Sani-Chips - Bad?

Hi Guys and Gals,

So, I've been using aspen shavings for many years, but like the look of Sani-Chips much better. I could never find it locally, and shipping was way too expensive. I finally found some, and got free shipping if I purchased a certain dollar amount.

So now I have 6 big bags of this stuff, and don't really like it! My concern is at feeding time. I thaw rodents in warm water, and dry them on a towel, but I've noticed that by the time the snake "kills" the rodent, it's covered in the bedding. Seriously, it looks like that coating mix, Shake-N-Bake! I've tried brushing off as much as I could, but that stresses the snakes out while they're trying to eat.

I've solved the problem with my neos by putting them in deli cups, but the adults are a problem. With the number of adults I have, putting them into separate containers to eat will be a huge undertaking. I tried putting some butter container lids underneath the feeder rodent, but the snakes drag them through the bedding anyway.

Has anyone had any problems with this? I'm obviously concerned about an impaction, and particles caught in the mouth. If I have to follow up with dental flossing each snake after mealsl, I'm in trouble! :awcrap:

Thanks,

Kathy

Difficult! I feed my snakes outside of the viv, but thats no option for you i read. maybe someone here has a great tip!

I also want to switch to sani chips for cleaning purposes. I wondered if they could be a problem when feeding. I've seen big breeders using them and the snakes swallow quite a bit of the stuff with no problems. It seems ok but I'm still paranoid. Try defrosting your rodents in ziplock bags. They still are a little wet from the defrost but they are not soaking wet like they are when put right in the water.

I've been using it for many years now and I love it. I feed in their bin due to the sheer volume of animals I have. I put the food item on a deli lid but many of the animals drag it through the chips. It has never been a problem for me or the snakes. No impactions in all the years I have used it. Whatever they ingest gets broken down in the digestion process.

Terri

Thanks for the suggestions and reassurance, notserp and Terri. I tried putting the rodents in plastic bags, but it seemed like it took them forever to thaw. If I had just a few snakes, it wouldn't be an issue, but my collection is too big.

Terri, if you haven't had any problems, I probably won't either. I know a lot of people use Sani-Chips, and I hadn't heard anything up to this point, but thought I'd ask. Perhaps I'm making a mountain out of a molehill.

Kathy

Have you tried thawing at room temp? That's what I do, it doesn't take that long to thaw even adults as long as you lay them in a single layer not piled up. I feed after my kids go to bed at 8, take out feeders around 6 in the snake room and let them thaw, never had any problems doing it that way, no bedding sticks because they are dry and fluffy. I feed anywhere from 150-300 depending on the season.

5 Star Serpents said:

Have you tried thawing at room temp? That's what I do, it doesn't take that long to thaw even adults as long as you lay them in a single layer not piled up. I feed after my kids go to bed at 8, take out feeders around 6 in the snake room and let them thaw, never had any problems doing it that way, no bedding sticks because they are dry and fluffy. I feed anywhere from 150-300 depending on the season.

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That sounds good. My ball python likes them warm but I could just put the rat under a light to heat it up. Thanks for the tip. I thought it took way longer

I thaw at room temperature then use a hair drier to warm the rats for the 2 spoiled ball pythons in my life.

crackerhead said:

I've been using it for many years now and I love it. I feed in their bin due to the sheer volume of animals I have. I put the food item on a deli lid but many of the animals drag it through the chips. It has never been a problem for me or the snakes. No impactions in all the years I have used it. Whatever they ingest gets broken down in the digestion process.

Terri

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This^^^

I used to use sani-chips and never had a problem. I also thaw my cornsnake food at room temp and they all eat it just fine. That really helps cut down how much sticks to the corns from the mice being wet. I take the food out at night and then feed the next morning. The corns aren't picky at all and so long as its completely thawed and not cold, they'll eat it.

So I'd try to avoid getting them wet to begin with and see how that goes. And if they swallow a bit, I wouldn't worry about it. Especially with the sani chips, they're so small compared to a big piece of aspen shaving.

Keep in mind that these are wild animals. They don't have super clean polished feeding containers to eat in; they're eating in dirt, leaves, and all sorts of icky stuff.

I've never used Sani-Chips, but I do feed most of my adult animals in their own bins on aspen shavings. I use a sheet of paper towel instead of deli lids for my snakes that tend to drag their food around. I've found that the paper towel will "follow" a little better as the snake drags the mouse. It doesn't completely eliminate the problem, but it does help reduce the amount of sticking debris.

Blue Apple Herps said:

Keep in mind that these are wild animals. They don't have super clean polished feeding containers to eat in; they're eating in dirt, leaves, and all sorts of icky stuff.

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This was part of my thought process, too. While I do my best to control what I can as I care for my snakes, I figure that ingesting a bit of substrate with a mouse is not the worst thing that could happen to a healthy adult corn.

You can always put the mice in a small brown bag or on a paper or styrofoam plate.

I love sanichips for babies, I don't like them for adults, they're almost too small (though I think they have a few different sizes).

If you warm their food in water you can put them on paper towel afterwards and kinda pat them dry. Not perfect, but works pretty well.

You can put in a tray, plate or something and put the food on there. Again, not perfect but still helpful.

You can brush away a spot of chips and put the food on the clean surface. Still some will drag them around.

After that the ingestion is minimal and like others have said, the pieces are small enough to pass right through, I don't know if they're actually digested or not. I'm far more comfortable with this than the risk of ingesting larger aspen pieces. There are sometimes bigger shards that got through their process that I like to pick out, but the chances are pretty slim that they'll be problematic.

I did have one baby prolapse on the stuff, but I don't know if the sanichips are to blame or not.

5 Star Serpents said:

Have you tried thawing at room temp?

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No, but I suppose I could try. I have a few that will only take them if they're very warm. The way some others eat, I don't think they would even care. Thanks.

Blue Apple Herps said:

Keep in mind that these are wild animals. They don't have super clean polished feeding containers to eat in; they're eating in dirt, leaves, and all sorts of icky stuff.

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That had entered my mind too, but for the most part, their natural prey isn't soaked in water. It sounds like thawing at room temp is something to try, although in the drier fall/winter months, I like them having the extra hydration from the soaked rodents.

HeavenHell said:

You can always put the mice in a small brown bag or on a paper or styrofoam plate.

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I will try that too, as I ran out of butter tub lids!

cornsnakeforsale_com said:

I love sanichips for babies, I don't like them for adults, they're almost too small (though I think they have a few different sizes).

If you warm their food in water you can put them on paper towel afterwards and kinda pat them dry. Not perfect, but works pretty well.


I did have one baby prolapse on the stuff, but I don't know if the sanichips are to blame or not.

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I worry about the neos the most - they are so small, and a gut full of wood chips can't be good. They go in deli cups.

I dry my feeders on a towel, but they still pick up a lot of substrate. It looks like I won't be able to eliminate it, but can reduce it quite a bit.


It's weird, but I've kept snakes for over 30 years, but this is the first time I've used such a fine-cut substrates. It's always been newspaper or coarse shredded aspen, which has never been a problem for me.

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions - I love this forum!

Kathy

maxfox426 said:

I've never used Sani-Chips, but I do feed most of my adult animals in their own bins on aspen shavings. I use a sheet of paper towel instead of deli lids for my snakes that tend to drag their food around. I've found that the paper towel will "follow" a little better as the snake drags the mouse. It doesn't completely eliminate the problem, but it does help reduce the amount of sticking debris.

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Do be careful to watch your snakes eat. Someone on here had a snake eat the paper towel with the mouse and I had one of mine start to eat the paper towel. It scared me so bad I'll never feed on it again.

ETA: Here's the thread about the paper towel.

Sorry to go off topic OP

Alicia P said:

Do be careful to watch your snakes eat. Someone on here had a snake eat the paper towel with the mouse and I had one of mine start to eat the paper towel. It scared me so bad I'll never feed on it again.

ETA: Here's the thread about the paper towel.

Sorry to go off topic OP

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No worries; it's relevant to the ingestion conversation.

Kathy