they are only in the cages a couple days before the moms give birth then a couple days after to make sure she is a good mother but yes it isn't the best bedding but thats why i just use it for a week or less depending how long after i stick the pregnant moms in the cage before she pops I'm usually pretty good at guessing when there about to pop longest has been 3 days just had 2 litter dropped in the cobb that each had 16 babies so hopefully that aint a small litter

after a week the mom and babies get moved into a mother and baby communal tank where new moms and babies are moved in sometimes daily or when others come out depending how many female have babies at once