I would recommend newspaper or paper towels. Newspapers are printed with soy based inks these days, at least in the United States.
I re-post a past post of Dr. Mike, who covers this subject pretty well.
The search feature here works wonderfully for checking out past posts for relevent information.
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/sho...ghlight=phenol
Quote:
There are many different species of pine trees, some of which have more aromatic hydrocarbons [such as phenols], and some of which have less.
Turpentine, creosote and carbolic acid [simple phenol] are all chemicals which can be derived from pine oils and tar. A common household example that contains a toxic pine derivative is Pine-Sol, which is used as a disinfectant.
Because of the above, I regard all pine wood shavings as potentially toxic to reptiles. The toxicity of most pine species is less than that of cedar [highly toxic, and thus useful in "cedar chests" to guard against moth damage to clothes], but is still considerable over the long term.
Why take a chance with your beloved snakes? Use aspen that has been heat treated to kill parasites. This is about as neutral a wood in terms of chemical toxicity as you can get.
I love my snakes and that's why I don't pine for them,
Doctor Mike
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