Shredded Aspen Question

[Bristen]

I've been trying shredded aspen that I bought at Wal-Mart recently.. it was finely shred and had very little smell to it. It has been working out ok. Yesterday, I went to "Pets Unlimited" (unfortunately had to go there, let's not get into that) and purchased a large bail of shredded aspen for close to $40 CDN. Once home, I expected to see the same thing I had purchased at Wal-Mart. However, it was not the same. The wood is whiter, and it has a much stronger smell. It is also not shred as fine as the other stuff, but I could of lived with that.

Does anybody know why it smells stronger than the other stuff I was getting? Are there different types of Aspen? Should I be concerned about that strong smell? I thought it may not of been Aspen, but some other type of wood.. but it does say "aspen" on my receipt, it was stacked with other aspen packages, but the packaging was just brown paper with no text on it... I'm expecting a few animals coming in this week, so I would like to get this cleared up soon so I can setup their tubs.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks!
Bristen.

[annieb_mice]

I've always found Aspen to have an odor... maybe the stuff you got at Walmart had been sitting there a while. Different suppliers have different "standards" to their shavings, some supply a more coarser "shred" while others have a finer "shred."
I don't use Aspen for my snakes as I worry about the possibility of the wood shavings getting caught in their mouths when eating. But others use it with no problems. :) Good luck with your new babies!
Take care
Annie B. <:3 )~~

[HeatherK]

I agree, aspen usually does have some sort of odour to it, which is variable. You could try leaving it open somewhere to air out a bit before placing them in with the snakes (especially if you're using storage containers).

$40 a bag - ouch. I pay about $12 for a large bag. You could always save money and worry and go with something more basic (and less visually appealing ;) )

[Bristen]

Thanks for the replies. I verified and found a sticker on the brown paper that wrapped the bail. It's 2 cubic feet of compressed aspen (it does say aspen on the bag). It's a Hagen product, thus probably the reason for the potentially higher price tag. I can probably find the stuff cheaper at a local farming supply store. I just want to try it for a while and did not want to buy too much at once.

As for the choice of substrate, I really need some kind of particle substrate. Yes newspaper is not as visually appealling, but I don't care for looks actually. I want my animals to be clean, and undisturbed as much as possible and have my work load as low as possible. There's nothing like particle substrate for all of the above. Currently experimenting with two types of substrates, but I currently prefer aspen of the two. I also have one on newspaper for now.

As far as ingesting the stuff, or having some of it stuck in their teeth, probably happens to everybody uses the stuff. From what I understand, nobody has been able to have any recorded data (or proof) that aspen somehow caused any health problems, even if some were ingested. I'm no expert and not claiming to be one, but that's what I seem to have understood from the many past threads on this subject.

Thanks,
Bristen.

[Invictus]

The finer the shred of aspen, the less smell it will retain, since it will be closer to dust than wood. Larger particles, stronger smell.

However, because of the humidity requirements of ball pythons, I strongly recommend AGAINST using shredded aspen for BPs, as it molds in NO TIME. Trust me, I used to use aspen for every herp in my collection... those that required high humidity had mold in their enclosures in 3 days.

If you are looking for something for your BP that is both appealing and resistant to mold, go with cypress mulch. Aspen is fantastic substrate, but only for creatures that have low humidity requirements. :)

[sapphire_moon]

I have to disagree! I had aspen in both my bp's enclosures (rubbermaid like cages) had a humidity of atleast 55% at all times. No mold, I never changed the aspen out fully, only spot cleaned. Even when I dumped the cage out completely, there was no mold, nothing.

They are now on paper and in 34"lx16 3/4w"x6"h sterelite box with news paper. Hopefully my male will eat soon.

[Bristen]

Originally posted by Invictus The finer the shred of aspen, the less smell it will retain, since it will be closer to dust than wood. Larger particles, stronger smell.

very good point, this is probably all that's going on I guess.

However, because of the humidity requirements of ball pythons, I strongly recommend AGAINST using shredded aspen for BPs, as it molds in NO TIME. Trust me, I used to use aspen for every herp in my collection... those that required high humidity had mold in their enclosures in 3 days.

that's strange, because I'm not having this problem yet.. room is kept at 55% relative humidity and I mist the tubs once in a while, plus I have one animal that keeps dumping it's water bowl and I haven't seen molding anywheres yet.. I'll keep an eye out for that, but so far don't have that problem.


If you are looking for something for your BP that is both appealing and resistant to mold, go with cypress mulch. Aspen is fantastic substrate, but only for creatures that have low humidity requirements. :)

I would LOVE to get my hands on Cypress mulch for a reasonable price.. however, over here, I can only get that at Pets Unlimited for $30/bag. I'm guessing 1 bag will do about 2 enclosures at best... I have a very small collection compared to most, but I find it is still too pricey to use such a substrate for the rack.. if I could of found some of the stuff at Home Depot or Home Hardware I would of tried it, but all they have is pine and cedar barks :(

Thanks for the reply!
Bristen.

[BoidKeeper]

Hey Bristen,

Did you see Brian's (Classic) post on the NB herp site about buying it from the Co-op in Fredericton? He said that if enough people went in on it they would be able to do a good price.
Cheers,
Trevor
PS
I've been buying it a Wal-Mart and have noticed two different levels of size of the pieces. I've also gotten it at a pet shop. In all cases I've never noticed any smell.

[Bristen]

Originally posted by BoidKeeper
Hey Bristen,

Did you see Brian's (Classic) post on the NB herp site about buying it from the Co-op in Fredericton? He said that if enough people went in on it they would be able to do a good price.
Cheers,
Trevor
PS
I've been buying it a Wal-Mart and have noticed two different levels of size of the pieces. I've also gotten it at a pet shop. In all cases I've never noticed any smell.

Thanks Trevor, I've sent an email to Brian.. I didn't pay attention to it because he's in Fredericton.. with gas at 1$/L, getting the stuff here would seriously inflate the price, so I might as well buy something in this area even if a little more expensive.. I've requested additional info from Brian. Thanks for the note!

As for the smell, it is quite strong, but getting better now that it has been in the tub for something like 18 hours.. I think I should leave it out to bake in the sun somehow for a while, I'm sure this would help.. I'll figure something out.

Thanks!
Bristen.

ps: both new snakes are supposed to be arriving this week.. will keep you posted...

[justinO]

$40?!?!?!?!?
I pay $11 a bale.... and laughed when the pet store told me $40 for the same bale... gotta get in on feed bin store action. I bought the compressed stuff once, it was a pain in the butt and gave me splinters cuz it was so hard to get apart!

when getting bales (at a feed bin store that sells for farm animals & breeders) we pick the aspen "chips" which are bigger and we like way better, mostly the bales are "shredded" which are very small fine pieces. Usually it will have a box on the bag checked off if it is shredded....

as for the smell, it should just not smell like pine! aspen is almost white, and doesn't turn floresent yellow like pine does. Aspen is better for the animal and has less fumes. Although, i've only used aspen for mammals...... not snakes.

Next time you are on vacation, take some towels at the hotel!!! that's what all my snakes are on (except the small ones that only require 2-3 papertowels) and it makes for easy clean up! I just do a "snake towel" load when they are dirty.
I got the idea from Corey Woods, who used to have his burms set up on towels..... and so far it's been great and looks really good!

As an alternative, also at a feed store you can get "pine bark mulch" which is basically huge pieces of bark and is $4 a bag. It keeps the humidity pretty well and looks very natural. We mix with sph moss with our smaller species that like burrow.

Jessy
:)

[Bristen]

Hi Jessy,

$40?!?!?!?!?
I pay $11 a bale.... and laughed when the pet store told me $40 for the same bale... gotta get in on feed bin store action. [...]
yup, that is the plan for the next bail.. I may want to try chips also, that could be better than shredded... haven't tried to compare yet.

Next time you are on vacation, take some towels at the hotel!!! [...]
thanks anyways, but I don't steal... ;) towels can be quite cheap actually at wal-mart during specials or even the dollar stores... but I don't want to get to do towels, disposable particle substrate is what I'm looking for...

As an alternative, also at a feed store you can get "pine bark mulch" which is basically huge pieces of bark and is $4 a bag. It keeps the humidity pretty well and looks very natural. [...]
well, I would not use pine bark.. it is pine, and it's too close to cedar.. cedar is known to be quite toxic to snakes and pine has very similar effects and is not recommended for snakes. Pine bark I can get quite easily, but unfortunately all I CAN get is pine or cedar, no other tree barks available around here.. if you know where I could find something else, let me know :)

Thanks for the reply!
Bristen.

[annieb_mice]

I use old baby blankets for my snakes and they are great! I've got two for each bin... one as a spare to use when it's laundry day... :) The snakes burrow underneath them and rarely go into their hides. And it makes things so much easier to clean... just throw the used one into the laundry, rinse out the bin and put a nice clean one in. No worrying about shavings and stuff. :)
Anyway...
Take care
Annie B. <:3 )~~

[Bristen]

Thanks to everyone that replied. The smell has gone down to almost nothing now. It appears that the wood needs to be "aired" out a bit or something, but the smell did go down to almost nothing like I was expecting at first when I opened up the bail. Looks like all is well and normal :)

Thanks,
Bristen.