# Aubiose?



## Amelia66

well i just sort of stumbled upon this and was wondering what everyone else thinks of it? so i have used Woodshavings but, but i find they never have a ingreedents lable on them which anoys me as i never know what wood is actully being used it it. I have also used carefresh but it really expensive for a small bag of it an it has a wierd smell :/ so do you think if would be more value for money than carefresh? and where can i buy it?

thanks


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## SarahC

it's very good,clean and absorbent.Superior to shavings.It's between £8 and £9 for a very large bale.It's a floor covering for stables so is stocked by equestrian/farm shops.


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## Amelia66

ah ok thanks


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## WoodWitch

I use Aubiose and am a big fan.


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## Matt Haslam

I buy mine online, because i struggle to get to an equestrian suppliers; a little more expensive but well worth it.

I am a big fan of aubiose also.


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## Jack Garcia

I would use Aubiose if I could find it locally in the US.


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## Rhasputin

I read on a hamster forum (when looking it up on google, to see where I could buy it) that said it was no good. Lots of 'sharp' pieces, and not very absorbent.

But I can't imagine it being any worse than wood chips, just cheaper.


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## Matt Haslam

Rhasputin said:


> I read on a hamster forum (when looking it up on google, to see where I could buy it) that said it was no good. Lots of 'sharp' pieces, and not very absorbent.
> 
> But I can't imagine it being any worse than wood chips, just cheaper.


That is not my experience of Aubiose. its absorbancy is amazing; one of my water bottles bust without me knowing and dripped into the enclosure overnight (a lot of water) Aubiose soaked it all up and was pretty dry. Wood shavings or card based substrates i have used would just go soggy.

I have not found it sharp either.

Aubiose is the best i have ever used, and i have used pretty much everything over the years.


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## The secret garden

I use Aubiose, im half hearted about it.

It's good and you can get away with out cleaning mice out for 10days or so. I used to use wood shaving and i think i like them better actually. They smell nicer! But they get yucky quickly, Aubiose is £10 down here and wood savings are £8.50 for a large bale. There are no sharp pieces i find i get more lumps of wood turn up in my wood shavings


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## The secret garden

I use Aubiose, im half hearted about it.

It's good and you can get away with out cleaning mice out for 10days or so. I used to use wood shaving and i think i like them better actually. They smell nicer! But they get yucky quickly, Aubiose is £10 down here and wood savings are £8.50 for a large bale. There are no sharp pieces i find i get more lumps of wood turn up in my wood shavings


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## SarahY

I used Aubiose for my rats and liked it. I use woodshavings at the moment which I like, but I'd use Aubiose again. It's just that woodshavings are available over the road from me but I have to drive about 20 minutes to pick up Aubiose.

Sarah xxx


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## Loganberry

Aubiose is the best - it pulls liquid down to the bottom layer, leaving the top layer dry if it's thick enough, so it's great as far as i'm concerned! Wood chips do smell fab, but three days later they're soaked with wee, and if a water bottle leaks everything's saturated - pants! :twisted:


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## zany_toon

It seems great stuff from the little I've dealt with it (my first mice came with some) but I thought it might be worth mentioning that try to see if you can handle it before you buy any to make sure that you aren't allergic. It and the cardboard bedding like finacard made some lovely, itch red welts come up on my arms and I couldn't stop sneezing and scratching for weeks after only bringing a handful of it into the house! Before i realised that's what was causing the allergies though I was all for using it - it seemed nice and warm, very absorbent, little odour and the mice loved it!


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## Amelia66

thank you all for the information. I will definatly try to see if i can handle it before i buy it as i want to check the texture as if its not too spikey i would use it for my chinese hamsters too. Hopefully i wont be allergic .... red welts dont sound all that nice :?


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## Rhasputin

Maybe we should just shred some diapers and put them in the cages. THAT ought to soak up all the wee and poo. :lol:


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## Loganberry

I use it for my Russian hamsters, and they're fine on it. It's not spiky.


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## zany_toon

Rhasputin said:


> Maybe we should just shred some diapers and put them in the cages. THAT ought to soak up all the wee and poo. :lol:


:lol: Or better yet mouse sized diapers :lol:


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## Kallan

You could always use puppy pads to line the bottom of each tray and put your substrate of choice on top!

Ros if I knew you were allergic to Aubiose I would have warned you that my mice are housed on it before I gave you some!


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## zany_toon

Kallan said:


> You could always use puppy pads to line the bottom of each tray and put your substrate of choice on top!
> 
> Ros if I knew you were allergic to Aubiose I would have warned you that my mice are housed on it before I gave you some!


Tis okay, my allergies always kick in with a new mouse anyway for some reason!!


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## Lizzle

I've never in my life heard of Aubiose. 

I use Yesterday's News, a pellet-type cat litter. It doesn't clump, there is no dust at all, and it's completely biodegradable (and VERY absorbent!). Here in the US, we also have Carefresh (which is decent for mice, but so expensive! Also, it certainly doesn't seem to absorb odor the way that Yesterday's News does).

Do you have access to Yesterday's News in the UK? It would be in the kitty litter section. I highly, highly recommend it!

Also, remember that if you use wood shavings, never ever use Pine or Cedar, as they cause respiratory problems which lead to liver failure in small mammals. Unfortunately, I have experienced this first hand.. my first pet (Snowball the guinea pig) died of liver failure at only 3 years old, which is young for a guinea pig. I asked the vet to do an autopsy, which she gladly did for me. I never used Pine or Cedar again.

Just curious - do they have this Aubiose in the US?


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## SarahY

Never had a problem with woodshavings personally. I know that cedar is very poisonous indeed, and when given a choice in lab tests the mice refuse to even step foot on it, but the normal, white, softwood shavings from the pet shop has always been fine for my animals.

Sarah xxx


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## WoodWitch

lizashley said:


> Just curious - do they have this Aubiose in the US?


No, I don't believe that it's available in the US.


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## Lizzle

SarahY - I used to use woodshavings too - the safe ones - such as kiln-dried aspen.  Those were perfectly fine. I hope it didn't sound like I was saying that all woodshavings were bad.

And thank you, tratallen - I tried looking it up in several popular petstores around here and found nothing. Aw well.


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## Rhasputin

Try feed stores. They're bound to have something similar that you can use. They have all sorts of horse bedding.
It's also a great place to buy food for mice. A 50 pound bag of oats for a horse, is only around $20-$30, and a pound in the store is like $5. :lol:

And if you have a 'Wild Birds unlimited' store near you, that's a great place for mouse food too. A 20 pound bag of millet seed is $15. 
And they have all sorts of other seeds for cheap too!


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## windyhill

I pay less then $15 for a 20 pound bag of millet seed at the farm store.


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## Rhasputin

What do you pay for yours? and what's the store you go to? 

$15 is the cheapest I've found it around here. The next closest store, would cost me the same amount, even if they had a cheaper bag, because of driving distance.


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## windyhill

I pay roughly $11(with taxes) for a 20 pound bag at a local family owned feed store, its called Auburn Farm and Seed Store, but I think its family owned, so probly not another one around,lol. I may just be getting lucky at this store. Im not sure how much seed norally goes for.

(Did you get my PM Rhasputin?)


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## Rhasputin

(Yes I did, I have just been busy with comissions and other art projects, and haven't had time to set up a colour pallette for your mouse. It's complicated to create that pelt pattern, in MS paint, so I have just been holding off on it for a day when I feel super crafty.  
You'll have to excuse me for taking so long, but so understand, it's free art! )


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## windyhill

(No problem, I understand, just making sure you didnt forget  )


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## Rhasputin

I should go explore some of the family feed stores around here. I'm sure they have some of the things I need, for better prices, the problem is, it's hard to track a lot of these places down, because they don't have websites, or don't even show up when you search for feed stores.

I know where a few are, and I guess I could go do a run-through and check 'em out. 
It's so easy to go to tractor supply, which is LITTERALLY across the street from me, rather than drive half an hour to Varina. BUT WHO KNOWS!


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## thamesvalleyexotics

Rhasputin said:


> I read on a hamster forum (when looking it up on google, to see where I could buy it) that said it was no good. Lots of 'sharp' pieces, and not very absorbent.
> 
> But I can't imagine it being any worse than wood chips, just cheaper.


My breeding partner and I have used Aubious for years with no problems. We have been breeding Exhibition Syrian hamsters for at least six years and they were kept on it with no problems. I also use it for some of my reptiles. It's particularly good for messy species like Bulls and Boas because it's so absorbent. Mice always seem very happy on it and yes, thank god for its ability to draw moisture to the bottom layer as I have one particular group of multimammate mice that destroy on average, three bottles a month and soggy multi's are a pitiful sight...
The only downside these days to Aubious is the price... I have just paid £12 for my latest bale :doh

I am severely allergic to wood shavings so avoid them like the plague. As a rule, aubious is hypo-allergenic and dust free.

I really liked Mega-zorb although I don't think Gemma was so keen on it. It was great stuff even if it does look like chewed, regurgitated newspaper :shock: The biggest downside to Mega-zorb is that these days I stand a greater chance of being struck by lightening than finding it for sale.

I've also tried a few other products (equine bedding products that is) and they have by and large been pants. I used a product called Eazy-Bed (not the same as the product now on the market) about five years ago. I opened the bag and it smelled really nice but the chunks in it were ugly and of large size. I cleaned out the entire rodent shed with it anyway, came down the following day to feed and water to find utter devastation...

All the white animals were a delicate shade of muddy grey, wheels were coated with dust (courtesy no doubt of all the urinating animals insist on doing in their wheels... dust extracted my bottom!)

On the plus side ...the shed smelled nice. :roll:

Kat


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## Amelia66

thanks for all the information. i was just going to ask if mega-zorb was better or worse. i had a look at it and it looks like carefresh /: [i hatehatehate the smell of carefresh]


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## thamesvalleyexotics

It doesn't smell quite as minging as carefresh and its smaller lumps rather than big, chewy chunks. I like it and would continue to use it but for the fact that it is so hard to get hold of.


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## WillowDragon

I use bedmax... it looks nice, smells nice, absorbs well and is not too badly priced at £11 for 25kg bale (where I get it from anyway)

W xx


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## SarahC

WillowDragon said:


> I use bedmax... it looks nice, smells nice, absorbs well and is not too badly priced at £11 for 25kg bale (where I get it from anyway)
> 
> W xx


not heard of that one,whats it look like.


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## WillowDragon

Big wood shavings really... like this (excuse the mouse lol)










I was worried the first time I got it, cos it did seem like it had a bit of dust in it, but my mice have had no problems on it at all, and I have been using it for almost a year now. I guess what I thought was dust, was just bits hehee

This is where I buy it from:

http://www.equinecaninefeline.com/catalog/bedmax-shavings-25kg-bale-delivery-just-pound2-p-2197.html

Willow xx


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## SarahC

it does look nice.Last weekend I was unable to get easi bed which I use so had to buy shavings.I've got to say the smell and look of all the mice cages was so much more pleasing.Another time when I was stuck I bought 25k of something made from chopped straw that was very soft.I really liked that but can't remember the name to order any and haven't seen it since.It was another horse product.


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## Amelia66

i also have dwarf hamsters so I'm not sure the big flaky wood shaving would go down to well with them [even tho i think they would make the cages look nicer]

also i found this link

http://madabouthamsters.com/forum/showt ... p?tid=9755

for anyone wondering what they look like as i was browsing Google

i did used to use care fresh but found it very dusty and as i already said i hated the smell so all my furies are on shavings temporarily, but with all the options of bedding for small animals its so hard to choose :lol: i think I'm just going to have to take the plunge and buy a bag of something to see if i get on with it, and if not use it up till i can buy something else.


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