# substrate question!



## trish (Mar 9, 2010)

what are your opinions on using cat litter as substrate.Where i used to work that is what they used for all the rodents.It does keep the smeel at bay a little and it is very easy to clean out the wet clumps.What i'm wondering though is there any reason why it shouldn't be used.
Be nice to me,it's my first post.. :lol:


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

The dust from many types of litter would be very likely to cause respiratory and eye problems. Paper based litters are good if you make sure it doesn't stay damp, as toxic mold can grow in it. Pine based litters are pine, which also causes health problems. Corn based litter is good, but on a warm summer day it will start to ferment: E-yew!

I'm not sure about the stuff based on wheat hulls. I use aspen after trying several different things. It works well enough, and I like the look of it.

If you can find a cat litter that is guaranteed to be dust free (no clay litter is dust free), it might be OK, but I doubt those claims. Shredded newspaper can be used if the ink is soy-based, but again, it may get moldy when damp, especially in warm weather.


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## Norman's Mom (Feb 12, 2010)

I too agree, a paper-based litter is OK (I believe Yesterday's News is a paper-based cat litter), but real cat litter, clay or sand is not only bad for the dust issue, but it gets stuck up places that cat litter has no business being...that can cause severe pain, infection and death.


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

Use baking soda in the corners of the cage, under the bedding, if you need help in controlling the smell. That's the key ingredient in clay-based cat litters, anyway.

The clay-type of kitty litter, as Norman's Mom and moustress have alluded to, will kill a mouse if ingested because (unlike cats) mice cannot vomit.

edited to fix moustress's username! lol


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

moustress, if she shaved her head, after two days might have hair similar to mouse tresses.


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

Ugh! I always manage to misspell your username! I guess it's just too easy to type "mousetress" since it contains my favorite word. 

Sorry!


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## trish (Mar 9, 2010)

Thankyou for the replies..i dont plan on using cat litter when i eventually get some mice,it's just that i know some people that do and i was wondering the implications if any of using it.From what you very nice people have told me i certainly wont be using it and i will pass this info on to the people who do.
Thanks guys!


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## Jemma (Mar 11, 2010)

It's proably worth making the distinction between paper and paper based cat litters  100% paper ones exist are fine to use but the ones that say "paper based" likely have things like clay in them that aren't very good for rodents, for the reasons other folk mentioned. The paper based ones tend to crumble or clump when they get wet, whereas the 100% paper ones just get a bit soggy.

I used Biocatolet as the main substrate for my rats for a while and it was okay. I only swapped off it because I found something that seemed to work better and cost less, though I gather it's quite heavily perfumed now.


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## Matt Haslam (Mar 13, 2010)

I used to use Bio-Catolet too. 100% paper based, just gets quite expensive.

There is a good article on how to make your own paper based cat litter, search on google for it.

It uses baking soda too.


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## SarahY (Nov 6, 2008)

Bio Catolet is my all-time favourite substrate (how odd does that sound?), but I don't use it as it's too expensive to use as much as I do with my bi-weekly cleanouts. If I had just a few cages I'd use it, it's excellent.

Sarah xxx


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## The Boggit keeper (Mar 5, 2010)

I had been using Back to Nature paper bedding which claims to be virtually dust free and on the whole was excellent but the last few bags I used were quite dusty also I can't find a local stockist of the big bags anymore and although i only keep several pet mousies they have a large cage and so it's just too expensive to buy the small bags.I have just bought a bag of Bio Catolet to give a try when the new mousies move in (5 days and counting!) I did try keeping my mice on Aubiose & then Countrywide's own brand Flax bedding(very similar to Aubiose) but found that my Mice did nothing but sit and feast on these beddings, I wasn't sure if this would do them any harm apart from getting even fatter? :roll: I suppose there is less chance of Mite problems with the Bio Catolet. Just a thought, I had a mouse develop a very hot and swollen foot overnight with a little red spot on it, It was not long after I had changed to Back to Nature bedding. I did wonder if it was Bumblefoot and even though my mice are kept very clean I did wonder if It could be because the bedding was to hard for mousie feet? Anybody any ideas?


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