb! If you want light in the tank just setup a lamp nearby that uses a regular old incandescent house bulb.

PS: Reptibark is a terrible choice for a blood python, cypress mulch is fine as long as you spray it down occasionally, it will absorb the moisture and release it slowly as humidity in the air, also it is highly resistant to mold, so it will do well in your snakes damp cage environment.