babies died (HELP)

[rebeccabecca]

When pups "go missing" it could be from lack of protine.Some people add dog food or chicken( cooked chicken bones are good too). Also pine isn't supposed to be the best. Do you live near a feed store? They sell corn cob bedding really cheap because farmers use it and wouldn't buy it if it were expensive. Pet stores in my area sell it for over $30 more a bag!It also stinks less.

[kc261]

When pups "go missing" it could be from lack of protine.Some people add dog food or chicken( cooked chicken bones are good too). Also pine isn't supposed to be the best. Do you live near a feed store? They sell corn cob bedding really cheap because farmers use it and wouldn't buy it if it were expensive. Pet stores in my area sell it for over $30 more a bag!It also stinks less.

I thought I remembered that corn cob bedding was not a good choice, but couldn't remember why, so I googled it to see. I found this, which is definitely not what I remembered, but it was very interesting:
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/art...?artid=1314908

The summary is that corn cob bedding has been shown to block male and female sexual behavior and disrupt the female's estrous cycle in rats. So I guess not a good choice for breeding feeders!

I also found another page that discussed this and said that the chemical that causes this effect has been found in fresh corn and in corn products such as corn tortillas. The point was that it is definitely in the corn...not a contaminant. But it makes me wonder about all the rodent feeds that use a lot of corn. It is the major ingredient in Mazuri 6F, for example. Hmm.

[rebeccabecca]

I love aspen too as it's super soft and a $5 bag goes pretty far. I never thought about cancer from the bedding. I do know not to feed them corn because of the risk of cancer. I have to buy the cob bedding because I have rabbits and they use that on there litter box .