Pine

Is pine okay to use for rats?

yes it is

Alright thanks, becuase all ive been seeing on like google and stuff is that its not good for them. But i know Ralph davis uses it, so it cant be that bad

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Originally Posted by ryanisgothic

Alright thanks, becuase all ive been seeing on like google and stuff is that its not good for them. But i know Ralph davis uses it, so it cant be that bad

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Even though the messiah (:rolleyes:) uses it, just make sure you keep an eye on your rats for any respiratory issues. I used Pine for a long time and found that I had less sickness and death with a Pine pellet or Aspen.

Rats have very very delicate respitory systems and the oils in pine and cedar cause irritation. There is also evidence that being housed on pine causes a rise in liver enzymes in rodents. Here's a non-technical explaination of it: http://www.ratfanclub.org/litters.html. I can find you a higher-level overview if you are interested.

If you are just feeding them off, I suppose it doesn't matter. But if you are going to keep them as pets or care about their long term health I would advise using aspen.

i was assuming that you meant for feeder rats. If i was going to keep some as pets i wouldnt put them on pine.

I keep all mine on pine

Pine here.

I use pine aswell. On my birthing and early nursing racks I tend to use some baking soda on the tub bottle to keep the bedding from sticking under heavy use, works good and I think it keeps some of the odor down.

I too use Pine in all my tubs. Mainly because I get a big bail of pine chips from the feed mill in my area for 6.85! I also feed Mazuri. I get that for 14 bucks for a 25lb bag.