Rat Owners! User Survey on Rat Bedding.

I wasn't sure where to put this, so please feel free to move it if appropriate.

I'm looking to assemble a user survey on rat beddings. Anyone with experience using any/all rat beddings, I would like it if you could participate.
I will be creating an averaged rating chart system (published on a website) based on user reviews, for general public use.

Scale is 0-5
0 being less desirable
5 being most desirable
You can also use a 0.5 vote if needed for better accuracy.

Please let me know if you feel an additional category should be added.
You can reply with your results to this message, or in a private message or email to [email protected]
Feel free to rate as many beddings as you would like. Any small pet, or cat (rat safe) litters are acceptable.

Categories as follows:

Type: (What the bedding is made from)
Biodegradable: (Yes or No)
Flushable: (Yes or No)
Scented: (Natural or added scent, please clarify.)
Shape: (The shape of individual bedding pieces.)
Colour: (The overall colour of the bedding.)
Dust: (How dusty is this product new and after being used, as a total. 0-5)
Comfort: (Overall comfort for rats sleeping/walking on bedding. 0-5)
Odor Control: (How well does the bedding hold up to controlling odors, up to the day of cleaning. 0-5)
Longevity: (Is the bedding long lasting, or must it be changed more frequently then others? 0-5)
Tracking: (Do you often find the bedding around the floor of the cage, or through out your house, or little to no tracking. 0-5)
Absorbency: (General urine absorbency ability & absorbency against water spills, or leaky water bottles. 0-5)
Overall Safety: (Is this product safe in every way for rats? 0-5)
Cost Value: (Does product provide enough bedding for the cost of what you pay per package? 0-5)


Once again, thank you to all whom participate.

Type: Aspen Shavings
Biodegradable: Yes
Flushable: No
Scented: Some natural "woody" smell, but no harmful phenols (scented oils) in the wood.
Shape: long and thin shavings
Colour: pale creamy tan
Dust: not very dusty for wood shavings, but still a wood shaving. I'd say 3
Comfort: They seem to like digging in it and making dens out if it, but it's not as soft as some of the other 'fluffy" beddings. I give it a 4
Odor Control: Well, when I had two rats it did great, but when I had six I needed something better. 3
Longevity: Not the longest lasting bedding I've ever tried. 2
Tracking: I had it sprayed ALL OVER!
Absorbency: 2 or 3
Overall Safety: 4-5 depending on the rats.
Cost Value: 4


Type: Cell-Sorb Plus
Biodegradable: Yes
Flushable: Yes (I think)
Scented: Has a unique but very mild scent
Shape: large pellets
Colour: dark grey
Dust: No dust!! I once had a VERY old bag that was a little dusty but other than that no dust.
Comfort: Mmm...This bedding is a little harder then most, so I always provided soft spots for them to sleep on. 3
Odor Control: This was the best bedding when I had six rats. 5
Longevity: 5
Tracking: Very little, if any, tracking. 5
Absorbency: 4-5
Overall Safety: 5
Cost Value: 5

Type: Carefresh
Biodegradable: Yes
Flushable: I don't think so
Scented: No scent
Shape: shredded cardboard-like material
Colour: light grey
Dust: Very dusty! I had a few rats who were allergic to this bedding. 1
Comfort: soft and fluffy, very comfy! 5
Odor Control: Does a fair job. 4
Longevity: So-so. 3-3
Tracking: Some tracking. 2
Absorbency: 4
Overall Safety: 2-3. Safe if they're not allergic to it, which leads me to wonder if it may cause subtle problems in rats who aren't allergic to it.
Cost Value: 3

Type: Hemp shavings
Biodegradable: Yes
Flushable: No
Scented: No scent
Shape: thin wispy shavings
Colour: pale tan
Dust: (How dusty is this product new and after being used, as a total. quite dusty. 2
Comfort: soft and fluffy. My rats seemed to like nesting in it. 5
Odor Control: it's all right. 3
Longevity: 3
Tracking: Lots! 1
Absorbency: So-so. 3
Overall Safety: Safe aside from the dustiness. 3
Cost Value: 3

Well I would love to get into this but I have only used aspine other then the stuff I use now.. We have a custom cut shaving that is pine. It's heat treated " NO OILS " and has just a very small amount of dust. LSU here in louisiana uses it for their rattery. The place they get it from is only about 5 mins away from our shelter. We are able to buy it from them along with all our feed. We use Lab Diet along with a custom blended mix. You have to know the reason we use this type of shavings, is we change our cages out every few days and we have 24 cages. Most are 5' wide by 4' deep by 4' tall. It's a lot of work.. Any other type shaving or bedding would bankrupt us.. LOL.. We are houseing around 142 rodents right now. Anyone need some ? 6 left louisiana last saturday and went to new mexico with their new mommy.. How cool is that.

my rattie is housed on carefresh only.. i used ot have him on aspen but that stuff is wAYY more dusty and messy.. it sticks toy our socks and trails all over the house hehe.. not fun.

EricLove, are you sure the pine does not have phenols in it? I've read that it's impossible to be rid of them. What do the shavings smell like?

Type: Lifemate Hemp Shavings
Biodegradable: Yes
Flushable: No
Scented: No scent
Shape: thin, paper-like shavings
Colour: light tan
Dust: I don't find it to be dusty at all. 0
Comfort: I'm sure if it was anywhere outside their litter box, my rats would really enjoy it. 5
Odor Control: The best I've had so far, besides pine. 4
Longevity: 3
Tracking: Quite a bit. 2
Absorbency: Could be better...3
Overall Safety: 5
Cost Value: 5

Type: Carefresh
Biodegradable: Yes
Flushable: No
Scented: No scent...but it stinks lol.
Shape: soft cardboard-like
Colour: grey
Dust: Everyone says it's dusty, but I don't find it dusty at all.
Comfort: My rats will sometimes sleep in their litter box on the first day I put it in lol. 0.
Odor Control: TERRIBLE! The litter smells in the first place, and once pee is added, YUCK. 0.
Longevity: Under normal circumstances I would say that it lasts pretty long -- it's pretty absorbent. Howver, due to the smell. I have to change it quite often. I give it a 1.
Tracking: TONS of tracking. I find it all over my house. 5.
Absorbency: 4
Overall Safety: I've heard of lots of rats being allergic to it or having health problems because of it. 2.
Cost Value: 5

Type: Aspen
Biodegradable: Yes
Flushable: No
Scented: None
Shape: small thin shards
Colour: light tan/white
Dust: 4. It can be pretty dusty...I always put it in a collander and strain the dust out of it. Works for me!
Comfort: 3.
Odor Control: Pretty bad...1.
Longevity: 3.
Tracking: TONS of tracking. 5.
Absorbency: 3.
Overall Safety: Lots of dust....Otherwise it's fine. 3.
Cost Value: 5

Ones I've used in the past...

Type: Pine Shavings
Biodegradable: Yes
Flushable: No
Scented: Natural
Shape: Thin small mostly square wood chips
Colour: Light tan
Dust: 5
Comfort: For laying in, 4
Odor Control: 5...The best odor control of anything I've used.
Longevity: 5
Tracking: Definatly 5
Absorbency: 5
Overall Safety: 1. It contains phenols (toxins) and it's too dusty. Shards can also get in the eyes. Before I knew better an used pine (when I got my first rat), he was sick all the time. When I switched he did alot better.
Cost Value: 5

Type: Yesterdays News
Biodegradable: Yes
Flushable: Yes
Scented: No
Shape: Pellets
Colour: Dark Bluish Grey
Dust: 0
Comfort: 0 -- terribly hard and uncomfortable. My rats hated it.
Odor Control: 0 --- STINKY!
Longevity: 0 -- I had to clean out the cages every single day.
Tracking: 5. I don't know how or why, but it got everywhere.
Absorbency: 0. More like it would suck it up and then let it all out.
Overall Safety: 4. My first rat, Frisco, was terribly allergic to it.
Cost Value: 4.


Type: Shredded newspaper
Biodegradable: Yes
Flushable: No
Scented: No
Shape: Shredded paper
Colour: Grey/Black
Dust: 0
Comfort: 3
Odor Control: 0
Longevity: 0 -- Newspaper sucks.
Tracking: 1
Absorbency: 1
Overall Safety: Newspaper does not have toxic ink anymore, so I'd give it a 5.
Cost Value: 5...You don't even have to pay for it...lol.

Those are the only things I've ever used. I recommend Lifemate Hemp above all else. I haven't found anything better and I don't think I'll switch.

Carefresh does stink... haha

I change Nimbus's Cage bi daily because his urine reaks so badly...

Quote:

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Originally posted by tikeyas_mom
Carefresh does stink... haha

I change Nimbus's Cage bi daily because his urine reaks so badly...

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I HATE carefresh! It smells absolutely horrid. Barf. :p