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when i had guinea pigs i used carefree or carefresh cant remember name but it was grey…
hey i just started this thing to see what kind of shaveings people use for their rodents.i personally use pine because i heard it was suppose to be the best. but i don’t really know so i want to know what kind you use.
I use pine for my four guinea pigs. I’ve read that preferably you’d want to use pine shavings for any rodent.
[quote author=MOUSELOVER link=board=5;threadid=1105;start=0#msg5444 date=1087310751] when i had guinea pigs i used carefree or carefresh cant remember name but it was grey… [/quote] it was carefresh, I know because that is the bedding I use for my rats. I recommend it cause you don’t have to worry about it up setting your pets respitory tract. it is more expensive, but it is worth it.
i use aspen bedding its cheaper than carefresh and absorbs better i think, plus i dont use it up as fast as i would with care fresh!
DON’T use any thing like cedar or pine they are dangerious to most rodents health, they carry toxic oils that break down the liver and respatory system, and can be fatal if you use them for a long period of time. thats what happened to my very first rat i ever got b/c i had no clue.
I like to use KILN DRIED pine shavings for my guinea pigs. I only use it because my girls cage is VERY well ventalated and open. For my rats I use fleese blankets, they are so much more absorbent, they pose no health risks, and its easy to clean. Regulare pine and cedar bedding really are very harmful to your small pet’s sensative respritory system. Its not very hard or expencive to switch to KILN DRIED pine or Aspend, or something less toxic to your beloved pet.
pine is not bad for your rodents pines is one of the best shaveings you can use for your rodents. aspin is not suppose to be used.
i use carefresh. i buy the 50 ltr bag because its more economical than just buying the smaller bag. . i worked in a petstore that used and recommended aspen litter. …pine ive heard is bad and cedar is a NO-NO –the fact that they still sell Cedar for small animal bedding amazes me.
pine is one of the better ones. all the pet stores i have worked at all used pine.pine does not dust off unless you buy the a certain kind of it the fine stuff.
i have to disagree with you psycho rat. sorry. my petstore used aspen because it had less dusting (breakoff from bedding that could be inhaled by the animals -also there were no oils in it).. i am not 100% sure about the pine, so i cant say -i just know that pine has more breakoff dust (i know im not saying this right [its late] but hopefully you know what i am talking about) other people say it has oils in it like cedar, but not as bad. that im not sure of. in a chain of command, so to speak, from best to worst- -carefresh(or other newspaper type litter was first, aspen 2nd, pine 3rd, chlorophyll litter 4th and cedar 5th…. corncob also makes a great litter -only problem with corncob is that it tends to mold almost immediately after getting wet.
it’s not the dust that’s the problem. it’s the toxins – oils, pheonls and hydrocarbon compounds are in that stuff that irritate and destroy the lining of the lungs, causing upper and lower respiratory tract infections. PLus, the toxins also put strain on the immune system, elevating liver enzyme levels, which in turn can cause disease and death. it’s just not worth it. in all the time I’ve kept rats, about 5 years, I’ve used one bag of pine shavings – this caused infections in two rats. these spread that infection to their offspring, and from there all but two of the rats i’ve owned have had problems, if not died from respiratory illness. I’ve bought rats from a pet store I used to work in because they developed respiratory problems after being kept on softwood shavings; the symptoms eased a little when I requested they be kept on paper until I could take them home. if you want proper articles, go to rmca.org, or ratfanclub.org . both of these have information about softwood toxicity. I use alfalfa, it’s just as absorbent and is inexpensive too.
i have used pine on all of my animals ince i have been 5. and not one of them have died from that. all died of old age. you think what you want. i am just going by my experience.
DO NOT USE PINE OR CEDAR SHAVINGS FOR HAMSTERS, RATS, GERBILS, GUINEA PIGS, RABBITS, ETC! THEY ARE TOXIC TO SMALL ANIMALS! IF YOU LOVE YOUR SMALL PETS, (PLEASE) GET RID OF THE PINE/CEDAR SHAVINGS NOW!! The oils in the wood shavings break down the respiratory system and liver of small animals. The odors given off by the oils are too harsh/strong for small animals. MY GUINEA PIG DIED FROM BEING HOUSED ON CEDAR!! Did you get that!? My guinea pig DIED from cedar shavings! :'( :'( :'( People put cedar shelving in their closets to repell bugs and insects- so why would you house your pet on cedar shavings? Just because it smells good? Use carefresh, aspen, cel-sorb- anything BUT pine and cedar. Yes, it will be more expensive- but you can’t dish out some extra bucks to keep your pet safe- maybe you should find it a new home. 😉
first off all never said i used cedar i know cedar is bad for them. but pine is not. pine is ok for them. and i do dish out the money for my aniamls and they are quit happy with the home that they have right now and they are not going anywhere until they die.and that wont be for awhile because they are all in good health.
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