Cypress Mulch V Eco Earth

[Lankyrob]

Hi all - our BP is going to be moving into its big viv shortly and am looking at substrates for it.

HAve kinda decided on either Cypress Mulch or Coconut fibre (eco earth) - unless you guys tell me i am heading in the wrong direction!!

Anyone used both of these and have pro's/con's from the experience?? Or got teh perfect substrate for BP's that i shouldn't go without?

Any thoughts welcomed - jsut so you know am in UK - general Humidity is about 55% most of the year round.

Cheers!!

[infernalis]

Sadly over here all the cypress mulch I have ever found was rubbish.

The eco earth is a nice choice, but maybe in the UK cypress mulch is cleaner than the crap sold around here.

Eco earth is great as long as you remember to keep it moist, if it dries out it gets dusty.

[shaunyboy]

sorry mate,im not much use to you.i use newspaper.my carpets dont need high humidty.
cheers shaun

[Coffee Black]

I've never been able to find cypress that wasn't infused with all kinds of chemicals and such. Eco earth is cool but definitely what Infernalis said, it gets dusty when dry. I also always seem to add too much water when using it and then i get a bucket of sludge that has to dry out a bit for a day or so.

[infernalis]

It took a few tries, but I have it down now where I can get the right texture first time.

Back off on the water, and break the brick apart, and be patient, it will expand soon enough.

[citysnakes]

for balls, if i couldnt use paper or aspen, cypress mulch would be my next choice.

[Nafun]

I use astroturf for my ball, but then, I live in an area historically known as "the great black swamp" so humidity's not really an issue except in the dead of winter.

I've never used coconut fiber, but I've tried coconut husk, and it tended to get really nasty at the bottom of the substrate, and bone dry on top with a ceramic heat emitter.
Would probably work better with an UTH

[Lankyrob]

Originally Posted by citysnakes.com

for balls, if i couldnt use paper or aspen, cypress mulch would be my next choice.

Previous reading has suggested that aspen wont keep the humidity?? If it does that would be great as the other snakes are on aspen too and bulk buying is much cheaper - also the contrast of the colour of the snake against the substrate would be cool.

[Kmef07]

I use eco earth like substrate that I get from a garden store. any garden store that has a hydroponics section should have a bulk thing of it. I got cocogrow that is produced by botanicare. it is a 15k bale and it was only 15 dollars. It expands to 75liters of substrate...that is enough to cover the bottom of my big 6foot by 3foot tank 3inches thick about 4 times over.

[kayleegrace]

I use coconut for mine it holds the humity very nicely.

[Aaron_S]

Rob, ball pythons do well on aspen. You need to keep a big enough water dish in there and maybe mist the enclosure a bit during a shed. I use aspen in my tubs but I think the humidity stays fine is because it's a smaller area as well as a rubbermaid. Humidity doesn't escape as easily.

[BlindOne]

I use both products, eco earth for my T's and mulch for my snakes. I've had very good luck (in the US) with the 'no float' cypress mulch available at Lowe's

I don't use aspen because it molds so easily with any amount of humidity.