countryside accents Cypress mulch from lowes

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Originally Posted by juggalodudz

i asked lowes representatives and they said its just cypress .

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I hope you learned, do not ask them anything besides "where can I find *item*?"

I use the royal garden cypress blend. its what lowes/home depot sells here. I called at they basically said it contains pine but is mostly cypress. I will say when they stock it I like the pure cypress better since it is normally shredded better. however its been a while since I've seen it.

People freak out over pine, but I don't see any reason to. Sure you can find a few real studies that show respitory problem when breathing in pine dust. Obviously this is a problem in woodworking and mills and things like that. It could even be an issue in rodents which create a lot of dust by chewing it into dust. however snakes just crawling on it? yeah im not seeing the issue. I've always heard of oils being toxic but find no real backing to this claim and given the numerous amounts of people who keep snakes on pure pine, I wouldn't worry about it personally until something other than hear-say says otherwise.

cedar on the other hand I haven't seen or even looked for studies on it's effects on snakes, but from working with it, I know it can get to me quickly and it does produce an obvious oil. Knowing this with a few horror stories of snakes passing quickly or having problems while on it basically made me never even consider it. it is naturally weather resistant which is great for out door furniture, but chances are not so great for snakes.

Those people are also using pure kiln dried pine witch is known to be safe... Not pine still containing the oils known to not be safe for reptiles

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No reason to give up like that, you cared enough to ask... Just take the simple advice and adjust your setup

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Originally Posted by M.P.C

Those people are also using pure kiln dried pine witch is known to be safe... Not pine still containing the oils known to not be safe for reptiles

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show me anything that suggests it is not safe besides hear-say

I use the Cypress from Loews. I don't have the bag, but I do remember that the wording was squirrelly so as to make me question it. I dumped the Cypress into a tub with 128 holes to help with pre-drying.

I first checked with a local breeder who houses about 50 snakes. He had not had any problems with it.

I been using it about 4-5 months without issue.


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Actually the fumes from pine and cedar can cause fluid build up in the lungs causing a tendency toward respiratory infections in snakes kept on it. There is a possibility of skin lesions from the oil, as well. I personally wouldn't take a chance on putting snakes on it just to save money. Sometimes saving money might be more expensive in the long run.

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Originally Posted by M.P.C

Those people are also using pure kiln dried pine witch is known to be safe... Not pine still containing the oils known to not be safe for reptiles

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Originally Posted by marya1962

Actually the fumes from pine and cedar can cause fluid build up in the lungs causing a tendency toward respiratory infections in snakes kept on it. There is a possibility of skin lesions from the oil, as well. I personally wouldn't take a chance on putting snakes on it just to save money. Sometimes saving money might be more expensive in the long run.

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In the mean time many breeders have used Cypress Blend for DECADES without any single issues. :gj:

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Originally Posted by marya1962

Actually the fumes from pine and cedar can cause fluid build up in the lungs causing a tendency toward respiratory infections in snakes kept on it. There is a possibility of skin lesions from the oil, as well. I personally wouldn't take a chance on putting snakes on it just to save money. Sometimes saving money might be more expensive in the long run.

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I have found actual studies on pine dust causing issues, never came across anything about fumes. Also nothing about oil as well. I've actually never heard of a snake having any skin issue related to substrate, not to say it couldn't happen but given the amount of people who keep them on pine (no not just horse pellets), i don't see much validity to the pine claim.

I've been using cypress blend on and off for at least 6 years and consistently using it for the last year or more, and its not about saving money, its about doing whats best for the animal with my husbandry. Cypress keeps the humidity where it needs to be, clumps well to make spot cleaning easier, almost never molds, also keeps the smell down when they do go. Would I prefer pure cypress... yes, it normally comes packaged better and offers the same benefits as the blend. but availability is my issue. So I contacted the makers of the blend, found out pine was the major addition and did my own research on pine toxicity. Needless to say I didn't find any source to many of the claims floating around this hobby. Also seeing many experienced breeders have evidence that directly contradicts the claims against pine, I don't feel I am taking any chances at all currently.

I just use regular pine bedding. Nothing to do with money, I like it far better than aspen. Better odor control, better absorption, far less molding.