Breeder colonies without using bedding?

Well, I'm highly allergic to most beddings. Beddings that I'm not allergic to give me problems due to dusts, and the ones that I CAN live with are expensive for a small time "operation". So, I'm starting my colony without any type of bedding. I will of course give paper towels for the females with litters/about to drop litters, but this will be the extent of it. Has anyone else tried this or anything similar? So far (about two weeks into it) it seems to be going ok. I simply move the mice to another tub, then hose out the old one. The one thing I can see having problems with is the litter tubs. I can see possible problems with cleaning out the tubs when the litters are young, especially considering that I plan on housing two females per tub, which will probably drop at different times, causing different aged babies, older ones will produce more waste, while younger ones will prevent me from cleaning the cage. So, I will probably have to figure something else out for the litter tubs. I had 1 male to 3 females in a 20qt sterilite tub and had to spray it out approximately every 2-3 days, but I haven't had the larger colony in the larger tub for long enough to give an average.

Doesn't the pee run all over with nothing in the tubs? It seems like the bedding's purpose is to absorb that so they don't have to walk through it. How often do you hose it out?

Actually, ubelievably, I don't have any issues with icky messes or puddles.

I'd think they will be end up with urine soaked feet and bellies. They pee and poo and walk in it without bedding. Plus psychologically most rodents seem to enjoy pushing bedding around, so I would guess you need to put more chew toys or blocks in.

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Originally Posted by Bettacreek

Well, I'm highly allergic to most beddings. Beddings that I'm not allergic to give me problems due to dusts, and the ones that I CAN live with are expensive for a small time "operation".

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what bedding is expensive? perhaps someone can help you find a cheap alternative that you can live with.

Take a Benadryl or two, don a mask, goggles, and some palpating sleeves and get after it.

USE BEDDING. Pododermatitis is NOT fun, and neither is urine soaked fur and urine crusted tails. Rats NEED to be clean, if they aren't, it makes them neurotic because they can't get clean.

Use aspen or a low-dust bedding. You can screen it to remove even more dust. You can use pelleted recycled paper(Yesterday's News in the cat litter section).

Aspen is the worst bedding... Other beddings wreak havoc even with benedryl. Ironically enough, I don't have urine soaked mice, and they don't walk in their droppings/urine. So far, there haven't been any problems and my mice are just as clean as mice that have bedding. They don't have the pleasure of burrowing through bedding though, but, if I were to use Yesterday's News, they wouldn't be able to anyways. As I said in a previous post, I don't have problems with puddles all over the place or running into their play area.

Can you explain where all the wee goes then? Where does the wee and poo pellets go?

Newspaper pellets is the next best thing. Cell sorb plus comes in a 50 pound bag for 19$.

I don't believe they don't have puddles, the puddles may dry before you see them, but that doesnt mean they aren't walking through it wet and dry when you aren't watching. I think its inhumane to force any animal to live and walk in its urine and feces with no way to get off of it through a bedding material. The ammonia levels must be out of this world unless you clean their tub every single day.

Harlan Teklad sells many types of bedding material. Some are expensive, but dustless. There is even a product that looks like a nice thick paper towel. It's made out of cotton and the rats shred it up to make bedding, and it absorbs the urine and holds the feces as well.

Please don't keep them on nothing at all. That's just cruel.

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

Please don't keep them on nothing at all. That's just cruel.

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I agree!