Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Anyone use Ceder Shavings for their rat colonies? I got a great deal on Ceder and it does so much better than Pine on contolling odor but I don't know about any toxic problems for the snakes if the rats are kept and raised on Ceder. Any input is greatly appreciated.
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Rob Trenor
RK Reptiles
www.rkreptiles.com
www.rkreptiles.net
www.ballpythonmorphs.net

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NO, NEVER, FORGET IT.
USE IT FOR YOUR STORED CLOTHING!
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RicK & Caitlyn @ Ball Boutique, Inc.

Ball Boutique,Inc.
Proud sponsor of this forum

>>Anyone use Ceder Shavings for their rat colonies? I got a great deal on Ceder and it does so much better than Pine on contolling odor but I don't know about any toxic problems for the snakes if the rats are kept and raised on Ceder. Any input is greatly appreciated.

The oils on cedar are toxic and will transfer from the rodent fur to the snake. I've had rescued snakes from a confiscation develop health problems and a few die from ulcers that formed in the throat and stomach due to cedar oil contamination (them being housed on cedar and/or were fed rodents housed on cedar) and then further complicated by repeated regurgitation due to the internal irritations caused by the stomach acid on the ulcers. As one lab report on a leucsitic pine snake that died it was noted.. death was due to a 'food allergy'. The snake just couldn't keep food down anymore and succumbed after a couple of months. It was a vicious cycle that could not be broken. A Honduran milk snake that was able to keep food down more or less finally passed away after a couple of years. He couldn't seem to keep a meal down that was larger than a fuzzy/hopper mouse and if you tried feeding more than one item... you had a 50/50 chance of him regurging. and if he was able to keep a meal down and you tried feeding another meal too soon, he would regurge. Overall, I think the about 1/3 of that collection died because Animal Control didn't know what they were doing when they had the reptiles in their possession during the 3 month interim when all the court stuff was being settled and they could then let them go to new ownership. Several kingsnakes died (were eaten) because AC thought to save space by housing them together! About half the animals they had living on cedar (that was their idea for treating for mites!).

Also, from experience years ago raising rodents on cedar, the various colonies I had ultimately would crash and there was high tumor rates, overall poor health, etc. whereas compared to colonies raised on kiln dried pine.. hardly no problems at all..only damage done from males fighting each other from time to time.
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PHWyvern

The first thing I was 'taught' (I'd already known this) when I started working at a petstore was that cedar is toxic to just about any animal housed on it - including rodents. It leads primarily to respiratory infections, but the tumors and other illnesses PHwyvern described also fit in to what happens when rodents go on cedar. Just bad news all around.

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons (Yoni and Linga)
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
3.0 horses (Buddy, Sam, and Scout)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
1.25 chickens (Ugly the rooster and his harem)