Pine emits ammonia in days cedar takes weeks, breathing the ammonia kills the rats. Cedar holds more and doesnt soil as fast as the pine. Look at the chips its an obvious difference. If pine chips were as big as cedar chips it would work better. Read and believe what you want like i said you obviously have not used it. Oh yea never feed a snake a live rat it will kill your snake...5 yrs of rat breeding is proof enough for me unless yoiu like wasting pine and money cleaning every other day