# Aspen Bedding?



## darkerhalf1324 (Jun 4, 2012)

Hello All
I was wondering if any of you have had experience with aspen bedding as a bedding for tegu cages? I have never used it for lizards but do prefer it to cypress, should I just keep with cypress mulch?
Thank you so much
Jackson Hoir


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## Dana C (Jun 4, 2012)

I use it exclusively for my Tegus now as cypress in any kind of quantity other than the 24 quart bags at Petsmart, can't be found any where west of the Rockies. It used to be found in all the big box stores and still can be had in the Florida Lowe's stores. If you use the Petsmart Cypress and try to fill an 8x4 12" deep, you are talking about $600. I buy bales of aspen, 8 cu. ft. which expands to almost double for $22. Contrary to other opinions, it can be burrowed in and while it doesn't hold moisture as well, frequent misting takes care of that. The shavings are very thin and somewhat digestable as well so the risk of impaction is reduced. 
A mixture of clean dirt and sand also works well or dirt mixed with peat moss which is what I use for my monitor.


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## larissalurid (Jun 6, 2012)

I'd stay with cypress, or peat moss mixed with it or something along those lines. aspen is really dry and definitely doesn't hold enough humidity for the 60% tegus need.


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## Dana C (Jun 6, 2012)

Here is a substrate idea for heretics. Pine shavings have been reviled as being unhealthy due to the phenols contained in the wood which are aromatic.
They are also a form of hydrocarbons. While pine has much less than some woods like cedar it has been considered unhealthy as bedding for a few years. Based upon the scarcity or nonexistence of cypress in the Western US and what I read on another forum, I did a little, actually a lot, of research.
Small animal bedding is largely kiln dried wood and will say so on the bag. The kiln drying process evaporates the phenols thus destroying any harmful vapors that may have been present in the wood. I have been thinking about this for quite some time now and decided to really find out what the story really was.

Now, as usual, you may begin the flaming however, before universally refuting the information out there you should actually read it. It really is quite interesting.


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## monstruo-the-tegu (Jun 6, 2012)

Aspen also is quite attracted to water so if you were feeding your tegu in the cage (bad i know) it would stick to the food then go in your tegu causing impaction. Another thing is it doesnt hold moisture and molds easily


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## Dana C (Jun 6, 2012)

Actually a little aspen is digestible by them and humans.


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## JohnMatthew (Jun 6, 2012)

Dana C said:


> Here is a substrate idea for heretics. Pine shavings have been reviled as being unhealthy due to the phenols contained in the wood which are aromatic.
> They are also a form of hydrocarbons. While pine has much less than some woods like cedar it has been considered unhealthy as bedding for a few years. Based upon the scarcity or nonexistence of cypress in the Western US and what I read on another forum, I did a little, actually a lot, of research.
> Small animal bedding is largely kiln dried wood and will say so on the bag. The kiln drying process evaporates the phenols thus destroying any harmful vapors that may have been present in the wood. I have been thinking about this for quite some time now and decided to really find out what the story really was.
> 
> Now, as usual, you may begin the flaming however, before universally refuting the information out there you should actually read it. It really is quite interesting.



As a testament to your research, I used fire kilned pine for years as snake bedding and never had any issues.


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## frost (Jun 6, 2012)

hmm i didnt know that. i wonder if the pine around me is kiln dried.


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## chelvis (Jun 6, 2012)

easy way around the humidity is providing a hid area that hold humidity. I can fill a hid with peat moss and cypress mulch and it will stay humid for days without constaint misting. Never had a bad shed and I have moved towards aspen now as well. It can work it just takes some ingenuity to it. As for the food issue, cypress will stick to the food as well, I just don't feed in the cage or if I do I use a big plate.


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## Dana C (Jun 7, 2012)

frost said:


> hmm i didnt know that. i wonder if the pine around me is kiln dried.



The good stuff will say so on the bags. Often it is targeted towards people that keep guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters etc. I haven't used it but I am tempted to experiment a little.


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## frost (Jun 7, 2012)

i might try some of the aspen and peat moss. my red has an issue with dirt and digs all the dirt to one side and sometimes burys her water bowl.


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## Dana C (Jun 7, 2012)

Check out feed stores before you buy anything from a pet store. I just bought 8cu. ft. which expands by half again at least for $22. 12 ft amounts to 288 dry quarts. The shreds are larger than the aspen in Petsmart as well and it is very burrow ready as my guys can attest to.


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## frost (Jun 8, 2012)

i just took a trip to tractor supply co and got some aspen. i looked at the pine and it wasn't kiln dried so i just went with the aspen. i have to clean rat cages and the corn cob bedding wasn't worth it to me. i would have liked to go with the pine or ceder since it was only $8 for a big bag of it. the ceder was kiln dried but i wasn't going to risk that.


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## frost (Mar 8, 2013)

has anyone had any success with the pine or aspen?


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## Little Wise Owl (Mar 9, 2013)

I house my tegu on pure, organic backyard dirt, children's play sand, and peat moss. It's cheap, holds humidity well and burrows amazingly. My tegu spends a lot of his day foraging and digging burrows. 

And occasionally little cute plants sprout when I mist/water his tank. THEN HE TRAMPLES THEM TO DEATH. lol


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## Scott_k (Mar 9, 2013)

I've never used aspen bedding for a tegu. I've used it for my tree boa and like tegus they need high humidity and after the first week I noticed it was starting to mold. Me personally I use cypress for my gu and and all my snakes. I was using a 50/50 mix of cypress and aspen and it just was moldy after a week.


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