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Pine bedding
- Thread starter plays2
- Start date
Crimson.Dawn
The Dog Biscuit Addict
no, the oils are dangerous for reptiles, its fine for rodents but not snakes, stick with aspen. its the same price in the rodent isle at ur local store 
Cattsy
New member
SOmeone on here once said that "kiln dried" pine is okay because it's heated and dried to remove any toxic oils... However I don't know the safety or voracity of that claim. I think it can cause respitory problems? I would takei t out and err on the side of caution. Just use newspaper or papertowel untill you can get some aspen but make sure to turn the UTH down or it could burn without a buffer of substrate.
cat bojangles
New member
Plays2, I would take it out and use paper towel for now. If you want to use wood bedding, get some aspen but paper towel is just fine, as is shredded newspaper.
starsevol
Cohabbing is cruelty...
no, the oils are dangerous for reptiles, its fine for rodents but not snakes, stick with aspen. its the same price in the rodent isle at ur local store
It is also dangerous for rodents too. Might be ok for feeders, but not for any rodent that you want to live a healthy life.
Cattsy
New member
I found an interesting study while doing some research. Pine is the most common rodent bedding out there and there's alot of "hype"
http://www.bedocobs.com/uploadedFiles/Technical/EvaluationofMicroEnvir.ofmiceonvariousbedding.pdf
THis article was particularly looking at amonia levels in different types of bedding (note that amonia levels using Carefresh were so high they removed it from the study after two weeks)
In the Discussion section of the study if you can grit through it, it talks alot about consequences of different bedding types. Cedar is defenitely BAD causing elevated liver enzymes, decreased sleep times, etc. UNtreated Pine hasd similar results with liver enzymes and sleep cycles, HOWEVER Autoclaved pine (Had to look up that term, means heated to be sterilized AKA Kiln dried) did not show any such effects on the mice.
Also interesting to note, that although the corncob bedding provided one of the lower amonia levels, it also caused a decrease in breeding success (fewer pups weaned and few pairs bred)
Anyway some interesting reading. Along with a few other sources that I was checking out I am VERY comfortable using kiln dried pine for my rodents in the very least, and I'm going to continue to research as far as using it with the reptiles.
The info that I've found so far seems to indicate that as long as the pine is heated and dried, and isn't too dusty, it would probably be okay, and considering that I pay $25 for a 24qt bag of Aspen, vs $15 for a 4 cubic foot BLOCK of pine... it's rather attractive!
http://www.bedocobs.com/uploadedFiles/Technical/EvaluationofMicroEnvir.ofmiceonvariousbedding.pdf
THis article was particularly looking at amonia levels in different types of bedding (note that amonia levels using Carefresh were so high they removed it from the study after two weeks)
In the Discussion section of the study if you can grit through it, it talks alot about consequences of different bedding types. Cedar is defenitely BAD causing elevated liver enzymes, decreased sleep times, etc. UNtreated Pine hasd similar results with liver enzymes and sleep cycles, HOWEVER Autoclaved pine (Had to look up that term, means heated to be sterilized AKA Kiln dried) did not show any such effects on the mice.
Also interesting to note, that although the corncob bedding provided one of the lower amonia levels, it also caused a decrease in breeding success (fewer pups weaned and few pairs bred)
Anyway some interesting reading. Along with a few other sources that I was checking out I am VERY comfortable using kiln dried pine for my rodents in the very least, and I'm going to continue to research as far as using it with the reptiles.
The info that I've found so far seems to indicate that as long as the pine is heated and dried, and isn't too dusty, it would probably be okay, and considering that I pay $25 for a 24qt bag of Aspen, vs $15 for a 4 cubic foot BLOCK of pine... it's rather attractive!
starsevol
Cohabbing is cruelty...
I only have pet rats, not for food. I use towels for them (and do more laundry for them than I do for myself).
This winter I will be incapacitated for a few weeks, and lifting will be forbidden. Cleaning the pet rat cages (2 cages, 4 rats) will be a problem so I was going to look into aspen hoping that the cage wouldn't dirty as fast.
Thank you for the info on the kiln dried pine, I was avoiding it up to this point. I have always hated carefresh, that stuff smells worst than my rattys do on cleaning day! Nice that I have another option to check into.
This winter I will be incapacitated for a few weeks, and lifting will be forbidden. Cleaning the pet rat cages (2 cages, 4 rats) will be a problem so I was going to look into aspen hoping that the cage wouldn't dirty as fast.
Thank you for the info on the kiln dried pine, I was avoiding it up to this point. I have always hated carefresh, that stuff smells worst than my rattys do on cleaning day! Nice that I have another option to check into.
Christen
New member
I order all my bedding from
http://www.reptilesupply.com/
Even with shipping it is tons cheaper than buying anywhere else. I pay $11 for a 24q bag and there customer service is awesome. I have not had to call them with problems other than to provide them with my shipping address.
http://www.reptilesupply.com/
Even with shipping it is tons cheaper than buying anywhere else. I pay $11 for a 24q bag and there customer service is awesome. I have not had to call them with problems other than to provide them with my shipping address.
dickdeuel
Old Snake Breeder
There is no problem with pine shavings as long as they are kiln dried. I have used them for some snakes for many years. I us aspen for most of my snakes and prefer it over anything else. For those that like a dryer environment the pine is fine, but I also provide a moist hide. For snakes that need a more humid environment I go with cypress. Pine also packs down a little tighter than aspen making it a little harder for the snake to burrow. If you feel the pine is too dusty, then remove the dust over a screen first. The important thing is to give the snake a moist hide to retreat to.