newspaper

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Based on your analogy, people should assume that newspaper is as dangerous as new snakes? :rolleye2:

Rest assured it’s not the case, while people have lost entire or partial collections due to improperly quarantined new snakes, no one has ever lost a snake because of newspaper. Newspaper has been used for decades by many without any issues other than leaving temporary ink mark on white snakes (goes away if you wipe the snake off, or with the next shed and the ink is not toxic)

Snakes will not get RI, IBD, OPMV, or mites from newspaper; those are some of the reasons why you quarantine a new snake away from your collection.

Now I understand some people are germophobes and it’s ok for you to be but trust me your snakes are not at risk with newspaper, they do not need to live in a bubble either, they just need to be quarantined and observed away from your collection that is IF you value your collection.

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I never compared a new snake to newspaper, the analogy never mentioned anyone using newspaper, the analogy was suppose to demonstrate how i feel about people procedures before they enter there snake room, and how i feel that it may be a disservice to people that buy animals for pets and to display

I personally don't use newspaper but this argument against it kind of seems pointless. You can say the same thing about any substrate used. It all comes into human contact and can be contaminated the exact same way. The person bagging your substrate could have the flu, may not have washed their hands, a pest may have come in contact with it, may have gotten wet, mold spores could be attached. There are infinite ways anything can be contaminated and there is no prevention with any substrate. People choose what is best for them and their situation and I and many others don't see what the issue is. Quarantine, husbandry, and sanitation are things you can control and should be in order to protect your animals mostly from each other or outside sources. There are very few communicable diseases between human and reptiles. What you rely need to worry about is transferring from reptile to reptile hence the strict rules of quarantine for new animals.

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Originally Posted by ItsAllNew2Me!

I personally don't use newspaper but this argument against it kind of seems pointless. You can say the same thing about any substrate used. It all comes into human contact and can be contaminated the exact same way. The person bagging your substrate could have the flu, may not have washed their hands, a pest may have come in contact with it, may have gotten wet, mold spores could be attached. There are infinite ways anything can be contaminated and there is no prevention with any substrate. People choose what is best for them and their situation and I and many others don't see what the issue is. Quarantine, husbandry, and sanitation are things you can control and should be in order to protect your animals mostly from each other or outside sources. There are very few communicable diseases between human and reptiles. What you rely need to worry about is transferring from reptile to reptile hence the strict rules of quarantine for new animals.

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When i used the bag stuffed i used this stuff check the link, i am sure that tis company is not contributing to the contamination of there product. The other companies i really don't know. But i researched and this company was the best. They do a lot in the way of ensuring there production practisis are sanitary. I however have switched to blank newspaper sheets, are they 100 percent sanitary no, but i feel better about the odds if this product vs old newspaper. http://old.harlan.com/about_harlan_laboratories

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Originally Posted by bulldog herp

When i used the bag stuffed i used this stuff check the link, i am sure that tis company is not contributing to the contamination of there product. The other companies i really don't know. But i researched and this company was the best. They do a lot in the way of ensuring there production practisis are sanitary. I however have switched to blank newspaper sheets, are they 100 percent sanitary no, but i feel better about the odds if this product vs old newspaper. http://old.harlan.com/about_harlan_laboratories

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Good you did research on the company you did use and great they practice sanitary guidelines but even so you have contamination regardless due to handling in general. do they test their packaging, how about the shipping containers or their handlers, the trucks the substrate sits on, etc. There are so many ways to contaminate anything that you can't say one thing is better than another. I am just saying you never know. I wouldn't recommend grabbing old newspaper off the ground or from some obviously dirty or questionable location but with reasonable thought I don't see the problem. Who's to say that the guy at the pulp factory cut his hand and blood fell in the vat that was then turned into the sheets you use now. You never know therefore you can't deduce that it is less questionable than the Sunday paper people use. Just my thoughts.

While I'm sorry you ended up with dead and sick snakes, it has nothing at all to do with whether or not newspaper is a sanitary product.

Your shavings could be handled by someone with the flu too. So could your rodents that you feed to your snakes. You know what? It doesn't matter because human flu virus doesn't make snakes sick, so that remark is as pointless as you pointing out that you had your snakes get sick and die after ranting that people use "dirty old newspaper".

The newspaper is not "dirty" any more than shavings is dirty, or the room is dirty, or the frozen rodents are dirty or the air that comes in from outside is dirty. No one keeps their snakes in a completely sterile Clean Room environment. No one is housing their snakes and tending to them in a hazmat suit with biohazard preventative measures in place.

You keep ranting about "dirty" newspaper covered in germs. You also keep mentioning "used" newspapers as if someone is wiping their bum with it before sticking it in the snake pen.

And as far as "You can't prove that newspaper never made a snake sick", of COURSE you can't prove that because you cannot prove a negative, and that makes that comment a non-logical statement. I could say that all of your snakes died from the lipstick that the rodent supplier's wife used... and then challenge you to "prove it never could happen", and you can't. What you CAN do is point out that no one has ever shown that a snake was made ill from using newspaper for a substrate.

You can continue to post about your snakes dying and being sick and not eating, but unless you want to show how you used newspaper and that made your snakes die, I don't see that it's relevant at all.