softwood bedding

[hungba]

I have a cheap source of this:

http://northlandforestproducts.com/products/shavings/

It is half the price of the aspen I get.

I inspected the sealed bag and it has very little if any dust, looks very high quality. It says on the bag "kiln dried-screened".

I was not allowed to open the sealed bag to smell it.

Now I know you guys use kiln dried pine and its fine. But this bag just says "softwood shavings", I presume that means it is a mix.

Does kiln drying make all softwood safe for snakes?

The shavings are all uniform size and color. If there was cedar in it, will there be bits of redish colored wood? Or did they just bleach it all?

Is this bedding safe with my pythons?

[ajmreptiles]

I would contact them to find out exactly what woods are used. There are some woods (cedar is one) I absolutely would not risk with my animals.
If this was me and if the woods sound safe to me, I would do a trial run on 1 snake but that's just me and I don't want my whole collection at risk at the price of cheaper bedding

Edit: Some other questions come to mind other than the obvious what woods are used in the mix
How well do they hold up with moisture?
Is this product mold resistant?
Does it get dusty?

[Lady mkrj58]

I would not trust it but that's just my opinion its not worth the risk to save a few bucks. ....I also would not do a trial run again thats my 2 cents.


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[hungba]

Yeah probably, I am just sick of the aspen molding overnight if any water is spilled. I was looking for pine actually.

Also, I used to use aspen bed 1, and switched to kaytee aspen because of price. The "expanded" size is listed as 4.8 cu ft for the asped bed 1, and 8 cu ft for the kaytee, yet the 4.8 bag lasts waaaaay longer than the 8 cu ft bag. Go figure. I think those expanded and compressed sizes are just rubbish.

[hungba]

Also, is "high heat dried" ok? Is it the same effect as kiln dried? I seem to remember someone here using the suncoast miniflake pine. I can get that too.

It says this on their info:

SUNCOAST® Pine Shavings are high-heat dried at a stage in the manufacturing process that produces drier, more absorbent bedding product than typical kiln dried shavings. Because of this process, SUNCOAST® Shavings are more sanitary, more dry and absorbent, and much lighter in weight.

[Lady mkrj58]

Hum I won't use Pine as it not so good Either Just my opinion. I Have never seen Bagged Aspen get mold, I have two big bags from Amazon to be delivered today Its the Zilla Brand. I Find it to be less cost thsn the Pet Store's love Amazon.com


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