# Dog Hair as a Bedding Material?



## Vampiric Conure (Aug 17, 2018)

It's shedding season for my 5 month old puppy, Myrrh. I was wondering if it's okay to use her discarded fur from grooming to be used as rat bed liner? Her hair is medium length to short... shorter than a German shepherd's hair but longer than a beagle's. My previous dog was a whippet mix and I never had rats when she was alive. Plus she rarely shed. 

Thoughts? Ideas? TIA!


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## Rusty7 (May 25, 2018)

Dog hair is not usually very clean and it can have a lot of dust and skin particles on it that rats shouldn't breathe in all day long, so I would not recommend using that as a bedding material. Also I read from another thread on here that you said you may be developing allergies, so it's not a good idea to overwhelm yourself by also adding dog fur, which can have a lot of dander stuck on it, with your rats as well, even if you're not allergic to dogs.

Additionally, your rats may also not enjoy the dog scent over everything, ending up with them over-marking so that you'll have soiled rat bed liner that needs to be replaced with more dog hair bedding. Dog hair is also usually really light - it's going to scatter everywhere and wind up in places you don't want it to be.

It's an innovative idea and eco-friendly, but I don't really think it'll work out. But if you do try it, please let us know how it turned out! I've never thought about using dog hair as a bedding material before and I think it's very interesting.


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## Vampiric Conure (Aug 17, 2018)

The consensus on another group I'm on said the same thing- Not safe for ratties. I know it can be used for bird nests, but it has to be washed first. But birds are a completely different ball of wax and aren't affected by smell like rats are. Hrrrmmmm... Ah well. It was a nice thought while it lasted, LOL.

Thanks for your input!


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## Aissia (Jan 16, 2021)

Better don't risk with that. The rats might be allergic to that.
Sometimes even the dogs might be allergic to their own fur, but more because of the dust particles. I used to keep my dog's fur, I have a 2yo Chow-Chow, and they are shedding a lot. So I decided to make a bed and some toys out of his fur. After a few days, my dog started to sneeze a lot, and I got scared. Firstly I surfed the net for some info and found this webpage Why Does My Dog Keep Blowing Air Out His Nose? Complete Info!. I read that it might be allergies, so I made an appointment at the vet. My dog was allergic to objects made out of his fur. 
Basically, if the dog can be allergic to his own fur, most probably your rat might be too. Just be careful!


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