Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay, I know most of you guys who hang around this forum are familiar with west Texas and surrounding areas and you know how much cedar is out there. I recently moved to a house on four acres in the Austin area. Our property is heavily wooded with cedar trees and there are some really great stumps, twisty limbs and root balls around our place. I keep most of my snakes in racks, but have been thinking about making some display cages for a few of my more impressive snakes. My question is this: I know that cedar shavings are a bad choice for reptile bedding because of the toxicity of the oils in the wood. Does cedar retain those oils after it has been drying and bleaching in the sun for a year or more? Some of the uprooted stumps on our property are practically petrified and would make amazing decorations and hides in some of my cages, but I don't want to do anything to harm my snakes. I'd rather not coat/seal the stumps, as this would make them look plastic. What do you guys think? I've got really nice alterna, thayeri and hondurensis that I'd like to put in display cages, and these cedar pieces are really nice!
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1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase

BTW, I know Austin is not West Texas. I'm just saying that the flora on our property is similar to what I've encountered around Junction, Davis Mountains, Alpine, etc. Lots of cedar, cactus, yucca, etc. And wondering if you guys have ever used that stuff as cage decoration.
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1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase

I've got some in with my generic male for years and he's done just fine. Just get very very weathered pieces.

Thanks. I think that's what I'll do.
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1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase

I really don't think it would be a problem - a lot less surface area than shavings the fresh cuts age pretty fast.

Try it & keep an eye on your snake's behavior.

Years ago, before anyone talked about different substrates, I put some cedar shavings in with a couple of snakes & they, pretty much instantly, went nuts! You could tell they didn't like it. I think they probably would have died, if I didn't change it out for something else.
Give us a follow-up report.
Good luck,
Max
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"And the rest is all in his head"

Thanks Max,
I noticed the same thing w/cedar shavings when I was younger and hadn't heard anything about it yet. I put a well-natured fairly tame w/c Texas rat in a tank with cedar shavings and he did go nuts. He got so violent that I had to take the entire setup out to the woods and let him crawl out on his own and go back and retrieve the tank.
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1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase

Even if the wood has sat around drying I would think of putting it in the oven for a while to insure that you kill anything the wood might be harboring. It removes some moisture and definately kill any bugs the wood has.

That was my next question! I've heard you can "bake" the wood around 400 degrees to kill anything inside.
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1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase

I would be that baking a piece of wood would not make the house smell like fresh homemade cookies..

Lance
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Herp Conservation Unlimited

Chocolate chips, wood chips, what's the difference...lol
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1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase

I don't know what species of tree they make the cedar shavings from, but the trees in the Hill Country we call "cedar" trees are actually Juniper trees. I don't know how much difference that makes in the toxicity of the aromatics, but it is something to consider.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

I'm in Austin, too, and I use Ash juniper limbs with impunity!

Really, though, there's no problem with them in a well-ventilated enclosure. The weathered ones are better, but who would use a fresh branch, anyway?
They do have aromatic sap and wood, and shavings would likely be just like real cedar shavings. I always choose pieces small enough to bake before I use them.
They are pretty. The texture really adds to the overall looks of a naturalistic set-up. The best part is that when they get pooped on, there's no need to scrub it off, just fling it out in the yard again and grab another piece.
-JAck
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Austin Herp. Soc.