# Best bedding for humans with allergies



## trematode

I may be getting another pair of gerbils soon and need to stock up on some bedding. I have mild allergies. I sneeze and get a runny nose whenever I change my gerbil bedding but it doesn't last long afterwards. I use a combination of Timothy or alfalfa hay and bedding. For bedding, I have tried hemp, aspen, Carefresh, Boxo and corn cob. Boxo is my favorite because it is soft and less dusty than the paper-based bedding I have tried. I also like aspen because they can burrow in it easier.

Right now, I use alfalfa and aspen for Mac (I usually use Timothy hay, but all stores were out of stock of the smaller bags the last time I went). Plus, there is a lot of cardboard and paper towel in his cage as well.

My boyfriend was helping me clean my large aquarium. I needed him to hold it while I dumped the soiled bedding into a garbage bag. He has more severe allergies. He was sneezing and had itchy eyes for 48 hours from the bedding. He has masks that he should have worn. Can anyone recommend a bedding that may be a little easier on his allergies?


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## elliriyanna

Can he take allergy medications before helping you? Other than that I don't actually know of any hypoallergenic beddings other than fleece which you can't really use for gerbils .. hmm ..


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## trematode

Apparently aspen is supposed to better for people with allergies because there is less dust. I was just wondering if anyone with more severe allergies tried something that happened to be less irritating. I will likely experiment with the different beddings that I have used in the past. I will remind him to use a mask. He is against taking medications unless the allergy is severe. I just feel a little bad that he allowed me to get two more and now I am finding out that he has allergies. I know he is allergic to the rats (he breaks out in hives if they scratch him).


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## FallDeere

Maybe a paper based bedding like Kaytee Clean and Cozy? I have it in my new gerbils' tank and my rats' digging boxes. It's really good for tunneling and no one in my family has had a bad reaction to it and we're allergic to everything and its dog (literally), so I don't think it would give him any issues. It _truly _has 0 dust from what I can see. It's just shredded paper, I believe. It's really really soft, though and all of my small pets seem to love it.

Good luck! Allergies are no fun.


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## Jenzie

Gerbils usually like newspapers as bedding too, just make sure it's printed with soy based ink! Usually gerbils don't need much bedding because they love to shred so much cardboard, so a few sheets of newspaper can work if carefresh is too dusty. I would always only give my gerbils a very small amount of bedding when I cleaned their cage, because I'd throw a box in there for them and within a few hours they had already made their own cardboard bedding out of it.


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## TheGirls2012

I like to use a couple layers of fleece as bedding. I use is for my rats and my mouse. It works really well, in my opinion, and can be washed and reused! :O)


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## Eden10

I agree with paper based bedding. Any kind of hay was the worst for me when I used to use it for my guinea-pigs. I was non stop sneezing!


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