One more substrate question.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

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

[GirDance]

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).

[Patrick Long]

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.

[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.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

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

[Mike Cavanaugh]

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.

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

[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.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

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.

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!

[frankykeno]

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.

[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