IS CYPRESS THE BEST SUBSTRATE FOR BRB'S??

I currently have a rack of 4 brazilian rainbow boas, I keep them on cypress mulch. Im wondering if there is anyone out there who keeps their brb's on newspaper, and if so how they do with keeping humidity levels up. Im looking to change the substrate for reasons of cost and most of all ease of cleaning. Any input on this would be a great help!

I currently have 15 BRBs and have used newspaper and cypress mulch. The newspaper wasn't that great with humidity when it was dry, but they would get in their water bowls and spill the water everywhere. After that, of couse, it would be nice and humid in there, but they would be sitting on soggy newspaper. I found myself changing the newspaper almost every other day to keep the cages sanitary. I also noticed that the newspaper had a tendency to mold with the increased humidity. I switched to cypress mulch a few months ago, and it has been wonderful! The humidity stays nice, and if they spill their water, it gets soaked up by the mulch. No more soggy messes here! Just my $.02

Anya

Cypress mulch is fine as far as I know. The only problems I have had with it is that it can come with bugs in it and spot cleaning is a little more difficult in terms of being able to see the messes since cypress mulch is darker in color than other substrates such as aspen or newspaper, etc. I have been keeping BRB's since 2002. I use either newspaper or indoor/outdoor carpeting, but I do keep a large container of water in the cage that helps with the humidity and also allows them to soak themselves, which they seem to love at times. So basically, newspaper is fine to use when used along with a large water container. I use like a 15 quart Sterlite. Newspaper is cheap or free if you get your family and friends to give you their old ones. Cypress also works for people but you have a cost involved there.

I am in Arkansas and we get our cypress mulch at Lowe's. The brand they carry is obtained from Hope, AR, so it may be cheaper because of that. I always compare prices with Home Depot, so I end up paying $2.11 per 3 cu ft bag. The brand is Hapi-Gro.

Anya

Originally Posted by russianbaby007

I am in Arkansas and we get our cypress mulch at Lowe's. The brand they carry is obtained from Hope, AR, so it may be cheaper because of that. I always compare prices with Home Depot, so I end up paying $2.11 per 3 cu ft bag. The brand is Hapi-Gro.

Anya

That seems like a very good price. I have not bought it in awhile, but I think it is pretty cheap here in Florida as well. I still pay less for my newspaper though cause I get for free!!

yea the cypress works great but mine came with bugs this time i noticed them swimming in the water dish. The bugs were so small you could barely see them. I sterilized the bins replaced the substrate, and treated the enclosure with provent a mite, 3 days later the little bugs were back.These bugs are not mites either and they can only be found in the brbs bins. The only variable is the cypress mulch. Im gonna switch the water bowls to larger sizes and go with newspaper. Thank you for the info it helps to now other people keep large amounts of brbs on newspaper without too much hastle.

We've found that shredded newspaper works well , and seems to absorb better than flat sheets

We just bought some cypress from lowes also we live in the middle of nowhere Tn so not a lot of options but its like 2.50 for 2cu i think so its not to bad.