Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just bought a bag of commercial orchid bark (for my orchid)made by Schultz, it's made of western fir bark and horticultural charcoal. I was wondering if anybody knew if it is safe for the bottom of my California Kingsnakes enclosure? Would the charcoal be hazardous to it's health? Would I have to sterilize it?

Well, charcoal in itself is harmless and used to leech toxins and the like out of stomachs, so no danger there IMO. But it may create a respiratory problem with the coal dust which if memory serves me right, has caused cancer in people. But Thats just what I think...lets see if anyone else knows better...

Plus it would probably stain the snake and if it got in the water would cause problems.
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Coastal Carpet Python 0.1 (Lillith)
Albino Burm 0.1 (Kimba)
Columbian RedTail 0.1 (Squishy)
Kenyan Sand Boa 1.0 (Shai'hulud)
Common Snapping Turtle 1.1 (Sherman and Abrahms)
RES 1.0 (speedy)

I've seen snakes kept on it with no outwardly apparent problems, but I did hear something disturbing that may or may not be 100% accurate. And that is: bark contains higher concentrations of turpenes than the wood itself, and turpenes in high concentration in a cage with little ventilation may be dangerous over time.

Whether the above is true or not, bark is a pain to work with and is not the best choice. Aspen is much much better. So is Sani-Chip (i.e. LLL Reptile sells it). I think Walmart sells shredded aspen. Even that coconut husk substrate is better than bark IMO, although it sticks to everything wet and will get in the water bowl daily. At least it is non-toxic, no maybes.