# Pine Shavings



## Cheshire Gleam

I tried to find a supplier for flax bedding and had no luck and right now I'm using aspen mixed with Oxbow comfort bedding and wood pellets. Is there a difference to kiln dried pine and baking pine shavings at a high temperature? I don't want to harm my animals but I'm looking for a cheaper option though I'll keep using what I am now if the above isn't the case. One of my mice is scratching her eye with the aspen (she's not on aspen anymore) and I've had aspen related allergies in my mice before.


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## Amtma Mousery

Sorry, I can not provide any assistance with answering your question.

However, I have always used aspen bedding (So Phresh) for my mice and never had issues. I have read/heard that pine shavings often cause respiratory damage.


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## SarahC

I use this for my rats/rabbits and mouse show boxes without issue.It's lovely.You may not have the brand available but I'm posting the link so that you can see the constitution.Pets at home sell a fragranced version of it in small packs for small animals so also deem it suitable.
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j ... 7NYAwdenWO


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## Cheshire Gleam

Kiln dried pine isn't harmful after a certain process but normal pine is harmful for sure. Cedar bedding is always toxic no matter the treatment. When I was younger and didn't know any better, I had my rats on pine. They were constantly in sneezing fits and had porphiryn crusted around their noses/eyes (switched to aspen after I did research). Issues with aspen allergies aren't very prevalent in my mice but happen enough for me to want a better alternative, if possible.

Thanks, I'll check around for something similar to what you linked, SarahC. They might carry a product like that for horses at Tractor Supply Company. If not, I'll stick to aspen and use different for the allergic mice.


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## Amtma Mousery

You may want to try using CareFresh bedding for mice that are allergic to Aspen, however it is slightly more expensive.


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## Cheshire Gleam

I've used Carefresh before and I can't stand it. Like you said, it's expensive and also smells terrible only within a few days. I've got my only allergic mouse at the moment on Oxbow comfort (another paper based bedding) and wood pellets. She's doing much better. Thanks for the suggestion anyway.


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## Cosmicmice

I use is peat moss or coconut fiber you get for gardening. It's never given me any problem and i've used it for a while, just make sure it's natural with no additives like fertilizers.. They love to dig in it  I add shredded newspapers and shavings to fluff it up but it's not necessary. Stays cleaner than aspen too, which I hated on it's own. The paper pellet cat litter is ok too


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## Cheshire Gleam

I'll consider that, I already have Eco Earth coco fiber for my leopard gecko and it's cheap, too. Thanks.


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## MoonfallTheFox

I use alfalfa pellets. Like horses eat. Sounds kind of weird, but they work pretty well for now.

I am not totally happy with them or with anything I've tried honestly. I just can't find a bedding that is both reasonably priced, controls odor reasonably well, and also that doesn't constantly require changing. The aspen is so spendy if I use it with the rat cages and the mice too. So is the carefresh. Pine shavings are too spendy too if I buy kiln dried, I need to buy them by the horse sized bag to use it and those aren't kiln dried.


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## Cheshire Gleam

Yeah, I know what you mean. Buying aspen was fine for awhile because I'd purchase the big Teklad bales of aspen from pet360.com for around eleven dollars, but they sold their website to chewy.com and it's no longer available from that source. Since it's manufactured for lab animals, not the general public, anywhere else I've looked for it, the shipping is exorbitant so it's a no go. I mixed Oxbow comfort and a twenty five pound bag of wood pellets from chewy.com and that lasted a long time though the price was fifty dollars. I'll check out what you suggested, never heard of doing that before, thanks.


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## Cheshire Gleam

Here's some alfalfa pellets for senior horses, 50 pounds with an ingredients list. Is this similar to what you use, MoonfallTheFox, or might the mice be tempted to eat this?

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/produ ... feed-50-lb


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## Cheshire Gleam

Never mind, picked some up and they're doing the job for now. Thanks again, never would have even thought to use horse feed.


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## Northern Appalachian

If you have an agricultural store nearby, they might have aspen shavings at a better price than pet stores. 4 cubic feet of it is fairly cheap at my local Agway.


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