cypress mulch

[froggystyle34]

anybody here use it??? if so how do you debug it. i was thinking of freezing a bgi bag for 3 days and then putting sevendust on it think that will do it???

froggy
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[herm]

Julius swears by it. He uses Sawyers tick spray. I'm sure your approach should work too.
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[sartori]

ive used it in the past for my ball pythons.. it worked well.. i got mine from a place and it was "bug free" already.. but they have since closed down.. and ive since gone back to newspaper..

you could treat the stuff with "provent a mite" which kills off every ecto-parasite known to man.. ticks, fleas, mites.. etc..(just follow directions on the can) some people dont like the product tho..

you could try "Black Knight".. another flea and tick product that everyone swears by..

seven dust is good.. ive used it for a few years now to treat snakes with mites and ticks.. it gives me nasty rashes tho.. i know a lot of people who have reactions to it [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_evil.gif[/img]

good luck
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	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[shady1]

i've had actually just recently switched to it, thanks jules [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img] anyways, I bought a big bag of it at home depot, (lowes works too) for 2 bucks, bought Lice bedding spray at wall mart for 4 bucks, dumped the bag into a big plastic container sprayed it, stirred it, sprayed it, put the lid on for a couple hours took the lid off for an hour and then put some in the cage, my BPs love it
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[SnakePool]

What shady1 suggested is exactly what I would do when I used it. The problem I encountered was that mites love the stuff so they come back. You have to treat it every 2 weeks.
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	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[JuliusSqueezer]

I haven't seen a mite here in close to a year now. And as many reptiles as I get coming in and out. That is pretty remarkable. I treat it once...and don't treat again unless I see mites. So far, I have never had to spray it again....but it could be that I just happened to get mite free cypress to start with. I think there is an advantage of buying substrate away from a petstore where mites are more likely to occur.
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	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[Stormyva]

I am with Julius 100%..... the key is good treatment to start off with.
If treated and/or washed properly, especially when coming from a pet store, prior to things going in the cages you run a much lower risk of introducing any unwanted guests.
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[talon]

where in walmart do you get that stuff? i coldn't find it
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[RevMojo]

Hey Talon..in the garden section...but in LaCrosse, in winter...good luck...not much demand for mulch. Check behind the salt or the snow blowers. When did LaCrosse get a Wal-Mart anyway...I havent been back in nearly 10 yrs. I probably wouldnt even recognize Onalaska


But getting back to topic...I like cypress mulch too. I bake it at 250 for 1 hr before using, then give it time to cool. I've never had mite probs with it. Never had em without either, knock on wood. It's far for resistant to mold than say, Repti-bark, for instance. If you happen to spill a little under the water dish, you wont find fuzz the next time you change the water. It's cheaper than about anything else too. Just be sure to buy it at Home Depot.
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	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[strutter769]

No one's had any problems with it being ingested by the snake on prey? I'd love to use it but my pet store people talk me out of it for that reason!! And it looks MUCH nicer than the aspen I currently use.
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[Bry]

Actually, the type of wood makes no difference in the risk of ingestion during feeding. When using any kind of loose substrate, it's always a good idea to take steps to prevent the risk of something like that ever happening. You can either lay down newspaper or paper towel for the snake to eat on. There's always the risk that the snake might move it off the paper, and onto the substrate, and it's more trouble to begin with anyways. The best option for most species would be to take the snake out, and move it into a separate feeding compartment, like a rubbermaid, and feed it in there before putting it back in the cage.

As for the cypress mulch, I've used the stuff religiously for about a year now. I love it, and it works great for multiple snakes, since pet store prices can burn quite the hole in your pocket when you have that several snakes. As for mite eradication, as soon as I open the bag, I spray Sawyer's directly into the bag, let it sit there for an hour or two before I set it up in the cage. The last time I had to use Sawyer's was 4 months ago, and I haven't had a single mite problem since. But now, with tarantulas, I have to be more careful about using Sawyer's on the snake's substrate, because the chemicals in the spray can kill them. So, I've resorted to baking the substrate to kill off mites and eggs before setting it up in the cage. So far, I haven't had any problems with mites.

Bry
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	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks