Have you heard of this with Pine Pellets

[Beardedragon]

er... I use it just to keep the smell down, and does turn pretty dusty but I clean every three or four days before it has a chance to break down fully. I would never want wet it first, I've put it on dog pee before and while it does not turn into the dust I see after I clean up tubs, its still clumps and is wet which I wouldn't want. I think it would be great for horse owners because of how much it expands but for rats id just keep it in its pelleted form. Really if you misted it first it would defeat the purpose of people using it for rats just because if think that would stop its smell/pee poop soaking abilities.

Thats just my

[Mike Cavanaugh]

I lied. I am replying one more time.

I will continue to spray a light mist of water on the pellets any time I use them in the future because it worked. There was little to no airborn dust, and it took a LOT longer to stink then normal. Didn't make sense to me either how it worked... so I emailed the manufacturer.

Here is my email:

COMMENTS: Hello,

Have a question for you. Not sure if you are aware of this but a large
number of my peers are using your equine fresh pine pelletts for pet /
breeding rats. It is a superior prodect to keep smell down, and works quite
well all around. Normally it is just dumped into the tank or tub and used
as is without adding any water.

Recently I noticed that the bag gave directions to apply a fine mist of
water to the pellets once it is laid. Just to experiment I did this with my
rats. I put just enough pellets down to cover the bottom of the tank and
then sprayed it for about a second with a fine mist. The pellets swelled up
a litte, then ultimately became totally dry again.

While misting did break the pellets down a littleI noticed that after heavy
use there is little to no airborn dust from the pelletts. It also somehow
has kept the smell down even more compared to laying down without the
misting.

My question is, why am I experiencing these results? Anyone who uses pine
pellets knows as soon as they get peed on they break down into the saw dust.
Why would misting with water prior to use end up lowering the amount of
airborn dust when the slight misting seems to add no lasting humidity to the
pine?


Mike Cavanaugh


Here is the Response:

Hi Michael,

Thank you for the email. It would seem to me that your methods and results
are great for your desired outcome.

On a microscopic level, I can speculate the following : By applying a fine
mist of water to the product, the pellet surface swells (or becomes rough) .
This surface swelling is the wood fiber bundles absorbing the small amount
of water thus the appearance of the product drying out. By
opening up the fiber bundles in this way, as the animal urinates the product
will absorb faster due to the greater surface area of the pellet from the
swelling process. Plus the pellet will have a higher moisture content which
will also result in faster moisture absorption because water molecules have
a high molecular attraction for one another.

When you absorb the urine quickly it has little time to grow the bacteria
that cause the odor thus giving better odor control and as well keeps the
dust to a minimum.

I am mailing out some coupons for the time you took to email - thank you again!

Cindee Kohagen
PlanetWise Products

[Beardedragon]

hmm, nice find/email I'll try it tonight to see

[stangs13]

Thanks for chiming in as an expert connie when you have never even tried what I am talking about. LOL... shouldn't have expected any different.

Nevermind folks, I will stop posting on this subject. Any questions? Ask the expert.

While connie may have not tried it, I SURE have. I work and know many people that use this bedding for many different animals, and the smaller the animal, the less you want the bedding wet. You will see, I promise. I notice NO smell with the pine pellets at all without the misting.

Whatever works I guess. Congrats on the coupons.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

use a TINY bit of water, it should barely turn darker brown as your spraying it.. then turn back to normal colour seconds after you spray it. If you apply the right amount of water, it will take a good 6 or 7 minutes to swell up some.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

While connie may have not tried it, I SURE have. I work and know many people that use this bedding for many different animals, and the smaller the animal, the less you want the bedding wet. You will see, I promise. I notice NO smell with the pine pellets at all without the misting.

Whatever works I guess. Congrats on the coupons.

Keep this simple point in mind... pine pellets that have been very lightly misted still have less moisture in them then then normal kiln dired shreeded aspen or pine.

The pellets do not become "wet"

[stangs13]

Keep this simple point in mind... pine pellets that have been very lightly misted still have less moisture in them then then normal kiln dired shreeded aspen or pine.

The pellets do not become "wet"

This is why pine shavings smell so much...while DRY pelleted shavings dont. Its because there dry.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

No point in arguing about it when I now know that it works... so once again I will bow out... or "take the hi road" as others might put it...

[stangs13]

No point in arguing about it when I now know that it works... so once again I will bow out... or "take the hi road" as others might put it...

Ok then.

[LarryPetty]

I've never used this product. I've seen it at TSC though. It seems expensive. Does it really hold down the smell longer than pine shavings?