Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Im currently makeing new cages for my serpents, and I just wanted to make sure that pine is safe for them, It will be sealed as well, but im just concerned, as ive put ALOT of time, effort and money into my collection!

Thanks for your time

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-echo-

` No, pine is not safe. It contains pitch, and other volatiles which, when concentrated inside a cage are not safe for your snakes.
` You can seal it but the poison is still inside, waiting to get out. It can kill them quickly, or slowly ruin their health.
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My water dragon's cage is made out of pine plywood and pine studs, and they have never been anything but the picture of health.
I Also have a stack of cages built of pine and douglas fir(a type of pine)which housed Irian Jaya's for several years with no problems, and they bred each year. Now I keep Green Tree Pythons in them and never had any problems. Heck, back when I had the carpets in them I even kept them on pine bedding. This is just my experience, but if you believe in the boogie man you could use oak or maple.
Paul Kemes

Pine bedding should not be used the volatile oils can be a very serious problem mostly causing respiratory illness. Pine lumber that is properly sealed will be fine for your enclosure. Don't skimp on coats of finish. 3-4 coats brushed on should be fine.

Hope this helps
BigT

I have used off and on a pine/aspen mix for some of my snakes without a single incident in over a decade. I am not suggesting using it myself as some people have had issues with it that resulted in health problems for their reptiles.

I at this very moment have a pine/aspen mix in with one of my adult BCI and in with my kenyan sand boas.

Later
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Randall L Turner Jr.
www.aircapitalconstrictors.com
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Back in the late 70s through mid 80s had a retic that was kept in a homemade cage that was madeout of pine plywood. Only the bottom was sealed. Up until about 10yrs ago the only bedding I ever used was pine shavings, never ever had any problems. The only reason I stoped using pine bedding was because up until about 10yrs ago I couldn't get aspen in my area. I prefer aspen over pine because it's just bigger. Still will use pine when the store is out of aspen.

` I've been taking those precautions for 40 years, just in case. Any pitchy softwood, cedar and redwood, too. Any aromatic like eucalyptus, pepperwood/bay/laurel, unless definitely from the herp's native habitat, and then, probably not.
` I wonder if there is no risk at all, or if some of you just got lucky?
` There's a partial list of toxic vegetation here: www.calzoo.com/html/toxicvegetation.html
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I can see some of the woods people shy away from causing problems, but I wonder if the problems are only visible if an illness is also accompanied by the use of these woods.. Such as if you have a snake that has a very mild RI kept on Pine perhaps the Pine can irritate and cause worse problems as it goes along.
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Randall L Turner Jr.
www.aircapitalconstrictors.com
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` The snake's metabolism is so slow that many things get in, and cause problems before they can be eliminated. Like the red dye in dog food fed to rodents. It doesn't hurt mammals ( as badly ), because they eliminate it quickly.
` While in reptile retail, I've seen so many snakes go off their feed, then just waste away, that I try to eliminate any potential health risk. One of my customers painted his garage, then about 18 months later, his herps started dying, in another part of the house. Garden chemicals used outside have been suspect, too. Another put some nice river rocks in with his herps, resulting in deaths.
` Pine and Fir have the volatiles in the wood to harm the snakes. Just how much is left after kiln drying, and how much can be corked up with sealants can only be determined by exposing the critters. Then you must wait a few years to see which snake is weakened by it, and which one tolerates it. That is, if you can eliminate every other cause.
` Hell, I'll just stick to the stuff I know is safe. Caging an animal is risk enough, without trapping it with toxins present.
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In fact, a well caged animal has a MUCH longer life expectancy than most in the wild. While I agree some caution is healthy, and that volatiles like cedar are harmful, there are, as far as I know, no studies showing the same for plain pine. As far as what you KNOW is safe, is this intuitive, or are there studies supporting your position?