I am not going to use straw for the rats; it was a far-out idea. I have the aspen shavings that I posted in the other thread, in response to Raven's question. I can completely agree with you Becky; pine has no place in any rodent's cage, and I don't even like it for horses because it is dustier than a farmhouse bookshelf. I don't even use it under the straw anymore in the horse stalls; it is redundant. The floors slope and the urine drains out into a little ditch. I need to add though, i paid out the wazoo for very clean straw; I had a guy truck it out from 30 miles away, and I stacked all 72 bales myself (back pain was my companion, lol.)
But straw for horses has been the best bedding I can find so far. My straw has no dust; I have actually tried to swish it around and make it be dusty to no avail. I wish that our hay was this dust-free. :/ There is nothing like a nice deep bed of straw; I clean it daily and strip each stall, but then again with warm weather coming, I am having them outside as much as possible..
But a differing opinion is nothing to be angry over. I know that it is a complete definite, that with horses, people are veeery opinionated myself included. I would never become closed-minded and blatantly reject any other ideas that could be better than what I do. I have a friend who thinks I am insane for using straw instead of bedding with edible hay and piling said hay in a corner to feed; I have another who uses pine shavings exclusively. Both of them have had their horses for years with no problems related to bedding; they are both breeders; one an aqha breeder with very nice stock, the other one an awesome showjumper who breeds her own warmbloods, and I will never be anywhere as good with horses than her But I respect difference of opinion and try not to be closed-minded.