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Old 08-17-2018, 03:02 PM   #20
Twolunger
I was spot cleaning snake containers today, and for the 4th time one of my corns latched on to my teeshirt. One tongue flick and that was it, they just quickly bit the shirt. Today the corn actually coiled up on my shirt and it took a little time to get her to release. I know my shirt doesn't smell like a mouse, and apparently I don't either, since the corn grabbed the shirt and not my hand. I sniffed the shirt and it did have an odor from the dryer sheets we use. I got to thinking, if the snakes like the smell, kind of like perfume, I may be able to use that to my advantage with hatchlings that are reluctant feeders.

Of course I wanted to check the ingredients before I tried rubbing a pinkie on a dryer sheet. What I found out was the companies only list the ingredients as cationic softeners and perfume. But as I searched further I found out the companies can put whatever they want in those dryer sheets. There is no apparent regulation. I found one analysis of the dryer sheets that had a whole list of carcinogens, including alpha terpineol,benzyl alcohol,camphor,chloroform,ethyl acetate, linalool, pentane, and what are called quaternary ammonium cations. Not only do I want to keep the corns away from that stuff, I was wondering if we should be using those dryer sheets at all. I found several articles expressing the dangers of using them.

Now it looks like I have something else to worry about, but thank the snakes for pointing it out. Hopefully, it is the perfume scent that they like, and I can experiment with that.