Anybody use pine instead of aspen or cypress tried it all except for pine,keep hearing pine is not the best for snakes but I dont see why not.

I think as long as it's kiln dried it SHOULD be ok...

Maybe I'm wrong

yeah its dry use it for my rodents.news paper isnt cutting it. cypress was good till I got ants. no sap at all in my pine very dry.

Does the bag say KILN DRIED?

Pine shavings are safe just DON'T use cedar.

i raised this question after the dan wolfe show he said he was using it for years i have been useing it for a few months now and i like it only problem is sometimes i will get a batch that is very dusty i do use the kiln dried stuff also

I have'nt tried it...Like seeing what you guys that have,have experienced

Ants in cyress? That's weird - I though cypress keeps the bugs away?


I'm really enjoying the cypress.... Perfect humidity with perfect sheds.....

pine can get stuck of roof of their mouths....lots of people use it....I still like cypress...

Cypress sometimes comes with bugs in it, doesn't keep them away in my experience. But definitely keeps the mold away in comparison to aspen (not sure about pine).

Newspaper for 30 years.....don't believe in "spot" cleaning...

Well my cypress had ants wintering in it when I brought it in the warm room I had 1000s of ants!. cypess is also messy.may go back to it but wanting to try something new

i thought it was toxic to reptiles..something about the natural oils in the wood or something.....

found it...can get wood toxicity from pine.....

http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/reptilesgeneral/a/woodshavings.htm

I used pine for a couple of years or so, some years ago. It's mostly safe. The problem with pine is if it gets into their water bowl. Then it releases natural oils which aren't safe for the snake to drink, supposedly.
It's better than aspen with respect to mold, that's for sure! (Is there anything worse than aspen when it comes to mold? :lol: )

After hearing the dan wolfe show I have been trying it for about 2 months and honestly I like it. I really do. I am thinking about making a complete switch after the breeding season. As long as you stay on top of water bowls I think it's great!

I used it may go back, I'm on a brown paper kick at the moment.. No complaints except active snakes push it into there water bowls a lot. I used the kiln dried horse bedding. You should not be able to smell that it is pine unless you put it right up to your nose.

i like aspen it works great for me. cypress mulch had too many bugs. the mold is not bad if you keep up with it.

ive been keeping snake since i was 9 im 29 now and have always used pine ive tried others as they came out but alway end up back with pine as far as oil most people clean there water bowls often and dont let i sit so if that a concern clean your bowls ive never lost a snake due to the use of pine and when i feed them and i notice a pine chip on the mouse or rat i pull it off before it gets in my snakes mouth nothing wrong with pine. not to metion your rats are all kept on pine if the oils are so bad it would beon the rats fur feet and you know they chew on it you do the math

I use pine and it is great.

We switched from aspen to the Cypress and have had great luck with it. No bugs for us but on the other hand....we freeze and thaw ours a couple of times to make sure we dont get anything unwanted in with our snakes. I couldnt handle the molding with the aspen. The humidity with the cypress really seems to help the shedding too. I have never tried the pine bedding for my snakes, but do use it and some aspen for my rodents.

I been using pine for a few years now and so far no ill effects.38 snakes tub and 10 rat tubs.I like it.I was trying paper for a while but dont care for it.

Nothing but newspaper here. i like to get the entire cage floor clean after the cycle and its alot easier and cheaper to keep it cleaned with newspaper.

I have been switching back and forth between newspaper and shredded aspen for years.
I love them both. Both have pros and cons but I am mostly happy.
The newspaper issue is that my snakes are good about dumping the water as soon as I put fresh paper in.
With aspen, they are constantly filling the water with the wood.

I can't win. lol

I have been switching back and forth between newspaper and shredded aspen for years.
I love them both. Both have pros and cons but I am mostly happy.
The newspaper issue is that my snakes are good about dumping the water as soon as I put fresh paper in.
With aspen, they are constantly filling the water with the wood.

I can't win. lol

Same here lol

I've tried it all..... cypress (too dusty), aspen (too moldy), paper (too nasty if its a big load)

I like pine the most but I have noticed the quality can vary greatly. Sometimes it looks like the bagged up sawdust from a mill. If the shavings are small and dusty it's no good.

I check it before I buy it. I've been lucky at Tractor Supply Company. I use it as long as its the bigger shavings, which are almost not dusty at all.

I only use a light layer so that the snakes can push away the bedding to bask directly on the heat if they so choose.

Water bowls are in pvc couplings so no bedding gets in the water. I don't have a problem with shavings getting in the snakes mouth as long as it's the big shavings.

Pine shavings can dry a ball python out if the humidity is too low. I live in the south so its not a problem here. On dry days you cna dump a water bowl.

Hope this helps.:cheers:

I use aspen on some tubs and I'm using bounty paper towels (3) layers high on my hatchlings and juvies, which is a Little pricey.

Aspen with Natural Carefresh mixed in here... Pine works but it contains phenols and I'd rather just avoid it's use.

I have been using pine in my adult and sub-adult tubs for about a year and like it just fine. I get it from my rodent guy and it is filtered so as not to be very dusty. Also, it is cheap enough that I am quick to dump an entire tub rather than just spot clean!! :yes:

I still use aspen in my hatchling tubs. Pine was getting stuck in their mouths during feeding with the little ones. I am on the west coast and cypress cannot be found.

Like most people who find themselves on these forums, I've been keeping snakes for years... God, I am getting old... It's been nearly twenty years now and I still haven't found a betting solution that keeps me happy for any great length of time. Aspen is way to damn dusty and molds like there's no tomorrow. I'll probably never use it again because of that. Never got around to trying Cypress, I've been thinking about it if I have an issue with my current bedding. Unprinted paper is amazing, never had a mold or humidity problem, however, it became way to much of a chore to keep up with cleaning every single bin once or twice a week. Currently, I'm using something that is made of coconut husk that seems to be working very well. You have to damn near fill the tub with water to get the stuff to mold. Spot cleaning is a breeze with it. Humidity stays sky high with it and I've had nothing but perfect sheds since I switched over. My only qualm is that the stuff tends to stick to the snakes a bit and always ends up in their water bowls. Anything other than crystal clear water bowls drive me nuts. So I'm still trying to make it past that but the stuff is amazing. I think that there is no perfect bedding, everything depends on your husbandry practices and keeping styles but so far this coconut stuff is working amazingly for me. Now if I could just figure out how to keep it out of their water bowls life would be perfect.