# Anyone else do this?



## Compnerd7 (Aug 10, 2012)

I need a a large amount of cypress bedding for my new cage. Luckily, There is another Reptile convention this weekend here, and I can pick up some massive bags of it for cheap, for now.

My original plan was this... I was going to go out in an area that contains cypress trees and cut one down (I know some areas around here where it is legal to harvest the trees), then run it through a wood chipper, take all the chips and kiln dry them over an open fire in large pots, and go through all the necessary methods required to make it parasite / bacteria free and then bag myself tons and tons of bedding. Does anyone see this as a bad idea? 

I really like cypress because the resin in it holds up to water well, it does not mold easy, ect.. My main problem is that there are not a lot of cypress tree around here. What woould be a good second choice? We have lots of Pine and Ceder, but I have heard Pine doesn't last and Ceder ( which I have access to TONS of Ceder trees ) can cause respiratory issues. Are these true in regards to Tegus?


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## Dubya (Aug 11, 2012)

Compnerd7 said:


> I need a a large amount of cypress bedding for my new cage. Luckily, There is another Reptile convention this weekend here, and I can pick up some massive bags of it for cheap, for now.
> 
> My original plan was this... I was going to go out in an area that contains cypress trees and cut one down (I know some areas around here where it is legal to harvest the trees), then run it through a wood chipper, take all the chips and kiln dry them over an open fire in large pots, and go through all the necessary methods required to make it parasite / bacteria free and then bag myself tons and tons of bedding. Does anyone see this as a bad idea?
> 
> I really like cypress because the resin in it holds up to water well, it does not mold easy, ect.. My main problem is that there are not a lot of cypress tree around here. What woould be a good second choice? We have lots of Pine and Ceder, but I have heard Pine doesn't last and Ceder ( which I have access to TONS of Ceder trees ) can cause respiratory issues. Are these true in regards to Tegus?



NO CEDAR! How about coconut mulch. Some garden centers have it and you gan get it as worm farm substrate I saw big bricks of the worm farm stuff on Amazon. Chopped straw may be ok too. Agway has the chopped straw and cypress mulch here in NY. Maybe Tractor supply in other areas.


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## Logie_Bear (Aug 11, 2012)

Chipping and baking your own cedar seems totally legit. I've always heard pine tree and cedar is toxic to reptiles, and as you mentioned,can cause respratory issues. I avoid it, personally. 

Cedar mulch used to be commonplace around my area, but recently seems to have up and vanished. Our local walmart no longer carries it, and our garden center now only carries 'colored' cypress mulch. Black and red. I know the black is colored with charcoal, and the red I -think- is red clay. I'm not certain, so I don't trust it. Anyone have any experience with colored mulches?


Oh piffile, it wont let me edit my last post. 

I totally ment to type that CYPRESS mulch used to be commonplace in my area. And now the only sell the colored bags of CYPRESS. 

Derp.


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## Compnerd7 (Aug 11, 2012)

Logie_Bear said:


> Chipping and baking your own cedar seems totally legit. I've always heard pine tree and cedar is toxic to reptiles, and as you mentioned,can cause respratory issues. I avoid it, personally.
> 
> Cedar mulch used to be commonplace around my area, but recently seems to have up and vanished. Our local walmart no longer carries it, and our garden center now only carries 'colored' cypress mulch. Black and red. I know the black is colored with charcoal, and the red I -think- is red clay. I'm not certain, so I don't trust it. Anyone have any experience with colored mulches?
> 
> ...





Haha I knew you meant cypress lol... 

I need such a large quantity, and it's so expensive, I don't want to dish out the $200 ( that is the cheapest I can find here for chips to fill my cage up... I already have $1,000 of materials put into the cage alone! haha ) that if I can do some work and save that, I don't mind.

I could cut the cypress with coconut. What do you all use in you LARGE cages?


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## james.w (Aug 11, 2012)

When I had my large cages, I used dirt.


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## Logie_Bear (Aug 11, 2012)

I use 100% organic sphagnum peat in most of my reptile enclosures (and what my tegu is on currently). It also resists mold and holds moisture great. And its like 5 bucks for a huge bale of it.


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## Dubya (Aug 11, 2012)

Logie_Bear said:


> I use 100% organic sphagnum peat in most of my reptile enclosures (and what my tegu is on currently). It also resists mold and holds moisture great. And its like 5 bucks for a huge bale of it.



Peat is very acidic. It is sometimes used in aquariums to lower the PH for some species. I would just check to see if it is ok for long term exposure to a reptiles skin. I heard some good things about a soil/sand mixture. A little peat I guess wouldn't hurt. I am no expert but I would look into it.


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## Logie_Bear (Aug 11, 2012)

Dubya said:


> Logie_Bear said:
> 
> 
> > I use 100% organic sphagnum peat in most of my reptile enclosures (and what my tegu is on currently). It also resists mold and holds moisture great. And its like 5 bucks for a huge bale of it.
> ...




I think the acidity is more pertinent to plants than it is reptiles. The Zilla Jungle Mix blocks you can buy at the petstore are made of sphagnum peat. I've kept frogs on this mix for years with no issues. And amphibians are usually a pretty good indicator of any toxicity in their environment.


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## Dubya (Aug 11, 2012)

I think the acidity is more pertinent to plants than it is reptiles. The Zilla Jungle Mix blocks you can buy at the petstore are made of sphagnum peat. I've kept frogs on this mix for years with no issues. And amphibians are usually a pretty good indicator of any toxicity in their environment. 
[/quote]

I totally forgot about amphibian sensitivity. I think you are absolutely right. Frogs dying is always a warning that something is wtong in nature.


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## mhuntley002 (Aug 12, 2012)

Your Lowes doesn't have it? Sorry I don't get out of state much. Here it is $3 for a very large bag

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2


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## tommylee22 (Aug 12, 2012)

Compnerd7 said:


> Logie_Bear said:
> 
> 
> > Chipping and baking your own cedar seems totally legit. I've always heard pine tree and cedar is toxic to reptiles, and as you mentioned,can cause respratory issues. I avoid it, personally.
> ...




Cypress is cheap and easy to find here in Minneapolis/golden valley area. It's like 5 bucks for 2cu. Ft. 56L


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## spark678 (Aug 12, 2012)

just paid 1.97 for big bags of it in florida. make a roadtrip!


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## Compnerd7 (Aug 12, 2012)

spark678 said:


> just paid 1.97 for big bags of it in florida. make a roadtrip!



God I hate you guys lol jk... Cypress trees love water, and they are so prevalent in Florida! I got some coconut husk, a huge bag of cypress, and some eco earth and just mixed it all. The cage is so huge, it didn't fill it up as much as I wanted. 

My brother has a house in Florida... and my car has massive space for holding anything. AND there is a reptile show in Daytona next month I believe. I may just make a trip of it! But I DO NOT want to miss the NARBC here in California which is also coming up soon. Back to back to back reptile conventions.... I'm going to go bankrupt!



james.w said:


> When I had my large cages, I used dirt.



LOL. That is way to simple for me haha


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## Skeetzy (Aug 12, 2012)

I'm having a hard time deciding myself. The only acceptable mulches I can find in my area are cypress at $9.99+tax per 3 cu ft bag at my local Agway. Or $7.99 at an Agway that's 50 miles away/$15 in gas. And Hemlock at $4.50 per 2 cu ft bag. I need 28 cu ft of it, so basically $95 for cypress or $65 for hemlock. Besides that it's just soil/sand mix, or EcoEarth/petstore substrates. I have to go pick up something tomorrow, and still can't decide.


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## Thelegendofcharlie (Aug 12, 2012)

Skeetzy said:


> I'm having a hard time deciding myself. The only acceptable mulches I can find in my area are cypress at $9.99+tax per 3 cu ft bag at my local Agway. Or $7.99 at an Agway that's 50 miles away/$15 in gas. And Hemlock at $4.50 per 2 cu ft bag. I need 28 cu ft of it, so basically $95 for cypress or $65 for hemlock. Besides that it's just soil/sand mix, or EcoEarth/petstore substrates. I have to go pick up something tomorrow, and still can't decide.



A soil & sand mix great under utilized alternative.
Even better; Ive been using bioactive substrate for a few years with great success. 
Check out my thread on it.
http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=11961#axzz23P0u0LSQ


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## Skeetzy (Aug 12, 2012)

I've read the thread, if I didn't hate bugs as much as I do(besides my dubia) I would try that. It's definitely very interesting though.

My problem is I don't know what consistency I'm going for with the sand soil mixture. And how much water to add, if any, to get a good consistency.


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