trying Woody Pet bedding..

I bought a bag of that Woody Pet wood-pellet bedding. I am giving it a try. I don't know if it will be as economical as the shavings, but so far I am on day 5 in the test tank. I have three weanling females in there, and honestly if you stick your head right into the tank, you can only smell the wood :)
So we'll see.. does anyone else use this? I was thinking of putting it maybe under a thicker layer of shavings to extend their absorbency?

We use the woody pet on all out rodents. If you have a Tractor Supply store around you can pick-up larger bags for much less. Be sure to buy the horse bedding and not the small animal bedding as the small animal bedding cost twice as much for the same thing. We also use a thin layer of 'Stall Dry' it works real good. We don't smell a thing.


:)

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Originally Posted by jbkd

We use the woody pet on all out rodents. If you have a Tractor Supply store around you can pick-up larger bags for much less. Be sure to buy the horse bedding and not the small animal bedding as the small animal bedding cost twice as much for the same thing. We also use a thin layer of 'Stall Dry' it works real good. We don't smell a thing.


:)

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True!

Also, make sure you use just a thin layer. As the days go on, it breaks down into sawdust and the volume increases. I know Tim uses it with some Aspen/Pine on the top and I've tried the same. It gave me much longer smell control. What I have found out is that air movement is just as important if not more so than what bedding you choose. The more air movement/air flow, the drier your bedding of choice will stay and the more odor will be moved away.

I might have to try some of this woody pet bedding. i have heard of it but never tried it. i have tried aspen and carefresh and get about the same results with both.....which aren't very good, lol.

Well, I found a local place that sells Woody Pet, and drove the 20 miles to pick up a couple bags. What are you guys paying for it? I paid $3.99 each for the 30lb bags!!! My girlfriend thinks I need to try reselling it.. lol

I have been using Equine Fresh (a version of Woody Pet sold at Tractor Supply stores) costs $4.69 per 40#.


I have been using it exclusively for about 6 months now and it has cut my cleaning down to every 2 weeks. And even at 2 weeks you cannot smell anything.

Jamie is right...you must use very little (just enough to cover the bottom without stacking the pellets)...over the course of 2 weeks this small layer will grow to almost 1.5" worth of bedding.

This stuff is awesome and highly recommended.

I'm really hoping the smell reduction is as drastic as everyone says it is... after 3 days with just 3 mice on aspen I was getting complaints about the odor. If this doesn't work they're going to be moved out to the utility closet...

I use the equine fresh from tractor supply. It costs 6.47 for a 40 lb bag. Also, we use it with a thin layer of aspen for comfort and letting the solid waste get covered.

I find that my pregnant girls tub smelled because of the poo laying around. (They pood a ton!). BUT I was also not using as much equine fresh (about 1/3) because it does break down, and I didn't want it to scar the little pups lungs with them rolling around in it.

On the other hand, for my boys, they only get equine fresh (a little aspen for their bed), and although it does start to smell after a week, it is very minimal. Nothing like just using aspen alone. The change is very dramatic, but we still need to change once a week. I haven't found anything that's cost efficient and can go for 2 weeks in between cleanings.
We do have an exhaust fan and air conditioner so the air exchange and movement is pretty constant.

Although some people say there is no smell in their room, invite a friend over like my boyfriends, and they will let you know how much it smells and how badly. (with extra special effects of them puking, charming) I think it doesnt smell very much, but I'm around it all the time, so I don't know what the rest of the household thinks.

Sean, I am curious how many tubs (mine are 22¼ X 16¾) can you do with a 40 pounds bag of Equine Fresh?

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Originally Posted by GA_Ball_Pythons

Sean, I am curious how many tubs (mine are 22¼ X 16¾) can you do with a 40 pounds bag of Equine Fresh?

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I am using the same tubs (concrete mixing tubs?)...I use 2 scoops (cat food scooper) per tub I weighed it and it came out to 2.4 lbs per tub. So I can get about 15 tubs per bag.

I am not really this precise but what I do know is I have 24 tubs that I use this for and it takes about 1.5 bags to do all of them.

Does this help?

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

On the other hand, for my boys, they only get equine fresh (a little aspen for their bed), and although it does start to smell after a week, it is very minimal. Nothing like just using aspen alone. The change is very dramatic, but we still need to change once a week. I haven't found anything that's cost efficient and can go for 2 weeks in between cleanings.
We do have an exhaust fan and air conditioner so the air exchange and movement is pretty constant.

Although some people say there is no smell in their room, invite a friend over like my boyfriends, and they will let you know how much it smells and how badly. (with extra special effects of them puking, charming) I think it doesnt smell very much, but I'm around it all the time, so I don't know what the rest of the household thinks.

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I guess everyones experience is a little different (it will also depend on bio load in each tub (and as you said air exchange)...for the hotest months of the summer my racks were in the dining room and we had friends and family over and all the commented on was why the house smell like pine...we had to tell them we had rats before they knew. I still only changed the tubs every 2 weeks (with the exception of what you pointed out the girls with litters tended to need to be changed a little sooner as the piled up the bedding so it wasn't as effective.

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Originally Posted by lord jackel

Does this help?

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Yes it does thank for the info.

Sort of on topic for woody pet bedding, I am currently testing out "Pennywise" Wood stove pellets. $3.99 for 40 lbs at Menards 4 blocks away.

Nice sealed bag, they seem clean with no other crap in there, pellets are a little larger than Woody Pet and EquiLitter.

The pellets don't fluff out as much as woody pet when they break down, which is a plus, the mouse lab cages would get too full of broken down woody pet by the time the week was up.

Only problem is that it doesn't say exactly what kind of wood is used, though I imagine it's mostly pine. The bag indicates that it's from lumber. No strong pine smell so no problem with phenols. I think when it's processed this much it loses most of the alleged toxic properties of pine.

No matter really, as Woody Pet and Equi Litter are made from pine anyway.

I was really thinking about trying some wood pellets like that, seeing as they are half price, how different could it be from equine fresh or woody?? I know woody says they remove the tar from the wood... so i don't really know the difference with regular wood pellets. How is it for odor and asorbancy so far? Should I try it out?

I was at Tractor Supply yesterday to get some more Equine Fresh (another brand like Woody Pet) and they had just gotten in a shipment of wood stove pellets. I looked at the bag and they are about the same size as Equine Fresh but say they are made from 100% hardwoods (pine is a soft wood...just FYI)...so I picked up a bag to try it out (it is $4.25 vs. $6.49 for the Equine Fresh). So to save a couple of bucks I figured why not and see how it works...I will post my results next week in case anyone is interested.

I think they're pretty much the same as animal bedding pellets. The bag I got is "premium" grade stove pellets and supposed to have very little contaminants, less than .5% "Ash" I think is all that is listed.

I found the manufacturer's website, http://www.marthwood.com/fuel.htm. The same company also makes animal bedding which looks like the identical pellets.

So far I am liking it, seems just as good as woody pet or equi litter on odors, doesn't fluff up as much when it breaks down.
I had a water bottle leak and it just ended up with one side of the tub all broken down sawdust packed tight and slightly damp on top but overall quite dry for having absorbed a whole water bottle. The same thing happened with Equi Litter and my poor mice were almost drowned in sawdust, they had dug out little clear spots right up against the top wire bars and the rest of the tub was completely filled.

Looks like I found a nice convenient new mouse and ASF bedding. I'm going to look around and see if I can find it any cheaper maybe with multiple bags purchased.

One possible problem though is it might be a seasonal product and be hard to find in the spring and summer. I know I haven't seen it at Menards before, though I might have just not found it.

Well I think that tractor supply has it year round, because I've been eyeing it up all summer. I'll try it after this next batch runs out.

I'm still liking the stove pellets. 2nd cleaning after starting with them and still very little odor and they're very absorbent without fluffing up way too much.

I'm just using them for the mice and 2 remaining ASF cages so haven't put much of a dent in the 40 lb bag but as soon as I get time I'm going to Menards and buying 3-4 more bags.

Great! I guess that decides it for me. Next batch will definitely be some stove pellets.

How much is the stuff going for???

I can buy it here at TSC for 2.75-3.00. Depending on which brand. Thats a 40 lb bag

I can get Woody Pet for $2.99/bag, but I've got to drive 20 miles to get it. I bought 2 bags the last time I went, and when that runs out I may try wood stove pellets since I can get them much closer.

Oo! I beat ya lol

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

I can buy it here at TSC for 2.75-3.00. Depending on which brand. Thats a 40 lb bag

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Do you know the brand you can buy? My TSC only carries stove pellets seasonal and they want $4.25 for 40 lbs. Just wondering if there might be a different brand to try.

Eh... I'm gonna have to check that one out... I'll get back to you. I just know it's always right at the front of my TSC and I always think about picking up a bag because its so cheap, I've never paid more attention than that.

Also, they had some pallets for sale as well, running at 130$. I'm guessing roughly 2160 lbs a pallet (that could be way off) roughly 54 bags, you end up saving something like 30 bucks. I'm gonna have to count that, 54 bags seems too low... When i first worked it out on site, it came out that i would be saving something like 50% off regular retail. lol. I'll tell ya after a few days when I can get my butt down there. ~

I wish I had a TSC close enough. I pay $3.99 for 40 lbs at Menards. Haven't found it anywhere else yet.