Mine have been on it for almost a year yes they eat it sometimes and will miss every now and again will get a mouthful of the coco coir they seem to swallow and pass it with no problems. I have not had any shed problems either. I have had to pull a chunk of cyprus out of a the mouth of one of mine after a whole night of him trying to get it out on his own. I'll not switch back to wood chips of any sort.