# Mouse bedding as compost/potting soil?



## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

I use shredded aspen as bedding for my mice, and lately I've been thinking about using the soiled bedding as compost, or maybe popping a few seeds in a pot and seeing if it will grow. I figure, it's organic material, it's already fertilized... what can it hurt?

Has anyone done this, thought about doing this, any horticulturists out there that can tell me this is a good/bad idea? Just wondering idly...


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

I;ve been composting my aspen litter for a couple of years, mixed with kitchen waste, and it makes dynamite mulch, as long as you don't mind the uneaten grain/seeds popping up all over the place. I've thought of storing it in black garbage bags before use, which, if sealed nice and tight, and left moist, should cook all those seeds...

For potting soil, I don't believe it'd be good unless sweetened with some lime or a LOT of egg shells, as wood shops are very acidic. I had some flowers that were supposed to be white slowly turn lavender...it had to be the aspen.

Anyway, yeah, it's a good idea. I don't like the idea of just throwing it away, so it goes in with the rest of the waste, yard, kitchen, whatever I can steal from the alley of neighbor's yard waste. I'm growing dirt! Our landscaping needs to be beefed up, as we are on a hill, and I want more level ground so I can play croquet!


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

I feed lab blocks, so I won't have to worry about seeds cropping up. Hmm, that landscape thing might be worth something, we have several deep planters that need to be raised up. Can I just throw the used bedding in there, or do I need to let it ferment or something first? When I was in grade school we had a small colony of earthworms, and that is the limit of my compost experience! :lol:


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## Stina (Sep 24, 2010)

I wouldn't suggest using it straight out of the cage...animal waste needs to be "aged" before using it as a fertilizer....but it definitely does make good fertilizer when aged


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

My used litter gets layered with yard waste, a layer of finished compost, kitchen waste, dirt, more litter, etc. etc. then the composter is emptied and the contents dumped in shallow pit, covered over with dirt...I usually wait about a month after putting it in the pit before taking it out to use on the garden. Oh, and I add some lime and also water as well if the weather has been dry, so it 'cooks' properly.


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## Frizzle (Oct 6, 2011)

I've been sending my used bedding to a friend to use a compost. Well, this winter we'd been dumping it on, and come the first thaw, oh man did it stink to high heaven! I'm not really into composting (shared house, others dislike idea), so it's probably ignorance on my part on how it's supposed to be turned, watered, etc... but if it's like my experience, when it gets wet it gets raunchy. The friend has been turning his pile since then and the smell has gone away, so maybe that was all that it needed. Just my experience. : )


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