Outdoor Enclosure Questions

[Amtea]

I wanted to be able to get my BTS, Jake, out of his every day cage and let him get some rays on hot days here in Kentucky.
I had my friend make me a pretty large, cedar outdoor enclosure. It is secure so that I can walk away for around 10-20 minutes while Jake stays safe in there.
My question is, would it be okay doing this? Will this introduce parasites to him unnecessarily and should I just leave him in his regular indoor enclosure the rest of his life?
If not, what kind of substrate could I put in there? I was thinking just dirt but if I can get different dirt than the forrest floor I usually buy that would be better for me.

[ThatOneReptileNoob]

I don’t know about parasites, but isn’t cedar really dangerous for reptiles? Doesn’t it release fumes or chemicals or… something that can be deadly? I know at least it does indoors. Is it different with an outdoor enclosure?

[rixusaku]

Cedar wood releases oils that give off its scent and it introduces respiratory complications in blue tongues, sometimes leading to Respiratory Infection (this is what I've read on it at least). The sap can also be dangerous for them. All cedar and pine should be avoided, and unless it's the bark that has been treated (like Reptibark substrate), I've read that fir wood should be avoided too since fir trees are part of the pine and cedar family.

[WinnieBTS]

By no means am I a reptile expert, but I just let mine run around in the grass. I can't leave him alone, unfortunately, but I just make sure we haven't fertilized or anything and our grass is "natural" as possible. I have to say, doing this, I have found little inch worms crawling on my guy before bringing him back in but nothing a simple brush of my finger can't get off. I have looked on Amazon for small animal outdoor enclosures, and they do exist, but I think Winnie likes more to just run around my yard rather than being confined to a few feet in an enclosure. He spends the rest of his time cooped up, it's nice to let him run free occasionally.

Sorry, this may not have answered your question? But I may just spend the few minutes outside and enjoy watching your BTS bask and enjoy the outdoors, enclosure free