# Aspen wood shavings



## drfinkelstein&science (Apr 19, 2014)

Hello!

I've had my two rats for about two months now. I haven't owned rats in 10 years, so I'm new to this again. One of them wakes up every morning and her eyes are a bit puffy. I was wondering if this perhaps has anything to do with the aspen wood shavings I use? What do you guys recommend using instead of wood shavings? Thanks!


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## ratbasket (Apr 26, 2014)

I use Carefresh natural but I want to switch to cloth cage liners because I cannot stand the smell of carefresh!


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## DustyRat (Jul 9, 2012)

I recommend using a compressed paper pellet bedding, such as Yesterday's News by Purina. These days I use cloth towels and pillow cases as liners for my cage. I avoid using wood shavings as they contain aromas that can irritate rat lungs. The wood may also have mites mixed in as well.


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

I've heard that aspen especially is really bad for rats, I would say either use paper bedding or litter train your rats and then just use cloth liners 


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## ratbasket (Apr 26, 2014)

I haven't heard anything about aspen but pine and ceader shavings are terrible. I don't know though.


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## Wendydp (Mar 3, 2014)

I used to line the cage with towels and fleece, but it would get smelly quickly (I have two boys). I now use Carefresh natural mixed with a little bit of Aspen. Aspen is ok for rat. Pine and cedar aren't.


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## Hey-Fay (Jul 8, 2013)

I use fleece to line my cages. In my adults cage I had loose paper litter in the bottom pan but I've since switched it back to fleece because of the cost of the litter was too much and my girls prefer to kick all of it out onto my floor than keeping it in the cage.


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

I'm sorry I meant cedar! It's cedar that's really bad. For some reason I was reading this and thinking cedar, not aspen. I haven't had much sleep lately  sorry 


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Aspen is a hardwood, unlike pine and cedar which are softwoods. This makes a difference in the sap that is in the wood and a thing called phenols which are caustic to the respiratory system. (The same reason why Pine Sol is an effective cleaner.)

I think most people are still insisting that aspen is safe, but you'll find that there is still a strong "wood" smell when you open a bag of aspen. I was able to find a study to help somewhat confirm my own suspicion that there are still phenols in aspen shavings, so I'm not a big fan. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00843956

Rats have very delicate respiratory systems, so bedding and litter choices are always something to be mindful of.


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## Trouble and Xanax (Jun 20, 2013)

I put newspaper on the levels and bottom of the cage. I give extra newspaper and/or paper towel for them to rip up. I do change out the paper and wipe the levels down every day(takes about 15 min per day) but my rats are all pretty much litter trained. I use paper cat litter in the litter boxes and I have one box for each level. ( I just dump the litter everyday, wash the box with soap and water, then put more litter in) I probably go overboard on cleaning the cage but I enjoy it and it is necessary because almost all scents give me migraines. I get the newspaper for free and paper towel is about 5 dollars and last two weeks, can't beat it.


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## drfinkelstein&science (Apr 19, 2014)

Thank you all so much


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## Antiquatemyheart (Mar 25, 2014)

I line my shelf with fleece which, they love to shred, lol. In the bottom of the cage I use VitaKraft Eco Bedding which is nice and doesn't smell.


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