# Rate Your Substrate!



## SarahY (Nov 6, 2008)

I thought it might be helpful to others if we all gave our opinions of the substrates we have used in our mouse keeping by rating them out of 40. Please join in, and please use the template below so that it's easy for others to compare:

Cost - ?/10 (How expensive it is when compared to other substrates)
Absorbancy - ?/10 (Does it gets soggy quickly or stay nice and dry)
Odour Control - ?/10 (Does it take long to get smelly)
Ease of Use - ?/10 (Is it easy to clean up after use, etc)
TOTAL - ?/40

I'll go first:

*White Woodshavings*:
Cost - 10/10
Absorbancy - 8/10
Odour Control - 10/10
Ease of Use - 7/10
TOTAL - 35/40

*Aubiose*:
Cost - 10/10
Absorbancy - 8/10
Odour Control - 8/10
Ease of Use - 7/10
TOTAL - 33/40

*Biocatolet Cat Litter*:
Cost - 2/10
Absorbancy - 10/10
Odour Control - 10/10
Ease of Use - 10/10
TOTAL - 32/40

*Bedmax*:
Cost - 9/10
Absorbancy - 6/10
Odour Control - 7/10
Ease of Use - 8/10
TOTAL - 30/40

*Megazorb*:
Cost - 10/10
Absorbancy - 8/10
Odour Control - 2/10
Ease of Use - 6/10
TOTAL - 26/40

*Wooden Cat Litter Pellets*:
Cost - 5/10
Absorbancy - 5/10
Odour Control - 5/10
Ease of Use - 10/10
TOTAL - 25/40


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## candycorn (Oct 31, 2011)

Aspen Shavings
Cost - 10/10 (about 10 to 12 dollars for a huge compacted bag)
Absorbancy - 8/10 (seems to stay pretty dry unless I have a leaky waterbottle)
Odour Control - 9/10 (About a week for bucks...longer for does. I change weekly unless I have new babies)
Ease of Use - 10/10 (sucks up with a shopvac or just brush it out by hand or scoop. Easy Peasy)
TOTAL - 37/40
And best of all the mice love to play in it...dig, tunnel, shovel, it's adorable!


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## maddeh (Jul 14, 2011)

*Megazorb*
Cost - 10/10
Absorbancy - 6/10
Odour Control - 6/10 (I have only used with females so far though)
Ease of Use - 6/10
TOTAL - 28/40

*Carefresh* - favourite with my mice, they LOVE to dig in it!
Cost - 5/10
Absorbancy - 8/10
Odour Control - 8/10 (though has an odd smell itself)
Ease of Use - 8/10
TOTAL - 29/40

*Wood-based Cat Litter Pellets*
Cost - 5/10
Absorbancy - 7/10 (but crumble once wet, and dry to dust)
Odour Control - 7/10
Ease of Use - 9/10
TOTAL - 28/40

*Paper-based Cat Litter * (e.g. Bio-Catolet)
Cost - 5/10
Absorbancy - 7/10 
Odour Control - 7/10
Ease of Use - 10/10 (much lighter than wood-based)
TOTAL - 29/40


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## Rhasputin (Feb 21, 2010)

*Pine Excelsior*
Cost - 10/10 ($5 for 50lbs)
Absorbency - 9/10 (when I have had mice dump bottles, the litter appears dry until closer inspection, but pine pellets or something similar definitely would have more absorbency power)
Odor control -10/10 (can extend time between cleanings dramatically)
Ease of use -10/10 (easy to scoop, easy to vacuum, can build nests, doesn't clump and stick to cages)

TOTAL: 39/40


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Rhasputin: Is that kiln dried pine?

I got the humongous bale of of aspen shavings for horses and it works great! Much cheaper than the Kaytee aspen, though I worry that there's so much shavings in it. It doesn't seem to have caused any health problems, and I've been using it for a few weeks now. It's all shredded into excelsior and sawdust.

Cost: 10/10
Absorbency: 10/10
Odor control:9/10
Ease of use:8/10 (lots of sawdust that gets everywhere and requires vacuuming)

Total 39/40

And I wouldn't use this again if you paid me; it looks nice but...

Kaytee corncob bedding:

Cost: 4/10
Absorbency: 2/10
Odor control: 1/10 (it ferments when damp; ever small an ethanol plant in operation?) 
Ease of use: 7/10

Total: 14/30


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## Emfa Mouse (Dec 14, 2011)

Newspaper:

Cost: 10/10
Absorbency: 6/10
Odor control: 5/10
Ease of use: 9/10

Total: 31/40

Wood chips:

Cost: 8/10
Absorbency: 7/10
Odor control: 9/10
Ease of use: 9/10

Total: 35/40


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## Bridgette Rena (Jan 28, 2011)

Aspen Shavings
Cost: 7/10 - It is a little pricey if I buy it from work but if I order online along with my blocks it's not too bad.
Absorbency: 8/10 - Rarely have wet spots when I clean out. 
Odor control: 7/10 - It's okay. I can get about 4-5 days without smelling the boys.
Ease of use: 7/10 - I think it's a pain to sweep up but no more so than other bedding I've used.
TOTAL: 29/40

Shredded Paper
Cost: 9/10 - The pre-shredded paper is only about 7 dollars a bag. I also shred my own paper.
Absorbency: 6/10 - Not very absorbent. Get lots of wet spots by cleaning day if I only use this bedding.
Odor control: 5/10 - Hate the way it smells when wet.
Ease of use: 9/10 - Easy to get, easy to use and pretty easy to clean up.
TOTAL: 29/40

I usually mix these two together with a big pile of hay. Together they work pretty well.


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## Frizzle (Oct 6, 2011)

Aspen Shavings
Cost: 9/10 - $15 for a 56.6 Liters, I'm happy.
Absorbency: 8/10 - Its working well.
Odor control: 7/10 - I'm unsure about this, I think the awful smell in my room is from something that has died in my wall, I can't link it to any specific cage.
Ease of use: 8/10 - Just get a cup and scoop it out, big bag means you can' poor.
TOTAL: 32/40

Kaytee Soft Granulated Pet Bedding
Cost: 5/10 - About $15 for 27.5 liters.
Absorbency: 9/10 - Really good about daily use, I liked it alot for this bit.
Odor control: 5/10 - Let's just say that if you get a water bottle leak, you'll know it, because it smells really sour/sharp/ripe/spoiled milk. Otherwise is fine for daily use.
Ease of use: 6/10 - The little pebbles do get everyehre.
TOTAL: 25/40


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## morning-star (Apr 9, 2011)

Aubiose:
Cost - 9/10
Absorbancy - 9/10
Odour Control - 8/10
Ease of Use - 7/10
TOTAL - 33/40

Aspen Shavings:
Cost: 5/10 
Absorbency: 7/10
Odor control: 7/10 
Ease of use: 9/10 (it's packed loose so you can just dump it in) 
TOTAL: 28/40

White Woodshavings (pet-at-home type):
Cost - 4/10
Absorbancy - 7/10
Odour Control - 7/10
Ease of Use - 7/10
TOTAL - 25/40

I just use Aubiose with aspen as a back-up, and mostly hay or kitchen/loo paper for bedding.


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## mousekid98 (Apr 7, 2012)

best pet compact shavings
Cost - £1-2 at auction i go to 
Absorbancy - 7/10 (Does it gets soggy quickly or stay nice and dry)
Odour Control - 9/10 (Does it take long to get smelly)
Ease of Use - 4/10 (Is it easy to clean up after use, etc)
TOTAL - 35/40


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## thewesterngate (May 22, 2012)

This is a wonderful post, I was searching for something like this. I've been using Kaytee aspen, recently bought Yesterday's News (recycled newspaper pellets)..we'll see how that does, but it was wonderful when I had my rats.


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## We Love Mouse (Jan 5, 2011)

*Wood shavings*
Cost - 8/10 
Absorbancy - 8/10 
Odour Control - 7/10 
Ease of Use - 8/10 
TOTAL - 31/40

*Pine pellet cat litter*
Cost - 7/10 
Absorbancy - 10/10 
Odour Control - 9/10 
Ease of Use - 5/10 (Well, when it turns into dust it was so hard to clean and gets eveywhere)
TOTAL - 31/40

*Newspaper*
Cost - 10/10 
Absorbancy - 6/10 
Odour Control - 6/10 
Ease of Use - 8/10 
TOTAL - 30/40

*Hamster Bedding Sand*
Cost - 9/10 
Absorbancy - 10/10 
Odour Control - 10/10 
Ease of Use - 6/10 
TOTAL - 37/40

*Corncob*
Cost - 7/10 
Absorbancy - 6/10 
Odour Control - 6/10 
Ease of Use - 6/10 
TOTAL - 25/40

*Carefresh*
Cost - 5/10 (those things are very expensive in my area)
Absorbancy - 8/10 
Odour Control - 7/10 
Ease of Use - 10/10 
TOTAL - 30/40

*Hemp bedding*
Cost - 8/10 
Absorbancy - 6/10 
Odour Control - 6/10 
Ease of Use - 8/10 
TOTAL - 30/40

*Fleece*
Cost - 9/10 
Absorbancy - 6/10 
Odour Control - 4/10 
Ease of Use - 10/10 
TOTAL - 29/40


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