carefresh..

I have bought a bag of carefresh; I use pine for my rats; have for years with no problemos. I have read about pine's supposed downfalls and always swore that the second I saw a problem, I would switch; well, a newer female rat of mine has started sneezing. She was not even on pine at the pet store; it was this shredded paper bedding (really thin red/brown strips of sanitary paper; let me get the name of it..) Her eyes are reddish and runny, and she is sneezing; so I bedded her with CF.. it is pretty expensive compared to pine, but we'll see how she does on it.. I was actually thinking of using CF with my snakes; is it available in huge quantities at a reduced price?

i'm not sure if it is available in large quantities, but what about aspen? i get huge bags of it for $24.95/bag at my local feed store. i use it for all my rodents it works wonderfully. :)

My reasoning is, I wanted something that I could use for both my BPs and the rats.. but I do like the way that the newspaper is so easy to clean out of the BP tubs.. however, it doesn't give them any cushioning or anything to burrow through. I really don't want to use anything wooden for the snakes; I don't like how the cypress would leave little wood pieces on them, and for some reason I don't like the scent aspen has.. but the CF seems like it'd work well.. I am thinking of it for my bred female BPs to offer them something a littlke cushy; not sure if they'd appreciate it, but it seems like it'd offer a little more security, not to mention a better humidity retainer for shed time.. wow, this thread went off topic!

well as far as for snakes, i've never used aspen or carefresh for them so i can't really advise you there. it would be cheaper to use the aspen for the rodents and the carefresh for the snakes if you want...

I know, CF is so expensive.. :(

I don't like carefresh for the rats because it is so incredibly dusty. It's definitely not good for the newborn babies as the dust clogs their noses. I prefer aspen for the rats..

i'd agree . we tried care fresh at the petshop i work at and had alot of problems with sneezing . i much prefer aspen to anything else for my rats .

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

I have bought a bag of carefresh; I use pine for my rats; have for years with no problemos. I have read about pine's supposed downfalls and always swore that the second I saw a problem, I would switch; well, a newer female rat of mine has started sneezing. She was not even on pine at the pet store; it was this shredded paper bedding (really thin red/brown strips of sanitary paper; let me get the name of it..) Her eyes are reddish and runny, and she is sneezing; so I bedded her with CF.. it is pretty expensive compared to pine, but we'll see how she does on it.. I was actually thinking of using CF with my snakes; is it available in huge quantities at a reduced price?

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Ginevive.....I buy CF (48 dry quarts - 50 liters) This is the largest that I have seen. It cost's me $14.95 after my pet club savings.

I use to use shredded paper that I shredded myself, but had lot's of problems with the rats getting sick. I personally have not had any trouble with my CF usage.

I wish I could find the right kind of aspen; the larger shavings seemed pretty dusty to me; and when I bought the finer, shredded-type aspen, it was pretty coarse.. is there a company that makes aspen shavings that are the consistency of most available pine shavings?

the aspen i get at the feed store is packaged by kaytee but it just comes in a brown paper bag with no special packaging/logos/etc.

Are you guys using the Carefresh Ultra, because I've never really found it dusty? I dunno. I've used it for everything except the cat: snakes, rabbits, mice, birds... and I love the stuff. The snakes would still be on Carefresh if I didn't love the Kraft Paper so much just for ease of total sanitary cleaning. Plus cheaper. It also looks nice. But I still always have Carefresh Ultra around for the rabbits. Probably always will, it's good stuff. :) It is on the expensive side though... but I've found it worth it, safe, and with the white stuff easy to see when it needs cleaning right away.

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

I wish I could find the right kind of aspen; the larger shavings seemed pretty dusty to me; and when I bought the finer, shredded-type aspen, it was pretty coarse.. is there a company that makes aspen shavings that are the consistency of most available pine shavings?

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look on KS for boas and balls or something like that. they sell the harlin aspen and may be able to ship it.

i use kaytee aspen for my snakes and i use carefresh for my ratties. my ratties start sneezing whenever i use aspen... so i stay with carefresh. ;)