# Need bedding advice



## fayefleetwood (May 28, 2013)

Hey,
Since I got my mice I've used carefresh original bedding which is £20 for 60 liters from pets at home. I think its pretty good and it lasts about 3-4 weeks for two large cages.

I have noticed though, that over the past few weeks one of my litter girls has been making a rather odd noise and I'm getting concerned that maybe its some kind of wheeze caused by the bedding. This is her making the odd noise 




What could I use instead of carefresh. I've read a lot about different bedding and a lot of them you seem to have to freeze, which isn't really possible for us as we only have a little freezer!! We were thinking about mixing plain shredded paper with something to see if it helps, but not sure what. Or maybe mixing paper with the carefresh?

Thanks!


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## shadowmouse (Sep 17, 2010)

I would love to hear people's answers too. Can you put paper through the shredder and use that? It'd be a great use for old newspapers.


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

Unless your bedding is dusty, moldy, or has an odd odor, the wheezing is more than likely completely unrelated to your bedding. Wheezing and other breath sounds are usually related to respiratory distress, which again is usually related to an upper respiratory infection. They're crazy common with mice, who have weak, tiny, sensitive lungs. If the mice are new, or you have brought in a new mouse, that's very likely the source of the infection. Aside from that, wild mice can bring in infection, and latent infection can flare up when the mice are stressed due to dehydration, heat or cold, drafts, food changes, location changes, new mice, new environment sounds/smells/etc... If they start to seem ill (hunched, cold, difficulty breathing, eyes less bright, or just less active), antibiotics are your best bet. Really, though, removing the source of the stress and quarantining new animals is the best prevention.


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## Awaiting_Abyss (Nov 19, 2012)

I use the white Carefresh Ultra (I mix it with aspen) because it is less dusty than the original carefresh. I purchase it from a horse store because it is much cheaper than buying it from a pet store.


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## Miceandmore64 (Jul 16, 2013)

shadowmouse said:


> I would love to hear people's answers too. Can you put paper through the shredder and use that? It'd be a great use for old newspapers.


About that! That's wha I do just a thick layer of newspaper on bottom of cage and steered paper in the bed and lots for pregnant ones. But if u dont give them enough bedfing in there house they go and wreck up the newspaper at the bottom. Very easy to clean just roll it up and in the bin! I recommend this to small scale breeders.


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## fayefleetwood (May 28, 2013)

Laigaie said:


> Unless your bedding is dusty, moldy, or has an odd odor, the wheezing is more than likely completely unrelated to your bedding. Wheezing and other breath sounds are usually related to respiratory distress, which again is usually related to an upper respiratory infection. They're crazy common with mice, who have weak, tiny, sensitive lungs. If the mice are new, or you have brought in a new mouse, that's very likely the source of the infection. Aside from that, wild mice can bring in infection, and latent infection can flare up when the mice are stressed due to dehydration, heat or cold, drafts, food changes, location changes, new mice, new environment sounds/smells/etc... If they start to seem ill (hunched, cold, difficulty breathing, eyes less bright, or just less active), antibiotics are your best bet. Really, though, removing the source of the stress and quarantining new animals is the best prevention.


I'd had her for a few months before she started the noise. It started when she and her sister were introduced to our boys for the first time. Now she only generally does it when she is eating and just at random other times. Its not constant either. Sometimes its days between and the length of time she does do it is also varied. She is still very active, even when she was pregnant she was whizzing around in her wheel and climbing the bars of her cage to see me! Its almost like its and excitement/stress thing...


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## andypandy29us (Aug 10, 2012)

ive been using shredded paper for the 2 years ive had my mice and they have lived and bedded in it quite happily  and its free


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## fayefleetwood (May 28, 2013)

andypandy29us said:


> ive been using shredded paper for the 2 years ive had my mice and they have lived and bedded in it quite happily  and its free


What kind of paper do you use? Does it matter if its been printed on? And is it better to rip the paper instead of shredding to avoid papercuts to the mice?


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## andypandy29us (Aug 10, 2012)

Its old bills, confidential paperwork from work that needs shredding ... so its all printed on  ... I use a cross shredder so none of the pieces are longer than a couple of inches long. I have never had any mice with paper cut injuries and the babies nested in it with no injuries too  I have never seen them eat it they just use it for nesting ... Ive never had a mouse die younger than 19 months old so I dont think it shortens their lives any.... during the winter i shove extra paper in and they just build bigger nests .... I use old food boxes and cracker boxes to make nesting beds in for my female colonies and they get a new one every week stuffed with new paper  they love chewing the boxes and rearranging the cages


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

When I was using shredded paper for bedding (free!) it seemed to me that the paper didn't absorb the odors at all. The cages seemed to stink in a couple days, a really strong ammonia smell. I switched to shredded aspen, and the wood takes care of the odor much better. Since you've been using paper for years without issue, I wonder if I was not putting enough paper down in the bottom for the mice. Then again, I was putting the shredding straight in the cage, without newspaper on the bottom. Maybe that's part of it too?


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## andypandy29us (Aug 10, 2012)

i put a layer of sawdust under the paper not much tho just enough to cover the bottom of the cages


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## fayefleetwood (May 28, 2013)

Oh thats great! I think what I'm going to do then, is mix paper and the carefresh bedding together. Carefresh to help with odour and paper cos its cheap. I work in an office as a web designer so there is an abundance of sacks of the stuff!!

Oh, and to follow up on the strange noise Molly was making, she hasn't done it since she was moved back in with her sister with the exception of a few mins today when a new person held her. Must have been an excitement and stress thing.


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## SarahC (Oct 3, 2008)

I also get free shredded paper from work and mix it with the other substrate,works very well.


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## fayefleetwood (May 28, 2013)

SarahC said:


> I also get free shredded paper from work and mix it with the other substrate,works very well.


Molly just died. Could this have been a URI? She hadn't made the noise for about 2 weeks tho... I made a post about her death earlier. Would be interested on your thoughts Sarah... I'm devastated.


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## SarahC (Oct 3, 2008)

It's certainly a respiratory infection  part and parcel of mouse keeping.She looks well in the footage,I'm surprised she died.I would guess that the strain from the parasite attack and the litter ran her down and left her weaker than normal.I recently bought a rabbit with an RI infection,I was unaware that they suffered.Had the not very nice job of euthanizing for fear of it spreading to my own mice and rabbits.It didn't spread.The rabbit had a ring on that was to tight and had bedded into the flesh,we cut the ring off but I guess the stress and trauma left the rabbit to succumb to infection.


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## mich (Sep 28, 2013)

My mice do that. It's like chattering or excitement. I use "Chipsi" as bedding. A huge bale of it and it's quite economical bought in bulk. Carefresh is very good too.


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