# Wondering what you think of Kiln dried pine.



## mousefan (Nov 3, 2012)

the subject said it all!


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## sys15 (Nov 26, 2011)

i've used a variety of wood products as bedding, including kiln dried pine shavings. i can't say i've ever had noticeable problems with any of them. however, my mice are in lab cages with wire bar lids, so they get a good bit of ventilation. and i usually don't allow them to live that long.

if you are going to use pine, just be cognizant of potential problems.


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## Kitsune_Gem (Oct 15, 2011)

Ive used it before no issue with the mice health wise..
How ever I did stop using it on my mice because when the males pee on it I noticed it stunk a lot worse than any paper bedding, and that was just after a few hours.


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## ThatCertainGlow (Jun 23, 2012)

I used it once, had the effect, for me, of very good odor control. That could have been due to the cost in relation to the aspen that was only sold at a pet store, so I used much more of it at once. It still made me sneeze, so I did stop using it. Didn't seem to bother any of the mice at the time, though, unlike the regular pine.

-Zanne


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## mousefan (Nov 3, 2012)

I think I will use it for some mice (except breeders and pups).


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

I'm a big fan of aspen. I used to have a lot of problems with animals on pine, and while kiln dried is supposed to be better, I try to think of it like this:

1. Mice are more sensitive than me.
2. I can still smell pine in the shavings.
3. The scent is caused by the oils.
4. The oils are the part that's bad for the mice.
5. If I can smell it, it's probably enough to damage the sensitive lungs of mice.

I realize that #5 isn't scientifically based, and that sometimes human noses can detect absurdly low levels of some chemicals, far lower than the toxicity levels (like ozone). That said, upper respiratory infections are stupidly common and stupidly dangerous. They're costly to treat and they afflict mice indiscriminately. I can't afford to lose my best mice just because I want to save $5 on a bag of bedding that lasts a month anyway. So I use aspen. I'll use either the PetCo house brand or the TS brand (because I preventatively treat for mites anyway, I don't mind TS), depending on where I happen to be when I need it.


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## ThatCertainGlow (Jun 23, 2012)

In the matter of cost, the best price on aspen for me, is petfooddirect, or Pet 360 (same people), of the Harlan Teklad aspen. Worked out to 26 cents/lb. (With shipping, but you have to hit the free shipping mark.)
The rest I get from Tractor Supply.
Alfalfa pellets, that line the bottom of a cage in a single layer, are 35/lb, but I've bought a few bags of alfalfa pellets in the same time frame I'd only gone through half the bag of aspen. 
Sweet PDZ (zeolite) is 40/lb, but that is only as a sprinkle on cage bottoms, so it lasts a long time. 
Alfalfa/Grass compressed hay bales (tidy bales) are 36/lb here, and the mice love that stuff. Lasts a long time.

Have not had any mite problems from TS here, or in Kentucky (chickens, cats, no mice), but for the mice, I spray the incoming bedding, wait and do it again, three times (3-4 weeks). In effect, a bedding QT, just in case. Bedding is at least a month old before it gets used with the mice. I keep incoming bedding in sprayed metal trash cans in the garage. Nice side effect is that I always have an extra month, or more, worth of bedding.

Back when I had no idea you were able to get bedding from a feed store, having excess bedding just didn't really happen. I LOVE the internet. Life was not as nice without it. 

Least expensive has been my paper shredder. (Unless you count the cost of the shredder.) Using the plain packing paper that comes in things like amazon.com purchases, etc., or soy ink things, like phonebooks. But you have to do some shaking and pre-stuff, to remove as much dust as possible, if you shred your own paper bedding. I wouldn't use paper bedding without the alfalfa pellets. It works well for the couple odd mice I have who are allergic to aspen. That allergy, btw, is so rare, I didn't believe it was possible beforehand, so I wouldn't worry about that.


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## mousefan (Nov 3, 2012)

I use kiln dried pine for my gerbils with no problem. I know that several mouse breeders use TC brand kiln dried pine, though I may consider using aspen and shredded paper


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