murdocjunior said:
Wood chipper or shake it through some hardware mesh or chicken wire, but I just use mine right out of the bag, even for my young'uns.
Cypress Mulch
- Thread starter Cherbear
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Wood chipper or shake it through some hardware mesh or chicken wire, but I just use mine right out of the bag, even for my young'uns.
Around here Cypress Mulch is unobtanium. No surprise, I'm as far as you can get from the mangrove swamps and still be in the continental 48. Most of our mulch at HD and Lowes is either rubber or doug fir with no ingredients listed. In looking for an online source for the mulch I ran across a site calling for Lowes, HD and Wal-Mart to stop destroying the mangrove swamps to fuel the mulch market. That tells me we'll never see cypress mulch on the shelves around here.
That got me thinking about making my own hardwood mulch, we have alot of "trash" maple and alder scrubs around here that I could chip into mulch. To be sure I started looking up the toxicity of both. Guess What.... turns out pretty much all wood is toxic. Makes sense, that's the trees self defense.
With all the sanding I've been doing (building a vivarium and in the middle of a kitchen remodel) and not always being so good about wearing my dust mask I can attest to those toxic effects. I can really feel it after too much exposure to some woods, then slap myself for being so lazy. The true firs and doug firs seem to be fairly benign, pine gets you in a hurry.
This has me planning on giving the Bioactive approach Mark's suggested a try. In the mean time I'm getting good results from a coco fiber, peet moss, sphagnum moss, orchid bark (pure fir bark) blend. Well, it starts off layered, but Rocky Blends it
Cutting the coco fiber with those other things seems to make all the difference in the world, good moisture retention without being all sticky and giving shell rot.
I'm no expert though, just a newb.
That got me thinking about making my own hardwood mulch, we have alot of "trash" maple and alder scrubs around here that I could chip into mulch. To be sure I started looking up the toxicity of both. Guess What.... turns out pretty much all wood is toxic. Makes sense, that's the trees self defense.
With all the sanding I've been doing (building a vivarium and in the middle of a kitchen remodel) and not always being so good about wearing my dust mask I can attest to those toxic effects. I can really feel it after too much exposure to some woods, then slap myself for being so lazy. The true firs and doug firs seem to be fairly benign, pine gets you in a hurry.
This has me planning on giving the Bioactive approach Mark's suggested a try. In the mean time I'm getting good results from a coco fiber, peet moss, sphagnum moss, orchid bark (pure fir bark) blend. Well, it starts off layered, but Rocky Blends it
Cutting the coco fiber with those other things seems to make all the difference in the world, good moisture retention without being all sticky and giving shell rot.I'm no expert though, just a newb.
When you mentioned Douglas fir- I was going to suggest it since it is just a coarse version of 'orchid bark'.
Your point about wood toxicity is a good one. It is really easy to forget that plants use defenses just like animals do, and they are often chemical weapons. Seeds are especially dangerous (which is why so many animals, like tortoises, just pass them straight through.)
Fortunately, there is usually a sort of line drawn where we can tolerate these plants, trees, resins, etc. but not these.
The riskiest wood for most reptiles is oak, but legitimate concerns have been raised about cedar. Pine seems more debated but I would avoid anything with too strong of a scent- if it bugs us, it must really get to the tortoise living on it.
Your point about wood toxicity is a good one. It is really easy to forget that plants use defenses just like animals do, and they are often chemical weapons. Seeds are especially dangerous (which is why so many animals, like tortoises, just pass them straight through.)
Fortunately, there is usually a sort of line drawn where we can tolerate these plants, trees, resins, etc. but not these.
The riskiest wood for most reptiles is oak, but legitimate concerns have been raised about cedar. Pine seems more debated but I would avoid anything with too strong of a scent- if it bugs us, it must really get to the tortoise living on it.
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We are trialing Douglas Fir mulch. We have been using it for several weeks and have seen no issues. We cannot get Cypress any where up here. The Douglas Fir mulch that we are using is out of the Seattle area. A large 2 Cu ft bag was $6. I am liking what I see with it and it smells good.
Tim
Tim
I get one of the huge eco friendly bags of cypress at walmart for $1.88
expiredgummiworm said:
Hi expiredgummiworm:
Welcome to the forum. May we know your name and where you are?
Im using the pet store brand cypress as its being discontinued up here it seems.... So its cheap And its the best ive seen for holding humidity, soak it every other day for me.
Its very VERY hard to find any kind of bulk cypress or fir up in canada
And its the best ive seen for holding humidity, soak it every other day for me.Its very VERY hard to find any kind of bulk cypress or fir up in canada
i guess an introduction...
My name is Analee. I live in Miami, FL. I am a full time nursing student and work at a hardware store part time. I have 2 red foots named Chip Pistachio and Bean Dip.
Hustler, I think i mentioned it in another thread, but i love you mulch!
Is there anything that i could get to shred up the mulch a little more? i feel like the pieces are too big. they cant really maneuver through what i have now as easily as id like.
My name is Analee. I live in Miami, FL. I am a full time nursing student and work at a hardware store part time. I have 2 red foots named Chip Pistachio and Bean Dip.
Hustler, I think i mentioned it in another thread, but i love you mulch!
Is there anything that i could get to shred up the mulch a little more? i feel like the pieces are too big. they cant really maneuver through what i have now as easily as id like.
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