what do YOU use?

[ADEE]

for bedding? we got pine & i know it was a no-no.. remy has been sneezing alot too, i also hate the "pet" smell that bedding gives off, i would prefur something less obvious (i hate u walk into our sons room & its obvious there is an animal) what is ideal for them?

[Argentra]

ASPEN all the way

Truly, I use aspen on my rat cage and it works great. You don't get that 'bedding' smell with it, the only scent it has is when it's in the bag/bin and that's a nice gentle woody smell, and it's nice and soft...and cheap!

I'll be starting mouse breeding on small scale here soon, and will be getting a young corn snake to add to my collection (tho that will be it...partner is already starting to fume at the number of critters I have) and I intend to use aspen with them as well. Great stuff

[MeMe]

for rats...I have used pine and aspen and I can't really tell the difference.

they both get gross within a few days.

I clean my rat tubs about every 2-3 days now.

I think Jamie had a post somewhere about some pellets he is using.

I will be changing over myself soon!


O...here is the link to his thread.


http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=48384

[littleindiangirl]

We use equine fresh as a base, and aspen on top, and there is a HUGE difference in smell. We change every saturday [ugh.. today:/] and it's the best mix we've found so far.

[frankykeno]

You could try Woody Pet if you can find it, either alone or with pine or aspen. You could put a layer of stall dry under any bedding. If you use pine do find a low dust one so the rats won't get breathing problems. Aspen works beautifully and doesn't have that wet nasty wood smell. You can buy a bag of fine aspen at any Walmart for just under $4.00 and it expands to 1800 cu inches. I find if I do a full enclosure clean once a week and about midweek just toss in a couple of fresh handfuls of bedding it really is fine. You can also add a few drops of vanilla to their water bottle. That tends to negate quite a bit of smell. Also ventilation is key. If the room is closed up or has poor ventilation, then they are going to smell more, that's a given.

[rabernet]

You can buy a bag of fine aspen at any Walmart for just under $4.00 and it expands to 1800 cu inches.

Well, not ANY Walmart, mine doesn't carry it!

I also use aspen with my rats and change their enclosures once a week. You can't tell I have 7 enclosures with rats by your nose!

[Rapture]

I use Kaytee aspen... the smell definately improved over pine or Yesterday's News. You can tell if you're overcrowding if it starts to smell in less than a week.

[ADEE]

I only have three baby female rats.. i cant imagine thats over crowding? and if it is too bad lol.. they are keepers

[frankykeno]

Nope three females will be fine in any larger rat safe enclosure, that's not overcrowding. Your WalMart doesn't sell that aspen Robin! Wow every one I've ever shopped at does. I just wish they stocked a bigger bag of it. Their big bags here are either cedar or pine.

[Alice]

We use equine fresh as a base, and aspen on top, and there is a HUGE difference in smell. We change every saturday [ugh.. today:/] and it's the best mix we've found so far.

We do the same. It seems to have helped cut down the smell. I tried other solutions (vanilla in the water, stall dry, etc) this combination seems to work best for us.