# Best bedding



## Strike2 (Apr 26, 2007)

Well I have been using Pine for some time now (bad me)..I had way too much left from previous animals to throw it all away. I am now ready to move to a more pleasing bedding for my rats. My choices are Yesterdays News, Carefresh, or Aspen (aromatic oil free). If you do not use any of those tell me what you think is best.


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## JennieLove (Jan 2, 2007)

Even if you had tons of Pine Bedding left, its would have been safer to just throw it away or use it for something else. Pine is very VERY bad for rats, and you shouldn't have even used it...

Any of those are fine, really depends on what you prefer. Towels are great to use too.


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## Strike2 (Apr 26, 2007)

JennieLove said:


> Even if you had tons of Pine Bedding left, its would have been safer to just throw it away or use it for something else. Pine is very VERY bad for rats, and you shouldn't have even used it...
> 
> Any of those are fine, really depends on what you prefer. Towels are great to use too.


Yea, but I used to run a small shelter out of my house and had tons of the huge bags, but have sold most of it, am planning on switching them asap...towels sound cool, but wouldnt they get under them and do towels absorb odor very well?


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## JennieLove (Jan 2, 2007)

Towels work very well and control odor just fine, but needs to be changed at least every two days or so. Its helps if you teach your ratties to use a cornor potty box and spot clean everyday (just pick up any poops done outside of the potty box). In the long run, I think towels are better beacuse they can be washed and used over and over, but bedding you have to buy everyweek or so. I bought 4 towels for $12...Bedding before cost me close to $20 and only lasted me a few weeks! 

Yeah, I would which to towels or anything else besides pine or cedar, ASAP.


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

I use towels and litter boxes right now. Three of my boys are about 80% trained. The towels do need to be changed a bit more often, but they can be washed and reused! I have one boys who sleeps under the towel if he can, but he doesn't mess them up too much. My fourth boy is on Yesterday's News until he moves into the FN (he's just barely too small!)

We've found that aspen is too light/dusty and gets flung everywhere.

Carefressh is somewhat better on being flung about, but worse for clean up... It practically killed our vaccuum and my roommate's banned it for that reason. Yesterday's News is easy to clean, seems to stay in better, and does fair on the odour issue.


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## Strike2 (Apr 26, 2007)

Sounds good, whats the best way to train them to use a box?


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

it depends on where and how you buy your litter though. i can get a 30lbs bag of yesterday news for $15 and that can last me 4-5months for the cage style i have. so in a year a spend about $30-40 in litter, which i don't think is that bad. you're probably going to spend about the same in the electric bill and soap to run the towels through the wash every couple days by the end of the year. though depending on your cage and where you get the litter you might end up paying more. i guess it depends on the cage, price and personal preference.


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## JennieLove (Jan 2, 2007)

LMAO, yeah if feels great not to have to pic up all the aspen Bob use to fling out of the cage! But ever since Ive switched to towels and a potty box, he loves tossing out all the littler and poops. xD Both my boys DO use the potty but rarely do they pee in it. They usually pee right outside of it, >.< I have no idea why, but I dont mind!


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## JennieLove (Jan 2, 2007)

Heres a link that talks about litter training: 
http://www.dapper.com.au/articles.htm#litter


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

Strike2 said:


> Sounds good, whats the best way to train them to use a box?


I switched my boys straight to towels with boxes of their old bedding (YN) and they did pretty well, really.  Just put the poops back in the little box as you spot clean so they know what it's for.

I don't know about the cost issue. I never devote a washing just to the towels, so they get tossed in with everything else I need to wash, no extra laundry.

I got a bunch of towels at the dollar store for a dollar a piece, so that wasn't so bad, but if I was still using YN in the big cage I'd be going through it like it was going out of style. :lol:


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## JennieLove (Jan 2, 2007)

It shouldnt be much of a difference with the electric bill...Thats just me though, we usually do the wash every week anyways, thats why I have so many towels, so we can wash them the same time the normal wash is being done.


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## JennieLove (Jan 2, 2007)

Yeah Im using YN for litter...lol, Bob likes to play in it...I think its the smell he likes xD


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## 2manyrats (Apr 10, 2007)

I'd like to add a plug for the hardwood fuel pellets, which are so superior to Carefresh. They're $4 for a 40/lb bag at your local tractor supply (Fleet Farm for me). The Carefresh cage stinks after a few days... the pellet bedding takes *forever* to start smelling. Plus, the rats smell better, too.

I am so crazy about this stuff!


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## penelope (May 1, 2007)

Forensic said:


> I switched my boys straight to towels with boxes of their old bedding (YN) and they did pretty well, really.
> I don't know about the cost issue. I never devote a washing just to the towels, so they get tossed in with everything else I need to wash, no extra laundry.


You throw your rats towels with poop and pee on them in with your regular clothes when you wash them? Icky! I definatly make sure my guinea stuff is just a load by itself.


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

Considering what I work with, that's not a major issue.  And besides. They're going in there to get _clean_ just like everything else.


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## OnlyOno (Apr 4, 2007)

haha, i'll at least shake off the poops, i'm afraid they'll clog the washer. but personally, i use soap, and i figure it will clean off the pee .


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## silverynitrate (Apr 30, 2007)

I like aspen because as a poor college student it costs about a third as much as other things. They spend most of their time on the hammocks/levels anyway so it seems kind of pointless to me to have that expensive stuff.


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## 2manyrats (Apr 10, 2007)

I saw some great prices on bedding like aspen and corn cobs at Fleet Farm. God, I love that place.

I hate buying stuff at the pet store - alternatives like Fleet Farm have much better prices on most things.


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## silverynitrate (Apr 30, 2007)

2manyrats said:


> Fleet Farm


THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

You just saved me decent money.


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## JennieLove (Jan 2, 2007)

LMAO! you dont have to wash the towels with your clothes! Besides thats the point in having the potty box for your rats...So they wont dirty it up.


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## 2manyrats (Apr 10, 2007)

Glad to pass that along. 

While you're there, you should consider those Jolly Balls for dogs - $10, and you can remove the inflatable ball from the inside. The rats love it! It's a lot cheaper than the ferret balls, too.










Anyways, sorry to hijack, now back to the scheduled programming...


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## JennieLove (Jan 2, 2007)

LMAO that ball reminds me of this ball my mom just got for our dogs, where they have to roll it around to get the treats out...My dogs are so doofy, they still dont get it xD


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## thegrotto (May 11, 2007)

For the first year or so of having rats, I was using pine. Carefresh wasn't available to me until then. Not only is it the best for them...but wood shavings get into the carpet. theres still pine stuck in it here and there. ugh.


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## Stephanie (Mar 25, 2007)

i use towels LoL pine is sooo bad for ratties i never used it. I used to use aspen but since the towels are so much cheaper i use them.


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## LizLovesRats5 (Mar 28, 2007)

I use a mix of yesterday's news and aspen. I find that the aspen is softer, but the yesterday's news controls the smell great, especially in their nesting box.


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## yonksgirl (Apr 23, 2007)

2manyrats said:


> I'd like to add a plug for the hardwood fuel pellets, which are so superior to Carefresh. They're $4 for a 40/lb bag at your local tractor supply (Fleet Farm for me). The Carefresh cage stinks after a few days... the pellet bedding takes *forever* to start smelling. Plus, the rats smell better, too.
> 
> I am so crazy about this stuff!



Yeah I use carefresh in the litter box and I start to smell it in a day. I am going to try this it sounds like a great idea. The only question I have is will they still use the littler box if I change what is in it?


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## Lise (Feb 26, 2007)

I use Yesterdays News only now. I was an aspen girl (its so much cheaper!), but the shavings sticking in the carpet drove my SO crazy.

So now I buy the large back of YN cat litter, and change it out once a week. And if any gets kicked out it vacuums up easily.


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## crapola (Feb 12, 2007)

i use kitty litter (newspaper pellets) in the bottom of their cages, as they refuse to be potty trained. ginger & loco take great delight in tossing the pellets all over the floor because they just know how much i looooove vacuuming!!! soot & ash are so much neater and just aim their little rattie butts out the cage to poop...

i found an el-cheapo fleece baby blanket in the most disgusting colour the other day so i cut it up into about 40 squares and the ratties use some of them for bedding. they also shred newspaper and their nesting boxes to sleep on. i've taken to asking friends and rellies to keep their tissue and cereal boxes for me to use for nesting boxes.


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## 2manyrats (Apr 10, 2007)

yonksgirl said:


> 2manyrats said:
> 
> 
> > I'd like to add a plug for the hardwood fuel pellets, which are so superior to Carefresh. They're $4 for a 40/lb bag at your local tractor supply (Fleet Farm for me). The Carefresh cage stinks after a few days... the pellet bedding takes *forever* to start smelling. Plus, the rats smell better, too.
> ...


I'd mix it in slowly, and start by mixing it with dirty litter.


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## 2manyrats (Apr 10, 2007)

Also, I'm starting to wonder about the suitability of the wood pellets as a bedding - as the rats pee & chew on them, they disintegrate into powder. I'm a bit worried about the powder aggravating their respiratory problems, although the ones who don't have respiratory problems have not developed them. I wish there was a way to know if the size of the powder is small enough to cause problem.

However, as a litter in a litter box, I'm sure it's fine, as Night has not experienced problems. I've been using it as the bedding for the entire cage bottom, which puts them in direct contact with the dust all the time.


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