Aspen bedding now available in 2 new colors?

[Lovin2act]

So recently I was getting my dog groomed at Petsmart and I noticed they are selling aspen bedding that is colored! They have a bag of red aspen and black aspen!

http://www.petsmart.com/product/ind...-F14E-DF11-9DA0-002219319097&mr:referralID=NA

Here is a link to a picture a guy took who is using it in one of his tubs:
http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=120786&page=2

Anyone else seen this or know about it? I wonder if its truly safe or not for reptiles to live in it? All the ingredients are the same as normal colored aspen, and it says that it is colored naturally on the bag (which really could mean anything I guess) but I'm almost positive it has to have artificial coloring for the red stuff. Seems kinda questionable. But if proven safe I think it would look pretty dang sweet as a background to my snakes!!!

 

[Bartholomew]

Im going to say this, and this is just me, but I dont like how it looks, and I dont want to take any chances. But thats just me, giving my honest opinion.

 

[Lovin2act]

Yeah I dont care for the red color too much either, but I do like how the black looks. It would be pretty cool looking underneath my solid white pine snake.

 

[K. Rene]

Looks kinda cool but I would need to know more about what they use to color the aspen. not sure if it would be "safe" for the snakes, especially since respiratory issues are a concern with snakes.

 

[bkelm18]

I'd be afraid the dye would come out of the shavings. Wouldn't want your snake to look like a snow one day and a mexican black king the next.

 

[Bartholomew]

I'd be afraid the dye would come out of the shavings. Wouldn't want your snake to look like a snow one day and a mexican black king the next.

Not that theres anything wrong with Mexican colors, right?
Haha, im just messing with you.

Yeah I dont care for the red color too much either, but I do like how the black looks. It would be pretty cool looking underneath my solid white pine snake.

Thats true. I would like to see that. Dont know if I would like it. But you had a good point with the white snake, and the dark aspen.

 

[whoty]

What about spot cleaning with the black aspen. That would kinda make it a lil more difficult. I am just gonna stick to what i been using. Besides,i bought a huge bag of it that'll last a long long time.

 

[CodeRed]

What about spot cleaning with the black aspen.

Good point, there. I stick with Aspen because it makes spot cleaning easy. If I didn't care about the spot cleaning, I'd just go ahead and go with Repti bark, or eco earth.

 

[Stormy]

Interesting. I went to Flukers website to see if maybe they had more info there but they product isnt even listed. I wouldn't use it for everyday bedding but it might be cool for photos.

 

[ShenziSixaxis]

That... is incredibly stupid, I think. Colored aspen? *shakes head*

And the black coloring; I laughed at the "easy to spot clean" line. Snake poo, like most reptile poo, is mostly black.

Perhaps good for photos, but I think that's it.

 

[EsotericForest]

Regardless of possible safety...I'll post about appearance.

The red one doesn't sound very appealing to me and I think would probably look a bit ridiculous. My first reaction to this was "I like the natural look, so I wouldn't buy these". I still wouldn't buy them because they probably cost more so it really isn't worth it. But even though aspen in its more natural color makes sense...frankly, you wouldn't find a corn snake in the wild on a pile of non-weathered looking aspen shavings anyway. So really unless you ditch wood shavings all together, it still isn't natural looking no matter what color you use, be it black, red, or natural. At least the black may replicate dirt or weathered wood a little more I suppose.

 

[Lovin2act]

Not that theres anything wrong with Mexican colors, right?
Haha, im just messing with you.

Haha yeah I know! Good one though :laugh01:

Thats true. I would like to see that. Dont know if I would like it. But you had a good point with the white snake, and the dark aspen.

Yeah for sure it would look pretty cool, but as previously mentioned in here it would be hard to spot check for snake doo doo! And as someone else said...I just bought a huuuuge bag of regular aspen that will probably last me a year or two!!

 

[mmfrankford]

At least at the Petsmart's near me the colored aspen costs at least two dollars more. I'm wondering if the coloring would stain the snake. I know people who have used the colored calcisand for thier leopard geckos. The leos toes would be stained, especially the red calcisand. Curious if aspen being more "porous" would hold the dye better.

 

[CaptBogart]

I can't see using it for a large collection, but if you only have a couple tanks, I'd use it. I really like the black, and it'd match the decor, lol, which really, I think that's what they're going for here. Aspen is used for other animals besides snakes, so they're probably trying to compete with the colored Carefresh

 

[christent]

i have the black one for my only corn. yes, it does make finding doo doo annoying. ill probably switch to regular aspen when it runs out, even tho the tank looks alot nicer.

 

[ceduke]

Mmm, the black would look beautiful with three of mine...something to keep in mind next time I run out.

 

[Thulsa]

I would not trust anything that had any kind of coloring in it...Thats just me.

 

[Mina]

I don't know that I would feel comfortable using it. But if I had my blizzard in a really pretty show off tank, that black could look really neat....oh well not an issue since all of my guys are in plastic tubs.