Zoo-Med Forest Floor Cypress Bedding! - Where Responsible Reptile Keepers Connect!

Allysen · #1 (**permalink**) 12-03-2007, 02:19 AM

Has anybody else had problems with this stuff??? :cursing: We used to use the kind of cypress that you can buy at Petsmart, I think it was Exo-Terra, I'm not sure, it wasn't this stuff, it was a finer, better mulch. But at nearly 20 bucks for a small bag, it was getting a bit outrageous, so we asked at every single hardware store and nursery if they had untreated cypress mulch, and came up empty handed.

We noticed that our local reptile supply company had fairly large quantities of Zoo-Med Forest Floor cypress for a really reasonable price, so we bought a big box of it and tried it out. First thing we noticed that it consisted of HUGE chunks and didn't hold humidity nearly as well as the other brand. I could live with that, we broke it up a bit and it seemed to be working just fine. Until I opened one of our quarantine cages to discover a fresh poop literally SWARMING with little white bugs!! :scared:

After a trip to the vet, we were informed that they were not some frightening parasite, but SOIL MITES. They came in on the cypress. Which made it a TON less scary when we found them in the other cypress cages that weren't in quarantine.

ICK. We had a few unopened bags of the stuff that came in the case, so we just took them all out to the garage, put the contents into a huge tub and took a few days to treat it with Repel.

Hooray no more bugs!

Friday was when we had the newly treated cypress go into the freshly treated cages. Today?

MOLD.

Weird, cottony, blooming, fuzzy mold! It's EVERYWHERE and it wasn't there yesterday, or when I was treating the cypress! It's in ALL of their cages, it's disgusting!! I use the cypress specifically because of its mold-resistant properties in high-humidity enclosures! ARGH this is absolutely ridiculous! I've never had problems with the Zoo-Med brand in the past, but I'm SO frustrated right now it's not even funny!

Has anybody else used this brand before? Has anybody else had these kind of problems? Are there any brands of cypress that anybody really recommends above all others, excluding being able to get them from local nurseries and hardware type stores?

owen · #2 (**permalink**) 12-03-2007, 02:24 AM

yup, my friend had the same problem, i always spray it with proventamite if i ever use it

ssjsmits · #3 (**permalink**) 12-03-2007, 02:46 AM

Just use aspen Allysen. :top:
.
I can give you a link that will get you a 46lb bag for like 20 bucks.

ReptileMan27 · #4 (**permalink**) 12-03-2007, 02:48 AM

I use it for my MHD, havent had any problems with it..

Allysen · #5 (**permalink**) 12-03-2007, 03:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssjsmits

Just use aspen Allysen. :top:
.
I can give you a link that will get you a 46lb bag for like 20 bucks.

I tried aspen with the BRBs when I originally got them, but it always molded up on me within a day or two.

I use aspen with about half of my ball pythons and they seem to like it, but they don't need the crazy rainbow humidity, either.

ssjsmits · #6 (**permalink**) 12-03-2007, 03:06 AM

Just don't mist as often.

I never need to mist so I swear by it.

Johnny Utah · #7 (**permalink**) 12-03-2007, 03:14 AM

I moved this thread to the Reviews forum.

Allysen · #8 (**permalink**) 12-03-2007, 03:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnny Utah

I moved this thread to the Reviews forum.

Ah cool, I was debating back and forth which one to post it in, lol!

hartsock · #9 (**permalink**) 12-03-2007, 04:06 AM

Allysen,

Use Louise's method of treating cyprus with that stuff you get at Wal-Mart in the camping section (forget the name of it, I have some around here somewhere, but not sure where). Then go to Lowe's and buy a big bag of the cyprus and treat it the way she describes. I know that is where some get the cyprus they use. I use aspen and it does okay except for the one russian rat snake who won't let water in his bowel. He loves to soak and push it all out. then it molds up in a day. I had a mite problem and followed her advice and it cleared it up in one treatment after failing for months use the provent a mite crap.

Allysen · #10 (**permalink**) 12-03-2007, 04:57 AM

I did use the Repel method to treat for the weirdo soil mites, I'm actually much more concerned about the freak mold. I've never had cypress mold on me, and I've been using it for about 2 years now with various snakes and lizards. Could it just be a bad batch or something? It's SOOOOOO gross, and my vet's not in until tomorrow morning. He's going to think we're crazy when I send Joey in with mold samples, lol!