Equine Fresh / Woody Pet - Should I add water?

I bought some pine pellet bedding, its actually magnum horse bedding but it is made by the same folks as woody pet/equine fresh.. i guess they like to corner the market with 3 brand names. anyhow its a hard little pellet and the instructions say to wet it to start breaking down.

My question is should I wet it for rats and how deep of a layer of these pellets is enough? I put some in one tub in my rack and lightly misted it but it didn't break down at all (yet).

any helpful hints would be appreciated.

Richard

Some people do mist it and they say it just breaks down the pellets a little faster but me personally I don't at all. I prefer to just put about an inch or so down in the bottom of the cage dry and that seems to work just fine for me.

No need to break it down. Keep it dry. As for the amount, I dont use much, for this kind of bedding, alil goes a long way, I usually put just enough to completely cover the floor of the tub.

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Originally Posted by anendeloflorien

Some people do mist it and they say it just breaks down the pellets a little faster but me personally I don't at all. I prefer to just put about an inch or so down in the bottom of the cage dry and that seems to work just fine for me.

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Beat me to it. :P

I don't mist mine either - and I don't even completely cover the bottom of the tub - by the time a week is out - it's broken down enough that it has expanded to about an inch deep all over the enclosure. A tiny bit goes a LONG way!

Great thanks!!

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Originally Posted by rabernet

I don't mist mine either - and I don't even completely cover the bottom of the tub - by the time a week is out - it's broken down enough that it has expanded to about an inch deep all over the enclosure. A tiny bit goes a LONG way!

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this stuff lasts a week?!?! I have been changing my aspen every 3 days or earlier if it starts to stink..

Richard

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=77770

I cover approx 3/4 of my tub with a very light layer of pellets. I do not add any water, and like Robin said, by the end of the week it is completely expanded and about a half an inch deep.

I recomend you do 3 things.

1.) try it without any water in one tank
2.) try a very light misting in another tank
3.) wait a week and compare the 2 (amount of dust, smell)

You will likely be surprised by the results. Almost everyone that recomends not misting, has never tried if for themselves.

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Originally Posted by mcavana

Almost everyone that recomends not misting, has never tried if for themselves.

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Haha, Mike, but it's not always true. ;)

:whisper: Here's a little insider info on why I am and was vehemently against the notion of misting the pellets to control dust which I assume is where you believe I have NEVER misted pellets before.

I always mist the pellets for my own ASF's. Nowadays I actually completely expand the pellets.

The reason why I expand the pellets is because while I know how much pellets need to go in the large concrete tubs, I was having a hard time breaking the habit of using so many pellets in an asf tub.

By the time cleaning day came around, the tubs were just chocked full of sawdust, pretty deep and a lot of left over pellets that weren't expanded. I was using wayyyy to many pellets in the ASF tubs. It was a big waste of money.

So, I began to mist them a bit, just to get them to expand a little, but not enough to actually break apart so I had a better visual handle on how many pellets I needed. Just like you.

But since then I have molded and changed my process to completely expanding the pellets to a dust to use even less pellets. I use very little now, about 1 1/2 cups of pellets for a tub. They just expand SO MUCH, it's a real money saver for me. But the down side is the dust. I vacuum them every week and wash the tubs out completely, the lids, the shelving unit they are on. That dust get's everywhere. :taz:

So yes, while we may argue the finer points about the dustiness of pellets, I've been messing around misting pellets ever since I got my ASF's. :gj:

A HAH! so you have become a mister!!!! Thank you for that honest reply :gj:

By the way, I have stopped using the pellets all together.... now I use very fine shredded kiln dried pine that I get from my local feed store. IMHO only way to go with ASF's.