spagnum moss

[scott hough]

I've been trying to find spagnum moss for humid hide-boxes. So far, I have seen small clumps of it for sale in pet stores ($$$) and live bunches of it sold in bags from gardening centers. The plant shop varieties make me nervous. The moss has been torn off of tree bases ect and who knows what lives in it.

Am I asking for the wrong thing? I didn't think it would be so hard to find suitable moss.

What different products can be used in milksnake humid hide/ egg laying boxes?

thanks

[Stockwell]

You can usually get it from large department stores and hardware stores, in both small bags and large... Home Depot and Revy/Rona is where I buy it in large bags. Its not cheap at 20 to 50 dollars for big bags, and thats why I incubate eggs in vermiculite..its cheaper. Sphagnum is great egg media, but too expensive if you have lots of clutches... I use it only for egg boxes and reuse it year after year.
Sphagnum moss does not come from the the bottom of trees...It grows in Peat Bogs!
Sphagnum is just the unprocessed plant that is widely sold in finely chopped form and referred to as "Peat Moss" Its the same plant
If you get stuck and can't find long strand unrefined Sphagnum, than use moist Peat for nest boxes, its dirt cheap, actually...no! cheaper than dirt lol..Everyone has it, even Canadian tire and Walmart...
But it's not as good for nest boxes, and is no good as egg hatching medium, because its too dense and doesn't breath very well, plus it's too dusty when dry.

[DNA Reptiles]

Scott - Spagnum moss is the BEST for hide and nest boxes. Fortunately we have lots of it on our property, although it is getting very dry now with the heat. You live in an ideal place to find your own Scott - head out Sooke way in the deeper woods where it is cool - it grows along fallen trees and even sometimes you will find it in front lawns where it is shaded. It is a renewable resource and grows back quite thickly in 2/3 years. When you get it home a nice soak in salted water and a couple of rinses will get rid of any bugs etc. E-mail me if you want more info.....ANDREA.

[jwsporty]

I use the expandable "forest bark" which is actually coconut fibre. Sold in large blocks in highly compressed form , you simply break off a chunk and soak it water. I will expand about ten times its volume. Simply extract a handful of this stuff from the soaking tub, give it a good squeeze to remove most but not all of the water and then either put into a humid hide or use for the entire tank. I have great success with this and one bag (approx 32.00 dollars will do about 16-17 tanks. ( I use 33,25,20,10 and 5.5 gallon tanks, with most being 33's and 25's). Easy to clean as a full substrate, and lasts a long time. Applied correctly it will hold the humidity in a 33 gallon at 60-70% for about a week and then start to drop off. Even bone dry the humidity still holds around the high 40% mark. I find that my snakes won't defecate in the same area that they sleep in so I simply replace the stuff in the defecation zones and then re-wet the sleeping zone with more water. Never had a problem. I can not comment on its use for a nesting box as I have not gone down this road yet but for general keeping it works for me. Hope this helps


Jim