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help with substrate

To the best of my limited knowledge NO!

This is one of the few areas I have seen in my 5 months of research that everyone agrees on. Do not use pine, cedar, or any other aromatic bedding.
 
well i know cedars bad
but i know that kiln dried pine seems to be accepted for rodents where normal pine shavings arent... :eek1:
 
What about it makes it more safe than using regular pine? If regular pine is not acceptable, why is kiln-dried pine safer? Perhaps you can find that out before you decide, but if you aren't certain, I wouldn't risk it.
 
Plissken said:
What about it makes it more safe than using regular pine? If regular pine is not acceptable, why is kiln-dried pine safer? Perhaps you can find that out before you decide, but if you aren't certain, I wouldn't risk it.
Click to expand...

The kiln drying allegedly burns off most of the aromatic oils. If it were me I still wouldn't risk it either, but I've heard its ok.
 
I thought I'd try to contribute! :)

I'm new to corns, and my hatchling is on paper towerls now. But perhaps you experts can see if this type of substrate is good? I use it for my python as do many people here in Hong Kong. It is made of recycled paper, kind of like your Carefresh type material, but in pelleted form. I've used it successfully for many of my pets including tortoises and pythons. It is non toxic and has no additives. They are supposed to be digestible if ingested. But for the snakes though you do have to feed them outside the enclosure because it can get stuck in their teeth.
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Don't know if I can post a link to this product online. I don't have any connection to the company, justuse one of their product. If it is ok to do so, I can post a link so you people can consider it also.
 
Kailaa said:
is kiln dried pine/fir/spruce safe?
Click to expand...

Safe?
Safe for what?
What do you plan on doing with it. Are you using it for substrate or racks?
Kiln dried pine/fir and spruce are used for building. So I can give you a true opinion.
 
I wouldn't risk it. It may be ok, it may not be ok. I'd hate for you snake to be the one to test it. Why not just use aspen? Or newspaper?
 
alright guys
i just put it in there cause it was what i had at the moment
and i thought andromeda might enjoy it to play in since she was always hiding under her paper towel
since no one seems to know for sure i guess im off to get aspen today
 
i suppose I'm a little late to reply.... if my opinion counts. When I first started reading up on corns, everything said DON'T USE PINE CEDAR OR ANY AROMATIC WOODS!!!!!!!!!!! In the last little while, I've read that pine shavings are okay to use. I don't about kiln-dried, but since that takes most of the moisture out of the wood, I don't imagine it would be that bad.
I don't know that I myself would use pine, but they use it at the pet store here, and the snake is still doing fine. I don't know when it became okay to use, but according to most care sheets I've read recently, it's fine now. Probably still not the best idea anyway
 
hmm
oddly enough the breeder we got our boa from told us to use pine
odd i thought but maybe she used pine because its WAYYYY cheaper
 
Substrate

Personally, I went from pine...given to me by an original owner, not my fault...only lasted a week. To aspen and after a year of dealing with that for a bunch of snakes I switched to a very soft texture packing paper that I have on a roll and tear right of to the size of the boxes in my rack. That was only after trying to do paper towels, newspapers, etc. I generally stay away from the wood substrates and now just stay with paper products. Even our python uses the paper and it works fine for me. But...if I would go back to wood...ASPEN would be the only appropriate choice for me.
 
I have no aspen for sale near me except in small packs at a sily price, so I'm using a lovely chopped hay or chopped straw bedding meant for rabbits. It's really soft and the snakes can burrow away to their hearts' content
 
I have seen some rats that are sensitive have a nasty, potentially fatal respiratory reaction even to kiln-dried pine or aspen, so there is obviously still a little aromatic oils left. Also, snakes and other herps will eat anything regardless of whether or not they're fed in that enclosure. Have seen lots of photo examples from vets, esp. calcium sand, regular sand, fine gravel, large rocks, and bark. Shavings seem less commonly eaten and I haven't heard of carefresh or pelleted paper being consumed yet, but it could theoretically happen. Some animals aren't so bright. No vets that I've heard from seem to think that newspaper sheets or the cage carpet would be a problem for this reason.
 
So are you saying that snakes will routinely munch on their bedding just because it's there? I find that very hard to believe.

Also cage carpet is very hard to keep clean, and tends to become a prime breeding ground for bacteria. I wouldn't use it.
 
Cage carpet must be removed to be washed, and allowed to dry thoroughly, each time they poop on it. It can also be disinfected after it's washed and rinsed thoroughly. The disinfectant (quaternary ammonia products, which are widely available and highly effective, might be best, in that they are less likely to deteriorate the carpet than bleach, and kill lots of nasty organisms) should be rinsed thoroughly after being allowed to work for ten minutes. I think a handwashing dish detergent works great to scrub poop out of cage carpet with. The poop has to be removed before the disinfectant can work. It works best to have two carpets - a clean one that's been allowed to dry thoroughly can be used to immediately replace the dirty one, which can then go through the cleaning cycle.

By no means will every snake eat their bedding, but it can happen with any reptile. You can use anything regardless of its potential for problems if you're willing to accept the risk involved.
 
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