Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What's better, shredded or big chips? Is there a need to worry about feeding on aspen? I know that some people have reported their balls swallowing small pieces of aspen with no ill effects. I also read this in another post "I've had small king snakes die from swallowing some aspen. Josh of J & K Reptiles had a small ball get a piece stuck in the roof of its mouth. This led to a bad oral infection with weeks of abts and poor weight gain for months." Will drying off a FT rat with a towel prevent aspen from sticking to it?

I was also wondering how I should treat my aspen to ensure that no mites are present. I know a lot of people bake it. Any specifics on the process? I also remember hearing about people that use a provent-a-mite type product to pre-treat their aspen.

So what do you guys think?

Let's take them one at a time:

"What's better, shredded or big chips?"

Shredded-easier to spot clean, and no big sharp splinters.

" Is there a need to worry about feeding on aspen? I know that some people have reported their balls swallowing small pieces of aspen with no ill effects. I also read this in another post "I've had small king snakes die from swallowing some aspen. Josh of J & K Reptiles had a small ball get a piece stuck in the roof of its mouth. This led to a bad oral infection with weeks of abts and poor weight gain for months."

ANY substrate can have the occasional bad effect. I've been using aspen with my large collection for almost 2 decades now, with not a single problem so far...

" Will drying off a FT rat with a towel prevent aspen from sticking to it?"

It will help.

"I was also wondering how I should treat my aspen to ensure that no mites are present. I know a lot of people bake it. Any specifics on the process? I also remember hearing about people that use a provent-a-mite type product to pre-treat their aspen."

Why? Aspen may come with those tiny, harmless "wood mites", but the harmful snake mites will never come in with your aspen, unless that aspen has already been used with infested snakes-and it's difficult to imagine a scenario where this could happen to aspen received from commercial sources.
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Brad Chambers

The Avalanche has already started-it is too late for the pebbles to vote....

i would count pet stores as commercial sources, and i have seen them sell mite infested substrates any number of times : )

of course, you should always be selective about where you shop, and not support such a spot, but those nasty stores send out free mites not just with reptiles, but with dry goods, and even feeder rodents.

it isn't malicious, just that they don't care.

as for the wood mites, i see those in perhaps 1 out of 100 bags of aspen and cypress. i don't let them by, i still hit the cage, and the bag, with BK-II.

i don't need bugs of any kind infesting the snake cages : )
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

Is freezing the bag of substrate before it is used effective in killing any hitchhikers? I always used to do that for a couple of hours at least, just precautionary. Now I only use newspaper so it's not a concern, just curious?

Robyn,

Aspen from pet stores generally comes tightly sealed in plastic. I suppose it could theoretically happen that a mite hitches a ride on the outside of a bag-but I'd think that would be a rare occurence to say the least. Of course, you are correct that a lot of pert stores out there, especially the big chains, don't seem to be aware of the massive infestations of snake mites present in their reptile departments! Under those kinds of conditions it could happen!
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Brad Chambers

The Avalanche has already started-it is too late for the pebbles to vote....

our aspen here comes in the paper bags, much easier to infiltrate : )
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

BK II RULES!!!!
I love that stuff.
Thank you kindly Robyn!
I will try calling you again sometime this week.
Take care dude.
Harlin Wall - WALL TO WALL REPTILES!
970-255-9255

Don't really worry about treating the aspen unless you see snake mites on your snake...You could make a monthly habit of provent-a-miting your snake room, just in case, but treating the aspen isn't really necessary.

Shredded aspen is definately easier to clean, and tends to hold moisture for humidity easier.

When feeding on aspen, I dry off the rat and then put it on a paper plate or papertowel, whichever I have handy. That tends to minimize the amount of aspen being ingested.

~jenny
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