# Cage bedding



## Ratfinx (Feb 19, 2013)

I'm currently going through a bag of bedding once a week, I use recycled paper based cat litter, would it be okay if I just used newspaper? As this would be cheaper and a lot easier,



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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

That gets smelly really easily, trust me its not good. However as your here in the uk there are a lot of cheaper options. I woild recommend going to www.ratrations.co.uk and ordering a bale of ecopet bed or green mile or finacard carboard bedding , its really good stuff and the bales last months. Then possibly a bag or two of of the paperlit bedding for using in litter trays which is similar to what your using just probably cheaper. Postage is a bit pricey but if you get bedding and food from there it is very good.

Failing that have a look around for local horse bedding shops and ask if they do hemp or card bedding, or bedmax isnt bad either. All much cheaper than petshop stuff and last ages.


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

I'm not sure if this is available in your region, but here in many parts of the US, folks have wood burning heaters in their homes. You can purchase bags of hardwood pellets to fuel them, which is a lot like cat litter pellets. Hardwood is important on the label and make sure that the brand doesn't use any additives for burning. Just compressed hardwood pellets.

I can get 50 pounds for $5 USD.


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## Ratfinx (Feb 19, 2013)

Okay I will have a look as see what I can find, I don't really like changing their bedding but it's costing me a fortune! I've used like shredded cardboard and I don really like it due to it lookin messy and going everywhere haha! I'll see what I can fine, just so I know is newspaper safe to used if I wanted to? 


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

here in the UK its all none toxic ink. Honestly though it really does smell a lot. As much as i dislike it youd be better off with fleece bedding or vetbed and a decent digging box, at least thats somewhat absorbant.

Try card squares like ecobed rather than shredded card, it stays in the cage better.


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## Ratbag (Nov 30, 2013)

I think Zooplus have a UK site - there you can buy Hemparade - an enormous bale (15 lbs I think) of hemp bedding which is cheap and lasts for ages. My boys LOVE it as they can dig in it and it reduces odor to nothing. I've done a three full tray changes and hardly even touched the surface of the bale. It is well worth it!!! In fact despite the fact that I'm getting a huge new cage this week which I had intended to line fully with fleece, I'm going to stick to the hemparade instead as myself and the boys love it so much. Fantastic value for money!! 

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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

Zooplus do do it here in the UK. Hemp being is probably one of the most absorbant out there, though I've not used that brand. It does have the downside of being incredably messy though lol. It gets everywhere, when I switched from aubious, another type of hemp being, I was still finding it in the carpet 3 months later lol. I like it best in a digging box or as a thin layer under card squares, that keeps the mess down more


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## Minky (Apr 4, 2013)

I switched to towels and fleece - much cheaper, easier and less messy.


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## Ratbag (Nov 30, 2013)

Isamurat said:


> Zooplus do do it here in the UK. Hemp being is probably one of the most absorbant out there, though I've not used that brand. It does have the downside of being incredably messy though lol. It gets everywhere, when I switched from aubious, another type of hemp being, I was still finding it in the carpet 3 months later lol. I like it best in a digging box or as a thin layer under card squares, that keeps the mess down more


The cage I have right now has a super deep base pan so we've had zero hemp kicked out despite there being a good few inches in the pan - however that might change when their new cage arrives this week as the pans look much more shallow. We have a wooden floor though so I guess it's much easier to clean spillage than carpet. Just the sheer amount of fun the boys have in the hemp is worth it for me too 

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## naley_2006 (Aug 19, 2013)

I've used paper shreds for over a half year now. A $20 paper shredder (crosscut is important) and you don't need to spend a penny more. On the downside, the larger my girls' cage gets, the more they like to use the bedding as nesting material, but you win some you lose some haha. They love borrowing in it and the money it saves outweighs the small amount of negatives.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

Ratbag said:


> The cage I have right now has a super deep base pan so we've had zero hemp kicked out despite there being a good few inches in the pan - however that might change when their new cage arrives this week as the pans look much more shallow. We have a wooden floor though so I guess it's much easier to clean spillage than carpet. Just the sheer amount of fun the boys have in the hemp is worth it for me too
> 
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You cant scatter feed or have well behaved rats lol, mine have a super seep pan too, i had one specially made at about 5 inches deep and they still kicked it out. Mine do love digging, which is good really as its so natural for them, but less good for my carpets. Thankfully they can still dig and shove and move the cardboard, but i do think hemp is brilliant for them, should i ever get a rat shed i would use it.


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## Ratbag (Nov 30, 2013)

Isamurat said:


> You cant scatter feed or have well behaved rats lol, mine have a super seep pan too, i had one specially made at about 5 inches deep and they still kicked it out. Mine do love digging, which is good really as its so natural for them, but less good for my carpets. Thankfully they can still dig and shove and move the cardboard, but i do think hemp is brilliant for them, should i ever get a rat shed i would use it.


Maybe the key is the fact that my rats are still babies - they're not at all well behaved while they're romping in the hemp  lol!!

I made an error in my original reply also, it's a 14 kg bag they sell at Zooplus: http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hay_and_bedding/hemp_bedding_small_pets/233480
I reckon the bale will last me a good 4 months more, if not even longer than that.


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## Ratfinx (Feb 19, 2013)

Ahhh haha! So hard choosing a suitable bedding due to one of my boys having such bad issues with breathing! I'll have to do some looking around, and can some of you just have a look at my recent post in rat health please I need some advance 


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## Urithrand (Feb 12, 2008)

I've switched to using fleece for my bedding as it makes it soooo much easier to spot stray poops while I'm litter training them


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## Ratbag (Nov 30, 2013)

Ratbag said:


> The cage I have right now has a super deep base pan so we've had zero hemp kicked out despite there being a good few inches in the pan - however that might change when their new cage arrives this week as the pans look much more shallow. We have a wooden floor though so I guess it's much easier to clean spillage than carpet. Just the sheer amount of fun the boys have in the hemp is worth it for me too
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Eating my own words now - we bought a double Savic Royal which arrived on Wednesday and we put it in the living room with us. The pans are super shallow and there ended up being as much hemp in the floor as there was in the cage - and it ended up setting off my allergies.

So, yesterday I switched to towels and fleece, and what a difference it makes! Clearing up the poos is so much easier (although my boys are 95% accurate when hitting the litter trays) and everything is so much tidier and neater in the cage. It will make clean ups so much faster and easier, and in the long-run so much cheaper too.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

Thats why I had the deep pan made for the bottom of my srs, I can also r3commend removing the middle shelf, its a much nicer cage all opened up. Then hanging a few cat litter trays around to add shelves that dont get smelly and lots of ropes and branches. Youve probably got the space to make them a digging box to make up for the lack of digging with the fleece too. Ikea have some great platic boxes, I got a deep narrow one with a lid and cut a rat sized hole in the lid to minimise kick out


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