something in cedar can cause problems in snakes...not sure if its the oils (can get into the rodents fur etc). But pine doesn't have it as strong or not at all. However most rat breeders use pine, especially kiln dried pine (all the 'piney' smell is removed when fully dried).

However, for the rodents, pine still is an irritant and can shorten their lives, cause all the problems the other poster mentioned. But if the rats are going to be used for breeding and feeders, they won't live long enough to be really affected by pine. Back to back breeding puts a lot of stress on females anyway and shortens their lives..and once they stop breeding, most breeders will feed them off, in favor of younger more productive females. Female rats only really breed good for about 8 months before litter sizes drop considerably.

For pet rats or if you are just really concerned about a small amount of pine oils harming your snakes, use aspen shavings, carefresh, yesterday's news, beta chips or shredded paper. (the last won't cover odors at all but is cheap).
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PHLdyPayne

[ Hide Replies ]

• pine shavings for rats - _Melisa_, Sat Apr 21 09:28:19 2007
• RE: pine shavings for rats - toshamc, Sat Apr 21 12:08:30 2007
• RE: pine shavings for rats - _Melisa_, Sat Apr 21 13:04:34 2007
• RE: pine shavings for rats - PHLdyPayne, Sat Apr 21 13:18:55 2007
• RE: pine shavings for rats - jyohe, Sat Apr 21 18:59:41 2007