# Bedding?



## Tikmio (Oct 9, 2011)

I use a warm bedding and a cool bedding for my mice. For babies just weaned (and ready to leave their moms emotional support), I use only
warm. For adult mice in breeding or other group stock housing together I use only cool. For adults in pairs of 2 I use a mix of cool and warm.

Warm: Shredded soft paper napkins.
Cool: Shredded news paper.

Is the Ink a problem? I've been using it for over 7 months now without a problem so far. Sometimes I throw in a bit of Aspen, but that's
on a very rare occasion. I find using napkins a lot more cheaper than using this Carefresh stuff.

Do you think what i'm doing is ok? Oh, and what do you use?


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## AyJay658 (Jan 15, 2012)

I have used newspaper for as long as I can remember. I am not expert but I have never had a problem with using it on any animals. I think it is very good insulation and good environmental enrichment for them to be able to take it from the floor of their enclosure and be able to use it to build a nice custom nest. I have tried putting other beddings in but they ignore them and just use the newspaper so I think they like it!


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## AyJay658 (Jan 15, 2012)

I use carefresh as substrate (on the floor) and shredded newspaper as bedding


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## candycorn (Oct 31, 2011)

I am sure it's fine, although I use aspen myself. I don't think there is a difference for insulating with the types of paper you use, just softness. I give my expecting mothers some tissue or toliet paper to make a nest with.


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## Tikmio (Oct 9, 2011)

Thanks guys! Oh and i've seen people using hay... But i've also heard mice cannot digest it, and I find my mice eating
their bedding all the time, so if they cannot digest it, it would be a problem for my mice.


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## AyJay658 (Jan 15, 2012)

If you are going to use hay it should be Timothy hay. Its green and we give it to the mice at uni because it is dust free and better for them =)


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## SarahY (Nov 6, 2008)

Any kind of hay is good for mice to eat, obviously as long as it isn't mouldy or musty. It cleans out their intestines on its way out, like a brillo pad. Foods that do this are politely referred to as "hind-gut fibre".


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

In the US, we call it "dietary fiber". It's not digested, and that's the point. Also, your mice are better off consuming hay than eating newspaper. I use aspen or softwood, depending on availability, and I can't remember ever seeing the mice eating the bedding. Once, when I used Carefresh for rats, all the bedding smelled like pumpkins, and they thought that was a right treat. Never was quite as comfortable with recycled paper beddings after that.


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## Rhasputin (Feb 21, 2010)

The only bedding that is 100% all the time bad for mice, is cedar.
I've even seen mice live happily on sand before, mulch, dirt, moss, paper, pellets, everything.

Pine is sometimes steered away from for the same reasons as cedar. However, a good kiln dried dust free pine is just as safe as aspen or any other bedding.

Cedar is the only one I would never use for mice as their main bedding. 
I have been known to put bits of cedar here and there, when I have had mites in the past, to clear them out. 
This was a very short lived use of cedar though, and wasn't in there long enough, or in great enough numbers to harm the mice, but did drive out the bugs.


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## Frizzle (Oct 6, 2011)

Sand is actually interesting to me, I'd think that you could house the mice in it, and then wash, dry, and reuse it. What type of set up did you see?


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## Rhasputin (Feb 21, 2010)

Well I had used it for my spiny mice before, and a few times for fancy mice, though I don't really know what prompted it. They like digging in it, and it covers up the stink pretty well. I supposed you could wash and re-use it! 

I just used it in a 10 gallon aquarium with a wheel and house and bottle. Normal set up other than the sand.


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## Shadowrunner (Sep 26, 2011)

What a neat Idea about sand. Wouldn't it get everywhere when cleaning though?

Although it was my understanding that newspaper is one of the best insulators because it traps heat.
That's why they use it for things like housing insulation and why some homeless people will stuff it into their clothes and shoes on cold nights.


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## Tikmio (Oct 9, 2011)

Ok, I think i'll just stick to news paper and naps! But sand sounds cool. Oh, and I'll just order a bale of Timothy hay and try it out!


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## Frizzle (Oct 6, 2011)

I bet that filter paper (like for coffee) of a sort would trap all of the sand. You figure it would be low on dust because the particulates don't get smaller? It would be nice to have an even layer, my mice like to make piles everywhere. :?


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## Emfa Mouse (Dec 14, 2011)

Use newspaper. It's cheap, easy to use, find and clean.


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## maddeh (Jul 14, 2011)

At the zoo I used to volunteer at, they would house spiny mice on a sand substrate, and to clean it you would just sieve it to collect the poop  
At the moment I'm using megazorb for my mice, as carefresh was a bit pricey to use for all my mice (and I don't have that many yet!). My mice loved the carefresh though, so if I can ever buy it in bulk I will go back to it!


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## Rhasputin (Feb 21, 2010)

I hate carefresh. . . The mice throw it all out of their bins, and it smells like rotten fish when they pee on it. :|


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## maddeh (Jul 14, 2011)

Lol! It does have an odd smell when the pee on it, but rotten fish? :lol: 
My mice don't seem to throw anything out of their cages, so I've been lucky. They love make huuuuge nests with big carefresh walls though. Always feel bad breaking them up


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## Tikmio (Oct 9, 2011)

Me too... My mommy mice make huge bundles of paper and have their babies, and next morning I have to ruin
it to count how many babies were born. Little mousies must spend their whole life making those :shock:


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