Reptichip for rodents??

[cchardwick]

Has anyone ever tried coconut husk bedding for rodents? I go through just over three blocks of Reptichip every two months, I'm going to try using my used snake bedding for the mice to keep the smell down. I think it will work really good. Tomorrow I'll put down newspaper then Reptichip then shredded paper on top in the mice tubs in the rodent rack. I'm hoping it will increase my time between cleanings and reduce the smell...

[farmer1911 45ACP]

shredded aspen,pine pellets, and sweet pdz make my rat and asf colonies have zero smell . Hope this helps

[cchardwick]

Thanks for the info but I'm really looking for something free, my newspaper and shredded paper are totally free besides the labor to change it out. Typically more than half the cost of breeding rodents is bedding costs, need to keep it at zero if possible. I know Reptichip is really good at absorbing odors, and usually after a couple months in with the snakes it's not too bad, I change it out just to be sure there's no mold and to keep it fresh. I was just throwing it out, then used it for my plants and garden, I'm hoping it will cut my rodent labor in half.

[Viper0hr]

You can buy aspen in huge 1-3ft+ cubes, it is not free, but it's cheap as hell and lasts forever, that would be my recommendation. (They can be bought at grain/feed stores or tractor supply co ect)

I knew someone who had a good paper shredder that shredded paper into zig zags and she used that for her rodents, worked as substrate, and it proofed up and gave them makeshift tunnels to hide in.

[cchardwick]

I have 20 tubs of rodents, I go through bedding pretty fast, even with the big blocks of aspen. I get shredded paper from work for free so I use a lot of bedding, probably two huge trash bags full per week changing it out twice a week. My rats and ASF don't really smell much after three days, but my mice smell after only one day. I've tried to fix the problem by reducing the number of mice, and by feeding off all the adult males. One male mouse stinks more than a whole rack full of rats and ASF. I've been changing out my mice bedding every 1-2 days, if I change those four mice tubs every day there's almost no smell at all, but it's a lot of work. I thought maybe with a little coconut husk it would make it to 3-4 days, we will see....

I'm really trying to get my costs down for my rodents. I switched from feeding a mix of corn, oats, pig feed, etc. in food dishes to food blocks from above in a rack system, saves me a ton of money in food costs because none is wasted. And I only have to top off the food once per week, so almost no labor compared to what it was with the food dishes. Then I switched from aspen / pine to newspaper and shredded paper, not only does it save me a ton of money I'm changing out bedding more often because it's free, and that keeps the smell down and is better for the rodents. I use toilet paper rolls and the middles of paper towel rolls for chew toys for my mice. And my rats chew up and shred newspaper for fun and it gives them places to hide. It's working pretty well.

I also recently reduced my CO2 use, I was using those small gas canisters for gassing a Tupperware full of rodents, costs me a dollar a shot, I was doing about eight shots a week ($8 per week). Just got a big tank of CO2 and a regulator, should save me a ton of money in CO2!

My biggest cost now is snake bedding, I use Reptichip and use about four blocks every two months, so that's $50 per month in bedding for 20 large snake tubs. Not too bad, but I'd like to try to get that down as well. I tried the GrowIt substrate, similar to Reptichip but has a lot more trash in it and more dust, not really worth the few dollars in savings. Still looking for a cheap coconut husk substrate, maybe a cheap copy of Reptichip or buying in bulk by the pallet.

[GoingPostal]

I've used it in my rodent cages, worked fine, I do the same thing, use the snake bedding a 2nd round, might as well imo.