Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is one of my young females

here she is again.

` Great pix. Finally, someone else posting pix. That's a good looking youngster.

` What kind of wood is that tree? Is there any pitch, or sap in it, at all?
` Certain kinds of wood, and not just softwood, can be quite poisonous, sometimes slowly building up, over long periods of time.

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I think that is oak, I got it from the tip top of a tree while I was doing some logging. I have scrubbed the tree with a water bleach mixture and rinsed with a power washer. After the tree dries out completely Im going to remove all the bark, sand it and give it a good coat of polyurithane. I had to take some pics today cuz I just got my new camera, Fugi A210. I like it!! I will be posting lots more soon, you can count on it.

DIdnt know there are woods taht are poisonous to them! :O
What about drift wood? Siren doesnt have any problems right now so I dont think her log is poisonous. since its been in her tank since I got her. But just to make sure, what about drift wood? Dont know the exact type of wood it is. I got it off the beach in Oregon. A CLEAN beach.
Also cleaned it to get all the salt out when I got it before putting it in with her. But just making sure now that I read this!
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http://photos.yahoo.com/gwas79
"The Critters"

` Oh yeah, pine, fir, cedar, redwood, and many, many more are poisonous. With pine and fir, it is the volatile in the pitch, or sap. Cedar and redwood are just plain poisonous, even to us. Where I live, in the old days, plenty of loggers died from redwood splinters.
` Driftwood is just a bad idea, for any pet. Much wood is treated with really poisonous chemicals. Pressure treating in the mills is common. Who is to say that all the chemicals have left the wood? If you put something leeching fumes or or any other volatile in a cage with a captive critter, it has to absorb it.
` Something that mammals with fast metabolisms might just go through in a few days, the reptile, especially Boids, with their slow metabolisms, can't eliminate. Thus, it concentrates in their tissues, until it poisons them. It can take a long time, and you'll have no clue what happened.
` In pet retail, over the years, I've helped countless customers figure out that what was killing their pets, was driftwood, and plant parts, and live plants. If not that, then rocks and shells. Nothing kills more pets, especially herps and ornamental fishes, than decorations. And, the pet owners will fight that concept to the death, of their pets.
` By the way, there are no clean beaches in the Pacific Northwest. I live there, and 150 years of heavy logging has ruined most of the rivers and the beaches. Not just the logging, but also the mills. Chemicals are everywhere. The beaches may look empty and scenic, but they're not clean.
` Go to this site for list of poisonous plants [ to herps ]. It is not a complete list. There are many more that are poisonous, and not listed; however, you can trust the information that is there. www.calzoo.com/html/toxicvegetation.html
` Beautiful beach, near my house. Don't eat the razor clams, dammit.

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Wow,
That stinks. well then WHAT exactly SHOULD we use for a log? They have some wood at Zamzows (the major petstore here) that looks neat and costs a fortune. But its just not big enough to matter. THey are designed for the smaller reptiles.
I like to keep her environment as naturally wild as possible since she was wild caught. It makes her feel safe and keeps her eating. Also you mentioned that other decorations are poisonous too. What about Marble rocks? Have those in the bottom of her tank under the litter boxes that are filled with soil. I put the rocks under there to keep her land section from floating around in the water. Also bought some "Jungle Vines" Dont know what theese are really made of or anything. But if you know what I am talking about (you can find them in Docors Foster and Smith Catalog) then do you know if they are safe too? Sucks to think there are so many things that can hurt them. But then, what about in the wild where they live and slither around and curl up in theese woods naturally? Why doesnt it hurt them there?
Ill check out the site. Thanks for posting it!
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http://photos.yahoo.com/gwas79
"The Critters"

` Safe wood is oak [except tan oak], madrone, and manzanita. There are probably plenty of others, but I only use the ones I'm sure of. For climbing racks, not kept inside cages, I also use kiln dried pine dowels. I check them for veins of pitch. I'd use oak dowels, if I could find them in lengths over 48".
` I don't use any plastics that aren't food service safe, period. You trap an animal inside a cage with some plastic that is outgassing crap, especially when in contact with urates, feces, and acidic substances, or constantly in warm, high humidity areas, you're looking for trouble, I think. I just treat them as humans, as far as toxic substances are concerned. If it isn't safe for me, then it's not for them, either. I get my Anaconda soaking containers, and other herp drinking containers, at the restaurant supply wholesaler. If it has the "NSF" stamp embossed on it, it's food grade. Most of the feeding, watering containers people use for pets, they would never use for themselves. Plastic sweater boxes, and shoe boxes are made from grades of plastic that are actually poisonous. You don't have to eat them, they outgas. Using them for housing critters seems foolish, to me.
` In the natural setting in which they evolved, their instincts keep them mostly safe from poisonous substances. Outside their natural habitat, they are at risk, constantly.
` I treat them the same as I'd treat a helpless human baby. If you leave something around a baby that shouldn't go in its mouth, or be breathed, or be touched, you're screwing up, right?

` Wow, I only had to wash my hands 9 times, while typing this!
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I work in the plastic industry as a process tech. and we make alot of stuff for the medical industry. Medical plastics include Polypropylene,Lexan, some Acatels and plexigless, just to name a few. Most of the clear plastic boxes on the market are made of Polypropylene and is totaly safe. The tubs or totes to watch out for is ABS(Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene). This plastic is used in alot of lawn furniture,trash cans and large heavy duty tubs such as the cement mixing tubs that alot of people are breeding rodents in. About 75% of plastics are safe at room temp. or to about 100-125 degrees, Its when the plastics start to get hot is when they release the gasses that may cause harm.

` Is all ABS dangerous? Or, are there some types that are safe? I have a large cage I bought from a dealer, and was told it is ABS. It is hard plastic, with color mixed into the plastic, but light does pass through.
` I would appreciate any information you have on ABS. Thanks.

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There is a food grade of ABS that is safer, but the problem is that it has a very low melting temp. the abs that we run melts from 300 F. and that is liquid form. So a light bulb will start to melt it releasing toxic fumes. We had a material handler here at work set up some ABS in a dryer to eliminate moisture in the material, The temp was 175F. after 4 hours at that temp it bonded together. I will get out our MSDS paperwork and give you some exact info on these materials.

` Thanks for the info. I was warned, when I bought it, that it should not be exposed to temperatures near 300 degrees. Since I heat only with gentle floor heat, and never use incandescent bulbs, I didn't anticipate any problems related to heat.
` I like the cage so much, I've checked prices on sheet ABS, thinking about building a few more, myself. I'm in a rural area, the only plastics supplier around here assured me it was restaurant food prep area grade. Man, that stuff is expensive!
` If you pass along anything else you find, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.
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The material I looked up is from GE Plastics, Cycolac KJU-21993. It has caused liver and kidney problems in animals and the fumes cause respetory problems in humans, along with skin and eye irritation. All advisories are caused from heat, they did not give any exact temps. but they are low. There are differant grades of ABS and without getting the exact grade used to make your cage from the manufacture I can only give you a ruff idea on things.

` Well, no parts of this cage are ever exposed to temperatures of more than 105 degrees, at the very most.
` Do you think my critters are safe with that? I'm not one to take chances with my animals. If you think that it is a hazard to them, tell me. I'm quite willing to take a $400 cage out of service, if it has the potential for harm.
` Right now, I'm using it for quarantine of a huge, beautiful pink Boa that someone got tired of. If the cage injured her, I'd never know what did it.
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If your just using a heat mat your going to be fine. I dont think I need to tell you about thermostats or reostats as another form of protection. All caution were from heat and burning. I wish someone would come up to me with a Boa they didnt want. Anyway Id keep using your cage just they wat you are.