# Allergic to Aspen?



## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

At my local pet store, I stopped by to see if there were any interesting mice. I was informed that they had a mouse for "adoption" (free) because he is allergic to aspen. I decided to take a chance and bring him home. The only thing is that I have aspen bedding. I put him on paper shredding for now, but has anyone ever heard of a mouse allegic to aspen? He has some sparse fur and his ears are curled at the tips, but he is otherwise healthy. He's in quarantine now, I'll treat him for mites just in case, but has this happened to anyone else? Thanks in advance!


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## XZombieGrlX (Dec 29, 2012)

One of my boys has skin allergies to the aspin im using. He dug at his face and ears so much they are raw so ive switched him to care fresh. Poor guy looks rough and hes my fav siamese boy too. But he is now healing. I never heard of this until this happened to my boy


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## TwitchingWhiskers (Feb 2, 2013)

Maybe the pet store just took a guess at why he is looking poorly... I've never heard of an allergic reaction to aspen, but I'm sure it's possible. Any pictures?


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## XZombieGrlX (Dec 29, 2012)

My boy was fine until i switched him to aspin. I got a different brand of aspin too which seems very dusty. Then mine scratched his little head raw... now hes on the generic carefresh bedding


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## ThatCertainGlow (Jun 23, 2012)

I hadn't heard of anything like that, figured aspen was non-allergenic, until I met three boy mice who are seriously allergic to it. So much so, I thought they were dying (quickly!) from some sort of URI. Hunched over, weezing, you name it. If I'd had any other mice, or hadn't been at my parents in FL, I wouldn't have ever brought them home from the breeder. She thought they were dying too. Take them off aspen, and poof! Suddenly clear, and fine.

Give them even a 1/4 cup spread out across the cage and mixed in with paper... they start slightly snuffling. Even months later. It's the wildest thing. I'm using the Harlan tec aspen, ordered from a warehouse. Well, not with those boys, but everyone else. For those males I use some sort of paper stuff. Not sure why that works, paper being wood.

Carefresh is just way too dusty for me. Micro-shredded paper, that has been beaten outside to remove a lot of the dust, seems to be working well. Also shockingly free, other than the cost to run the machine. The paper comes from that paper companies wind around products, all crumpled up, when they ship them.

'Soft Granules' worked fine, allergy-wise, but was terrible for odor, and very expensive. I have another one I will try when the bag comes out of quarantine, but I'm really happy atm with the micro-shredded paper. (Over top of a single layer of alfalfa pellets, btw. I always line the bottom with alfalfa pellets. Thankfully, when I re-introed those they had no problem.) I did try coco core fibers, but it's very messy. Other than that, a good brand of the stuff worked well.

My opinion, it wouldn't be good to breed from a mouse like that, but I can't see a problem with one as a pet.  Obviously, fully treat for mites, but I can confirm that there can be an allergy to aspen. Odd, and hopefully really rare, but it can happen.


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