Olimpia
Biologist & Ecologist
Nope, neither. I cut fresh branches and put them right into the cage. I know they come from an area free of pesticides and I'm not worried about any bugs or anything on them so I didn't mess with them at all. They've been in there now since like April I believe and they're holding up to the humidity and heat pretty well. They still look new.
The sap is definitely a pain (although baking a piece of pine wood makes your house smell aaamazing!) but I have read that pine (and cedar too, I believe?) have oils that have shown to cause respiratory issues and liver enzyme changes in research animals, like lab rats, kept on pine shavings, which is why they don't recommend this bedding for small pet mammals. And I've always heard that it's a horrible material for snakes because it causes all the same problems. So I've always assumed that it may affect most animals to a similar degree and just avoid using pine.
I imagine that short exposure isn't a problem, like letting your chameleon pose around on a pine tree for photos. But maybe putting them on cut pine branches 24/7 might be a bit much long-term.
