redwood mulch

[Kharnifex]

soo, did a little research, anapsid.org ect.and the results i'm finding seem to say redwood is just as bad as pine and cedar for phenols. this sucks as i'd love to be able to use redwood in my big inclosure (Cali, no cypress) i know someone here uses redwood in their inclosure, so do they know something i don't? i can't remember who.

just wondering cause 22 bucks per 2cu of cypress mulch sucks and the redwood looks like it'd do great mixed with cypress as a soft burrowing material.

 

[Gx3]

I live in Cali as well and I always get my cypress from lllreptile.com its pretty well priced and usually ships within a week.

 

[jor71]

You can order some from here:

http://www.idealtruevalue.com/servlet/the-19998/2-CUFT,-Cypress-Mulch,/Detail

I have never ordered from them, but heard several people recommend them. I believe someone once said that they sometime find small rocks in them.

 

[Kharnifex]

lol, i'm one of the cali guys that recommends idealtruevalue, cheapest is about $22 a bag shipped.

 

[jor71]

LOL, I forgot you were the one that posted the link.

 

[AB^]

soo, did a little research, anapsid.org ect.and the results i'm finding seem to say redwood is just as bad as pine and cedar for phenols. this sucks as i'd love to be able to use redwood in my big inclosure (Cali, no cypress) i know someone here uses redwood in their inclosure, so do they know something i don't? i can't remember who.

just wondering cause 22 bucks per 2cu of cypress mulch sucks and the redwood looks like it'd do great mixed with cypress as a soft burrowing material.

I use redwood, it is not toxic.

 

[Kharnifex]

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i dunno man, consensus is the stuff is toxic. i'd love it if you had some proof, cause as a filler i want to use shredded redwood, it's so cottony and soft. seems i don't know, fluffy, like when i touch it I want to burrow in it myself. i'm prolly gonna mix in a bunch of that peat dirt instead. seems the closest thing to organic plain soil that i can find.

so where in the bay are you AB? i'm in santa rosa.

 

[AB^]

I guess my animals havent read the links. Dont beleive everything you read on the net, My animals are fine on it, I was actually turned onto the idea of redwood mulch by a University Professor/Herpetologist and well known Varanid keeper

 

[Kharnifex]

really? see thats cool, cause i was trying to compair redwood with pine and cedar, and it's so different that it just seemed safe.

pine and cedar have extremly powerfull smells, even the taste on your tongue from pine and cedar is very pronounced, it's got that arromatic spicy woodsy thing going on.

redwood even though it's a conifer really is nothing like that, mild to none on the scent catagory. very fiberous wood, seems to kinda shred into gorrilla hair like your brand. very fluffy, but what do you do about moisture? from my general experience with redwood it seems like the mulch would more repell water than hold it like cypress.

i think i'm gonna buy a bag, soak a bit in a glass of water and maybe try and detect all these toxic tannins and phenols they talk about. i know tannins leach with water, but does anyone know how to detect phenols? maybe soak it in rubbing alcohol?

 

[AB^]

You can mix eco earth in with it. It holds moisture as good as anything.
I'm not worried about a thing with it, ive been using it a long time and never had an issue with any species I have used it with.

 

[PinkPunisher]

I want to try it but i don't want to risk it with my little Alice, I can't seem to find ANYTHING here, not even topsoil! Does is it have a different name on the bag or is it just " Redwood Mulch " ?

Spencer

 

[Kharnifex]

we find it easy cause we're in north california, redwood land, odds are you won't find redwood mulch in canada either. i imagine if i were in your shoes with the crazy shipping costs to canada all the cypress in the south of the usa, and living in a country full of conifers, you might have to do a topsoil mix,

i bet if you used a large peice of wood or stone, and placed it on top of a 2ft layer of fresh moist organic soil without much fertilizer you're tegu'd be just as happy as one on mulch. i plan on adding a ton of dirt of some kind (thinking peat) for volume and using the mulch as a burrow stabalizer and humidity aid for the mix.

my girl used to sleep under a shelf everyday, i finally poured 2 gallons of hot water into her mulch mixxed it up and laid down a big wood board, ever since then she sleeps in her inclosure every night.

 

[PinkPunisher]

Turns out i found a person who can get me some and a place in Toronto for when i need it, i plan on stocking up big time when i get there.

Spencer