Shavings?

[Spring]

Hey everyone! Haven't been on in a bit,hopefully everyone is doing great! I was just thinking today a boutshavings and I'm really not sure.

For the last 5 months or so, i've been using this triple shaving mixthat has cypress, maple, pine, hemlock and spruce. Are any of thosewoods dangerous>? I have read that pine and cedar shavings aretoo auromic and can cause asthma and breathing problems and somethingto do with their kidneys. With that, I read that pine is less dangerousbut both should be avoided.

I'm not sure of my options, as with a bag of pine comapred to aspen(the safe non smelling wood) it's about 3x as much, and I go throughabout a bag every two weeks or less, and i'm not on a very big budgetwith everything else I have to buy.

So I was wondering, is pine that bad? If it is, I'll have to bite thebullet and buy another kind of shavings. What does everyone else use?:?

 

[Shuu]

Is it possible for you to not use shavings atall? If your bun pees in a litter box, it's probably more beneficial toleave the bottom of the cage and maybe put a small towel in there forbedding as long as s/he doesn't chew it.

 

[edwinf8936]

Pine shavings are not too bad order wise, driedpine has a lot less oder than sappy pine, I use pine. Maplewould be fine. I wonder about hemlock. I would skipcypress and spruce.

ed

 

[kgarver]

I use paper-based bedding. Like CareFresh or something like that...

 

[Spring]

Thanks everyone. The cage is two floors withsolid wood for floor so this might be uncomfortable? She has a box witha whole in it with towels so i'm not sure. How do you tell if theshavings are dried?

Hmm i've stopped using the tripled blend stuff since I finished thebag yesterday. This may sound stupid, but for shredded paper(since i'm always shredding something) could this work? Could she gethurt from it (paper cut??) Also would it hurt her if she ate it? Iusually have it in a box when she is out and i have to shooher from itif she starts eating too much!

Thanks again

 

[Bunnys_rule63]

Spring wrote:

Thanks everyone. The cage is two floors with solid wood forfloor so this might be uncomfortable? She has a box with a whole in itwith towels so i'm not sure.

My rabbits hutch has wooden floors so i use newspaper in the day areaand straw and newspaper in the night area. It is softer for their feetand makes the hutch easier to clean.

 

[Maureen Las]

Hi everone...I have been going through attempts to find something less expensive than Yesterdays News or Carefresh (which I have used for years). I now have six bunnies and the cost is unreal. For awhile I started using Premier aspen wood chips which advertises as being oil and scent free. That is OK but then another bunnie owner told me about something that can be bought at Tractor Supply really cheap and really safe (I hope) . It is called Equine Fresh and is pine wood pellets that is really made to be used in a horses stall. Initially I was really afraid of pine as I have readthat the pine and cedar shavings and chips interact with urine and can cause elevation of liver enzymes in bunnies. I bought a 40 lb. bag for $5.00 and then did call the company that makes it. Apparently the pellets are baked in a kiln and that this eliminates the oil. It smells good, is fairly heavy but absorbs well, however I am not sure that the bunnies like it. I have a new male and this may be the reason that all of them seem to be using the litter boxes and peeing and pooing on the towels etc. too.If this is really safe (it was on the House Rabbit list in Wi) then I will continue to hope my rabbits acclimate themselves to it. Someone else told me that you could use wood pelletsfor wood stoves but I didn't investigate this. I am not sure about shredded paper. I tried it in the bottom of one litterbox and then placed Carefresh on top because Jacques doesn't dig up his box. but if I shred mail it seems like there is always plastic in it. I'm always sort iuof afraid of ink too. I don't know if mine would pee on towels in a box because I place towels in their area for them to lie on and I don't want to confuse them. Does anyone else have any knowledge or ideas onsomething else that would be OK and cheap??? I get Oxbow hay delivered to my home from the company (much cheaper than the stores) I thought maybe I should just use hay in their litter boxes.

 

[Bassetluv]

A lot of people in the forum (including myself)use something called Woody Pet. It too was initially designed as ahorse stall bedding. Here's a link:

http://www.woodypet.com/horse.html

It's highly absorbant and is extremely cheap compared to Yesterday'sNews and the other products commonly sold at pet stores. From yourdescription, angieluv, Equine Fresh sounds quite similar. Others herewill be able to tell you a lot more than I can, though...

 

[bluebird]

I have used the equine fresh,i dont like woodstove pellets and im not sure they are safe as they are made fromhardwoods and i dont know if they have additives.bluebird

 

[Spring]

That woody shavings, I'm going to check it out.It's pretty local! I tried newspaperbefore she just started chewing itand flining it around the cage.

Also, for the ink I think they use vegetable ink thing? Not for certain though.

 

[JimD]

Did someone mention Woody Pet??

(angieluv: Equine Fresh is very similar to Woody Pet)

 

[Lissa]

Where do you get Equine Fresh?

 

[Pet_Bunny]

JimD wrote:

Did someone mention Woody Pet??

I was wondering whenthis phrase would pop up.

Even though I still have 5 bags of Woody Pet athome, I picked up some wood pelletscalled Dragon Mountain from HomeHardware. It was anew item and I wanted to see if it was any good. It cost$3.99 for 40 lbs.

It is very similar to Woody Pet, only that it has a faintpine smell. So now, I don't have to worry aboutfinding stock andPebbles can have as muchas she wants.

Rainbows!

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Lissa wrote:

Where do you get Equine Fresh?

1-800-480-6631

http://www.felinefresh.com/index.htm

Rainbows!

 

[Carolyn]

Bassetluv wrote:

A lot of people in the forum (including myself) usesomething called Woody Pet. It too was initially designed as a horsestall bedding. Here's a link:

http://www.woodypet.com/horse.html

It's highly absorbant and is extremely cheap compared to Yesterday'sNews and the other products commonly sold at pet stores. From yourdescription, angieluv, Equine Fresh sounds quite similar. Others herewill be able to tell you a lot more than I can, though...

Gee, I think someone did mention it. onder:

* * * * * * *


With the price increases that WoodyPet has gone through, I'm not realhappy with them at this point. I'm looking for a change andhave been talking to some equine people who claim that a product theyget called something along the lines of Reigning Champ is exactly thesame thing as WoodyPet and it's a couple of dollars cheaper.I'm not sure of the spelling as the gentleman who has been working withme is not available.

Definitely would ask your feed store about it. They can'tkeep it on the shelves in my area. I have to reserve bags.

-Carolyn

 

[JimD]

Pet_Bunny wrote:

Even though I still have 5 bags of Woody Pet at home,......

Rainbows!

.....I think I'm down to 16 bags now .

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Carolyn wrote:

Gee, I think someone did mention it. onder:

I was waiting for JimD to reply.

Price wise....it is so inexpensive to use WoodyPet. I onlyused 3 bags from February lastyear.

It would be great that more companies come out with similar products and that

it be more readily available to everyone on this forum.

Rainbows!

 

[Carolyn]

Rainbows,

When you're talking the difference in price being $2-3 a bag, it addsup. You have One Rabbit. Not surprised that cost isn't really an issuefor you.

I realize that joke Jim has with WoodyPet is as old as we are, but thetruth is that when Buck found it and got us all going on it, it was thebest deal in town. I'm not convinced that's true anymore.

Same product, different bag or name, with more money in my pocket? I'm interested in learning more.

As I say, take what you like and leave the rest.

-Carolyn

 

[naturestee]

Carolyn wrote:

Rainbows,

When you're talking the difference in price being $2-3 a bag, it addsup. You have One Rabbit. Not surprised that cost isn't really an issuefor you.

I realize that joke Jim has with WoodyPet is as old as we are, but thetruth is that when Buck found it and got us all going on it, it was thebest deal in town. I'm not convinced that's true anymore.

Same product, different bag or name, with more money in my pocket? I'm interested in learning more.

Take what you like and leave the rest.

-Carolyn

Shop around a smaller feed stores. There are two right by methat sell two different brands of wood pellet litter. Theprice for each is about $1 for 10 pounds, selling in either 40 lb or 50lb bags depending on which brand it is. They are madeslightly differently. The one I prefer is calledABM. http://www.abmanimalbedding.com/about.htm

Many of the small feed stores will order stuff for you.

 

[dajeti2]

I've noticed since I've been using WoodyPet the price slowly keeps going up on it. When you are onlybuying 3-4 bags a year it's not enough to really notice butwhen you go through 4-5 bags a month it adds up.

Tina