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Shredded/strips of paper as substrate??

R

Radiance

New member
Can I use shredded office paper as substrate for snakes?
My work throws out 10 garbage bags of that stuff everyday.
 
The more commonly used one is shredded newspaper because it's less expensive than office paper, but if you're recycling, I say by all means go for it!
 
Radiance said:
Can I use shredded office paper as substrate for snakes?
My work throws out 10 garbage bags of that stuff everyday.
Click to expand...

Is the toner/ink/ & chemicals used in the processing/manufacturing of that paper, & potential fumes therein, non-toxic?
Personally, I've never gotten a paper cut from newspaper, which these days is often printed using soybean based organic non-toxic inks.
I still prefer aspen.
 
dave partington said:
Is the toner/ink/ & chemicals used in the processing/manufacturing of that paper, & potential fumes therein, non-toxic?
Personally, I've never gotten a paper cut from newspaper, which these days is often printed using soybean based organic non-toxic inks.
I still prefer aspen.
Click to expand...

I agree with Dave. If the paper was preprinted and then shred, there is a possibility of inks with toxic fumes. When a snake urinates it could cause the ink to possibly run.

I'm an aspen user as well. It is very low cost an 100% safe if all ways.
 
I see this all the time back in 1989 a law was passed in North America that all inks used have to be vegtable/soy based. All Toxic dyes where banned. So paper that was printed in North America is 100% safe to use for animals.
I recently switched to shredded paper. It's hard to find affordable aspen up here the big bales are $35 each, shredded paper is free. I have asked the feed stores if they can get aspen in (Pine is $5 for 50lbs) and they can not order it in.
 
I love the idea of shredded paper as substrate. I own a paper shredder and using colored paper allows me to put in a substrate of whatever color i want while still giving my boy a chance to burrow. unfortunately in a glass aquarium i have to put a pretty thick layer because it slides around a lot and then i tend to get bare glass showing on the bottom. The good news is 50 sheets of paper create enough to cover my whole 55 gal enclosure, so if I buy a 500 sheet pack of colored paper ($20 max depending on how thick the paper is) I have a year or more's worth of substrate. I highly recommend it. depending on how small yours is shredded you may want to feed him on a plate. (I just use a flattened cardboard box which i've cut to fit in his enclosure. it is easy and cheap to replace, free of dyes and if it fits snugly in your enclosure no substrate will get on top of it (especially if you fold a little lip on either side of it.)
 
Mine's glass too. To prevent the glass showing problem, I laid a layer of paper towels on the bottom. Daily spot clean, weekly total replacing. I feed my snakes before putting the papershreds in, to prevent accidental ingestion. :) Clean and cheap
 
I think if you empty the shredder and shred new blank paper it would be safe, maybe even buy the special paper made of organic material if you are really worried, but a lot of shredders also shred staples and CDs. So bits of metal staples, CDs, ink and other dangerous contaminates could be in the shredded paper from your office, I wouldn't risk having bits of metal, CD and ink in there personally or recommend it to anyone, but like I said if you clean out the shredder paper bin and use brand new paper that should be safe, you could even shred newspaper if you wanted I'm sure (never tried it, but don't see why not), I used newspaper sheets with my Leopard Gecko for 17 years with no problems, just recently switched to Zoo Med Excavator Clay Burrowing Substrate, don't see how shredded news paper would be any different than a sheet of newspaper.
 
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