**small animal pellet bedding**

[Desert Arabian]

what kind of pellet bedding do you use?

I recently decided to switch to pellet bedding, because I am so sick and tired of shavings. It doesn't help much, when you have rats shoveling it out on the floor, so you can track it around the house. When you suck it up in the vacuum- it clogs, when you sweep it up- it sticks to the broom brsitles. UUUUUUGGGHH!Can you tell I'm sick of shavings? LOL! I bought a cheap-o bag to test it out. So far 99% loving it- smells great, and my wood floors are spotless!! The brand I bought is called: Aspen Supreme. Do you suggest a different brand OR type of bedding. Thank you!

- YellowLabLover

[Daisylover]

There has been quite a bit of research in the past few years and it has shown that pine and cedar shavings cause liver cancer in almost all small animals, from rabbits to gerbils and hamster and, I would imagine, rats and mice as well.....

Something in the urine mixes with a compound in soft woods and gives off an odorous gas which causes the cancer. It hasn't really been noticable in smaller animals, it is theorizied, because they don't live long to begin with - 2-3 years. But with bunnies at least, improved veterinary medicine and nutrition have extended their life span considerably. When buns started dying for no apparent reason, researchers started looking at housing, food and living conditions and found high incidence of liver cancer but could find no obvious cause. Further investigation identified the shavings as the culprit. See www.rabbit.org web site for more info.

The compound in pine and cedar (it is in all soft woods is what I have been told) is not found in Aspen or paper litters. Of course these "new" litters are more expensive than the pine and cedar shavings. The way I look at this situation is why take a chance with the shavings and that if using paper or aspen helps keep my pets healthier and have longer lives then those more expensive litters are worth it. But that's just my opinion!!!

[luckies4me]

YLL knows about the evils of pine and cedar. She uses aspen so there is nothing to worry about. The brand you are using is a nice brand. Just make sure that your rats have something nice and comfy to sleep on and also something soft to walk on so they can give their feet a rest. My babies use pellets but I also give them some shavings ina corner to snuggle in when they don't want to use their hammocks.

I prefer to use shaving with my pregnant and lactating does. My bucks always have pellets are we all know how messy those guys can be. Wood stove pellets (usually made out of aspen or other hardwoods) is great to use. This is what I currently use. I buy a 40 poung bag for two dollars and it lasts a long time. And with as many rats as I have this is very important to me. I go through about 120 pounds of pellets a week and around 13 pounds of shaving a week.

Oh yes and how could I forget...My Roxy gave birth to 14 cute kittens three days ago. Hopefully we will get some more odd eyes from this litter. This will be her last litter. Of course I will be keeping one of her daughters and perhaps a buck form the litter also.

[luckies4me]

Here are some pics of Roxy:

Here she is pregnant


Isn't she beautiful


Her eyes: Here you can see that she is an odd eyed rat. She has one red and one pink eye.

Roxys first litter: We got three odd eyes out of her this litter. All are velveteen dumbo carriers.

Want to see more pictures? Click here

[Desert Arabian]

Oh how cute! I love the "little" belly. Thanks for the information. Trust me, my ratties have more than enough places that are soft and plushy- I little too much I think. So much so that it usually takes me about 2 1/2 hours to clean the cage and wash everything in it-tubes,hammocks,boxes,etc. I had to take away half of their stuff and put it in the shed,because there was so much. Oh boy, my ratties are quite spoiled. I'm sure my Christmas their mansion will grow. I don't even want to share with you the amount of money the mom spends on my children. Oh well, their worth it!!

[Desert Arabian]

p.s they even have a fleece blanket to lay on

[Candycane]

Hi all,
I'm a little confused as to what you mean by "pellets" are they highly compressed? Or is it just aspen shavings??

[luckies4me]

Shavings are pieces of wood that are shavings, lol. Yes pellets are hard and compressed.

[All Creatures Great And Small]

I don't even want to share with you the amount of money my mom spends on my children. Oh well, they're worth it!!

(Easy for HER to say - she needs to get a job! ) luckies4me, THANK YOU! I would never have known to look for wood stove pellets as an economical alternative to the stuff we bought at the pet store! I bought a 40 lb. bag of pure aspen pellet bedding at the only pet store near here that had it, which is 20 miles away , and it cost me $20.00. Since reading your posts here, I called a hardware store right up the street here, and they have a 40 lb. bag of wood stove pellets for $2.99. I love my daughter's ratties dearly, but this new special bedding would have cost me 3 times as much as the aspen shavings did, and I was not too happy about that. Luckily she hasn't opened the bag yet, so I can return it to the pet store the next time I make a pilgrimage out that way Now the only thing bumming me out is lugging the 40 lb bags into the house and storing them - I'm not exactly a weightlifter!