Substrate/bedding Question

Hi everyone,

I've been wondering if I can safely use beechwood chips for my burms and retic?
The product in mind is CHIPSI EXTRA XXL (http://www.chipsi-streu.de/chipsi_en...d=478959478959).
Anyone has used them before? Are they safe and non-toxic to snakes?
From the website it states that it is safe for snakes, and I wonder if it is true?
Currently my 2 burms and retic are on newspaper and Kritter's Crumble coco husk (coir).

Your input, opinion and experience are welcome! Thanks!

Paper. Big snakes will sit on urates a long time unless you keep those chips changed frequently. I keep all my tics on unprinted newspaper. Kept my only burm on Repti-bark.

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Originally Posted by reptileexperts

Paper. Big snakes will sit on urates a long time unless you keep those chips changed frequently. I keep all my tics on unprinted newspaper. Kept my only burm on Repti-bark.

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I have used newspaper for my tic, but since he urinates frequently, i noticed that the paper gets soaked pretty bad and almost half of the enclosure is wet :( Since then I'm putting him on kritter's crumble to soak up the urate and later just spot clean. That way, I don't end up with a flooded enclosure :D
Is this harmful for the snake if I spot clean daily?
Also, back to the original query, is beechwood safe for snakes? Burms and retics in particular?

Thanks!

It is really hard to say for certain about any wood or wood product. There are too many potential variables really and not enough information. For people beech causes sensitivity and nasopharyngeal cancer. This however is mostly contact with bark leaves and sanding dust, none of which is likely to be in a bag of chips. Beech has a lower aromatic phenol than pine does so likely it is ok. In reality 'safe' is not black and white but a whole set of degrees. IMO beech should not pose to be more of an issue than populars (of the genius populus there are too many species and common names to be certain of whom is speaking of which.) which are so common around reptiles.

It's fine if you spot clean it daily. But know with larger snakes spot cleaning can be a challenge.


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Thanks everyone!

I'll give the beechwood chips a try. Once my giants grow bigger, I'll switch to newspaper :P