Pine Shavings

[Mcc1728]

i found a site saying pine shavings are bad for the snake

while i hear the store say the pine is ok

if i used it what would the sid effects be ?


and this is my first if ur wondering

 

[Iris]

I've heard different opinions from people. I think the biggest complaint was that it's very dusty and the owner was worried about respiratory problems.
But then someone said they used pine with no problems, so I don't know.

Do a search (click on the purple button on top right of page in between "faq" and "home") in the Husbandry/Basic care for "pine" and you'll probably find the thread I'm talking about, as well as other helpful pine info.

 

[Mcc1728]

ok thanks

 

[dayne]

yea i agree,i still think paper towel is da best its easy to clean and cheap,if u use pine shavings dont feed your snake on it put him in a seperate container incase he swallows some pine.

cheers

 

[Jimmy Johnson]

pine is bad

There is more then just the humidity problem with pine. The pine resign can cause repiratory problems in corns.
This is what I have heard and read.
So, to be safe, use paper towels, news paper or aspen shavings.

 

[Mcc1728]

but doesnt newspaper have petrol or what ever in it?

 

[EtherRex]

Ive seen people say that the newspaper should be stored for several weeks first to let it dry and loose the chemicals. However, newspaper is dirty and unattractive anyway even if it hasnt got nasty chemicals in it.

 

[CowBoyWay]

The "Phenol" content of pine is a bad thing...

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/showthread.php?s=&threadid=435&highlight=phenol

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