pine sides okay for corn enclosure?

[adia875]

I just got 2 little corns today and I only have one question...I did a ton of research and I know that pine shavings cannot be used for a substrate, but can I use it for the sides of the tank? they're pretty small now, so I'm splitting a 20 gal aquarium for them until they get bigger. I've got a pine board that I'd like to use to ut the tank in half, but I want to make sure I can do that before I put them in there. should I seal it first, or should it be okay if it's dust free? thanks for your help!:confused:

[kellum]

I would avoid any resinous wood (pine included). They give off phenols that aren't great for anything to be breathing. Some pet stores (my local PetSmart for example) sell plastic tank dividers that are reasonably priced.

[Missymonkey]

I've gotten custom cut plexi glass from my local hardware store to separate my tanks, then you can use either sucksion cups or poster putty (or silly putty might work) to temporarily stabilize it, or sometype of aquarium sealant to fix it permanently. Totaly it only costed me like ten bucks or so.

[Simon]

I would go with aspen bedding. I would think that aspen bedding is the best bedding to use for corn snakes. They can swollow the aspen and wouldn't cause them harm as they can digest the aspen. Aspen is also very cheap and its readily avaible.

Good Luck and Happy Herping!

[Reed Taylor]

I've known plently of people who have built cages out of pine and never had a sinlg eproblem with it. Pine Shavings and pine wood are two differant things. When they shred it up it releases alot more of that smell or chemical or whatever it is. Also you could put a coat of finish on it or something if you fealt uncomfortable with it.

[Darin Chappell]

I think it might be OK to use a piece of pine as a divider, especially if you use a couple of coats of sealant on it. However, as cheap as some other options are that we KNOW will work just fine without ANY possibility of damage, why risk it?

Just my two cents' worth -- Darin