Pine lid for my glass cage?

just curious if i can safely use a pine top for my glass cage (with air holes of course)

i know pine shavings are bad, but i couldn't find anything about pine wood in general.

There are numerous threads on here about using pine etc in cage building. Lots of people will tell you its the most horrible toxic stuff known to man, but others will say they are all nuts. I liken it to the stink over BPA in plastics in recent years. Is your snake going to get sick and die, probably not. Could it technically be bad, sure.

I would make sure to seal it good with polyurethane and you should be fine. Might be hard to get in the inside of the holes though. Having a hard time imagining how a big slab of wood would make a good top for a glass thank though. Maybe post a picture and others will throw out some ideas.

My concern would possible mildue growth due to the pine asorbing moisture, this makes a good growing medium.

Of course polyurathane will seal the wood and prevent the moisture issue.

maybe the OP's pine is 1/8" thick wall paneling, not a big slab of wood.

Harry

If pine were as bad as they say why do animals live in it in the wild?


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Originally Posted by Gomojoe

If pine were as bad as they say why do animals live in it in the wild?


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This is a question I ask myself every time I see some crazy stuff about that and people who actually weigh all food and stuff like that lol. This is true, in the wild, they are probably all around it and they never get hurt, but the only thing here is MOST of the time in nature the pine is alive, where as dead pine would be more prone to absorb moisture and grow mold on it, which could cause breathing complications really fast.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gomojoe

If pine were as bad as they say why do animals live in it in the wild?


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There is a huge difference between walking/slithering past a tree and living on wood shavings. The issue is the oils in the wood. Not to mention that you probably aren't going to find many pine trees in the parts of Africa that BP's are from.

While pine is debated Cedar is 100% known to be toxic so it's not like it is an unprecedented occurrence.

To the OP:

I personally wouldn't regardless of the toxicity issues as the wood isn't going to handle the humidity well and more than likely will create stagnant air issues.

What's wrong with a good old fashioned screen top? Just cover it with something. I like to go to lowes and get the big plastic panels for flourescent lights, like 6 bucks when a comparable sheet of plexi is 5 times time price. It's not clear, it's translucent which is probably a better thing anyway, gives a bit more privacy but lets light in just fine. Also much easier to drill holes into than plexi. Stuff does't shatter as readily.