Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've been reading up on some care sheets (Specifically the one on the Pituophis page) and the writers say they use pine shavings for their pits.

My question is, if pine is not good for use with other snakes, such as corns, kings, etc.. is it good for pits?

I'm going to be using newspaper for my pair when they get here, just makes for a no-nonsense approach to keeping them healthy-but I might want to switch to a different substrate down the road, and am trying to find one that is appropriate, of which its looking like aspen would be the best choice.

-cat
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http://chaoscat.lowerground.net/herps/
My collection and herp photography

www.lowergroundreptiles.net

I use a mixture of pine chips, specifically "Sanichips," and cell-absorb plus for all of my adult Pituophis and Drymarchon. I have never incurred problems, but I feed them all outside of their enclosures, using plastic blanket boxes to do such, to avoid ingestion of substrate and to keep them from getting food frenzied every time I open their enclosures.
For specimens under one year of age, I use unprinted paper towels.

>>I use a mixture of pine chips, specifically "Sanichips," and cell-absorb plus for all of my adult Pituophis and Drymarchon. I have never incurred problems, but I feed them all outside of their enclosures, using plastic blanket boxes to do such, to avoid ingestion of substrate and to keep them from getting food frenzied every time I open their enclosures.
>>For specimens under one year of age, I use unprinted paper towels.

I've never seen either sanichips or cell-absorb for sale here at the pet shops. Would those be a lowes/hardware store or specialty-shop type deal?

-cat
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://chaoscat.lowerground.net/herps/
My collection and herp photography

www.lowergroundreptiles.net

I personally have my wife order both through her veterinary clinic, as it's cheaper this way, but I have seen them at PetCo and PetSmart. You could also check with your local merchants, as I am certain they can order these for you as well.
Also, pine is not the culprit, so far as substrates go, it's actually cedar you have to be careful with, as the natural oils are known dermal irritants to reptiles.

>>I personally have my wife order both through her veterinary clinic, as it's cheaper this way, but I have seen them at PetCo and PetSmart. You could also check with your local merchants, as I am certain they can order these for you as well.
>>Also, pine is not the culprit, so far as substrates go, it's actually cedar you have to be careful with, as the natural oils are known dermal irritants to reptiles.

I'll look into finding both of those you mentioned. I just wasn't sure, as there's so much going on about pine being bad. Already knew about the cedar-I don't even use cedar for my mammal-pets!

-cat
-----
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://chaoscat.lowerground.net/herps/
My collection and herp photography

www.lowergroundreptiles.net

Breeders have been using pine shavings for decades with almost no ill effects. There have been cases of RI that where attributed to pine but these are unproven and very few. For the most part Pit. folks don't get involved in the argument over this subject. Substrata is a matter of personal choice, there are pros and cons to all of them. Cedar is the only absolute no no in my book.