Ok, I will make this short and sweet...

I have been using Equine fresh pine pellets. i got the pine pellets because I was breeding rats and couldn't stand the smell. And it worked. Had a whole lot left when I started with ASF's, so I used it.

That said... 2 weeks ago I switched 2 of my ASF tanks to aspen..... HOLY COW.

HANDS DOWN, WITHOUT ANY DOUBT, the aspen tanks after 2 weeks have WAY less odor then the pine pellet tanks that were cleaned on the same day as the aspen tanks....

I can honestly say, for whatever reason, the aspen tanks smell better today, after two weeks of 1.4 and 40+ babies living in the tank, then they did the night I threw fresh aspen in...


Many people claim that ASF's have no natural smell.... others say the stink after a week... well, from what I have seen first hand, the ones that stink after a week are using pine pellets.... the ones that dont' are using aspen.


Someone, Anyone, test this and report back....... It is one of those things that you won't belive unti you smell it...

I just cleaned my 10 gallon tank that houses 1.2 asfs after 2 weeks. And there was 0 smell.

I am asthmatic and I stuck my face in and smelled the tank and it didnt bother me. The asf's are a life saver... I just need them to produce for me and then ill really be rocking and rolling!

Oh yeah, I use aspen!

any of you pine pellet users try this out yet? If so, please share your results whatever they might be.

I can say with mice that with them on pine pellets, they reek and the dust gets EVERYWHERE.. I'm tired of it. Mice on aspen + a tiny corner of pine pellets = happy Becky.

Once I get my ASFs at the end of the month, I'll tell you how it goes with the aspen and them.

Yea... I forgot about this.

Mike, I did the aspen, no go for me. :( I think everyone is aware of how I feel when it comes to smell with ASF's... and it was bad. I was sick from the smell.

I use pellets and a covering of aspen (almost 50/50), with just pellets where they pee and poo. That works best for me.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

Yea... I forgot about this.

Mike, I did the aspen, no go for me. :( I think everyone is aware of how I feel when it comes to smell with ASF's... and it was bad. I was sick from the smell.

I use pellets and a covering of aspen (almost 50/50), with just pellets where they pee and poo. That works best for me.

---

It is interesting how some of you have ASF's that pee and poo in a specific part of the tank / tub. I definately have not experienced this at all. they go wherever they happen to be when they need to go!

I also tried the pellets bottom layer with some aspen on top, and for me that was by far the worse smell (far worse then aspen or pine pellets alone)... guess we just have different noses!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mcavana

It is interesting how some of you have ASF's that pee and poo in a specific part of the tank / tub. I definately have not experienced this at all. they go wherever they happen to be when they need to go!

I also tried the pellets bottom layer with some aspen on top, and for me that was by far the worse smell (far worse then aspen or pine pellets alone)... guess we just have different noses!

---

Mine all pee right next to the food and water. In the corner of the tub. I believe it's their way of claiming the food and water source. (just a guess really)

It's pretty different from other small mammals that dont pee or poo next to their food or nest. My asf's all concentrate right under the water nozzle and food hopper. lol :rofl:

I use aspen with no noticeable odor from the ASFRs.

I used to breed mice and the smell was terrible (on pine when I didn't know what I was doing).
I had ASFs on pine for a while and it kept the smell down pretty considerably similar to the way aspen is now.

:]

I use pin shavings for my ASF's and they dont have any smell but because i have so many their urine smells like ammonia. which really isn't too bad, but they are clean rats, the females defecate and urinate away from the nest also if they do poop on their nests they will pick it up with their mouths and move it to the feces side.