# Best bedding to reduce smell



## ali_g123 (Feb 6, 2015)

Hi I've been keeping my rats on fleece and towel for the last 6 months with litter trays. I'm finding even if I wash the fleece regularly it's not smelling too good at all! Just wondering if there is a particular bedding that is going to be better for reducing smell. I have 4 female rats in a double savic royal suite. The pans are not currently deep enough for loose bedding but I can do some adapting if needs be.


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## ali_g123 (Feb 6, 2015)

Also does anyone use horse bedding on the bottom of the cage. Like Aubiose. Would this be okay for the rats health? I'm in the UK and some of the loose bedding types are harder to get here.


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## Grotesque (Mar 19, 2014)

To be honest, you might have to adapt the cage for a loose bedding. I had to adapt mine but once I did, I started using aspen shavings and haven't had an odor issue since. Aspen is the only wood they can be on. I don't know about the horse bedding because I don't know exactly what is in it. Carefresh or any paper bedding tends to stink a bit. Aspen shavings are my personal favorite.


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## Coffeebean (Jan 6, 2017)

I mix shredded aspen with Fresh News and I have no problem with odors in the cage. Fleece does require more work to keep odor away, you do have to wash it frequently. It's a trade-off, you work harder with fleece liners but you spend less money than on loose bedding. If you're struggling with odor then you might be happier with bedding rather than liners. I only use fleece liners with my neat rats, but my super messy guys do great on loose bedding. Their bedding doesn't smell even after a week, I only end up changing it for sanitary purposes because there is no smell by cleaning day. Previously their cage would stink after 8 hours on the fleece.


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## CorbinDallasMyMan (Feb 24, 2017)

I'm not in the UK so I don't know how much help I can be.

It doesn't appear that aspen is readily available in the UK but it's gaining popularity again in the States. I've tried a hemp horse bedding (auboise) and the brand I used was terribly dusty. I don't normally struggle with allergies but it made my eyes itchy whenever I was near it. I threw out the entire bale. I'm sure different brands have different characteristics, though.

Back 2 Nature is recycled paper pellets and they're a bit weighty so they can work in the shallow plastic pans of the Royal Suite fairly well without being kicked out of the cage too much. Cardboard bedding looks pretty interesting to me. We don't have any products like it in the states so I'm not sure how well it works (better than just fleece, I'd imagine). I believe it's used as a horse stall bedding so it's probably available at farm/feed stores. You can also order varying quantities from RatRations.com. It seems pretty affordable. I think the scatter guards on the Royal Suite might be large enough to contain the larger cut pieces by Walmsley without any additional cage-adapting.

FizzyStarRats has a decent video on UK bedding options.


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## Coffeebean (Jan 6, 2017)

I've also heard that alfalfa pellets work well as bedding, similar in size and shape to YN and FN, though I don't know how they do with odor control. You can buy them as horse pellets or rabbit pellets, but horse pellets I have found to be cheaper. I've heard that rats don't bother eating it, and it is very cheap. I suppose it is worth looking into, but I've only heard of its effectiveness from other people so I can't say I have experience with it.


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## Ratmadoo (Nov 19, 2016)

I am in UK an had the same problems when I got my rats, such a lack of good bedding here  After a lot of experimenting; I use soy based newspaper on the levels (held on with pegs and changed daily or every 2 days) tumblefresh in the litter pans (can get it in MOLE Valley Farmers online) it's amazing and really neutralizes the odour, and for the foraging litter/bedding I use a split and softened barley straw product, it is soooo soft and lovely and my rats LOVE it, does not draw in any damp like hay, it's called supasoft that is also from mole valley farmers, in their beds they have supasoft base and ripped paper (which they like to rip and place there and I change this every 2 days)... Whilst in the Mole Valley brick n mortar shop they had a load of horse bedding sacks open at the back, they didnt have aubois but I touched some of the hemp bedding they had and it seemed very scratchy! It's been a nightmare experimenting but this seems the best solution for me - low odour and easy to maintain and get hold of the supplies. Each rat is so different though, I mean mine don't pee anywhere really apart from litter pans and their bed.


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