Aspen, not so good either

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jorats

jorats

Loving rats since 2002.
Joined
Jul 20, 2007
Messages
45,196
Location
Northeastern Ontario
I was linked to this article, which is pretty good and it states that aspen bedding has some ill effect on rats, not as bad as pine and cedar but not good either. When I used aspen a while back, it really bothered my allergies and my breathing, I often wondered it if affected the rats as in a similar way.

"rats kept on aspen had greater sneezing rates and lung pathology than those on paper bedding, but also had higher body weights."

http://tinyurl.com/yqauzw
 
jorats said:
I was linked to this article, which is pretty good and it states that aspen bedding has some ill effect on rats, not as bad as pine and cedar but not good either. When I used aspen a while back, it really bothered my allergies and my breathing, I often wondered it if affected the rats as in a similar way.

"rats kept on aspen had greater sneezing rates and lung pathology than those on paper bedding, but also had higher body weights."

http://tinyurl.com/yqauzw
Click to expand...

Aha!!! So my fat rats aren't my fault!!! The Horde were kept on aspen most of their lives LOL

I find the quality of the aspen is very important. I and the munchkins were sneezing when I bought a bag of Kaytee...dusty stuff! I use the big bales of Nepco now and don't sneeze at all. :)
 
I think "dust" is a big factor. Some aspen is more dusty than others. In my experience though, the paper type bedding such as Carefresh is even worse. My rats couldn't stop sneezing for a second when I tried Carefresh.

They were probably using plain shredded paper for the paper bedding, which has absolutely no dust at all.
 
I always use yesterdays news, but last week I was a little broke so I got a bag of Aspen Supreme that stuff was so potent that the smell almost knocked me off my feet I left the bag open for hours OUTSIDE to let the smell escape, I have been using it for the past week or so and I noticed the girls sneeze more and I think that Lilly had bloat because she ate some of it. And by the second day it was broken down into to dust.

I will never stray from my Yesterday's news again.
 
I have been using aspen for about 2 months, and i have noticed just lately boo has been sneezing and has had the red mucas around his nose, im wondering if this is a problem? is he sick? should he see a vet right away, or should i change the bedding and see if it stops?
 
I guess I never noticed any adverse reactions with my rats to the Aspen. Carefresh they sneeze like heck with. One thing I do notice is that when I am using Aspen I seem to have more mite outbreaks than any other bedding. I use fleece now as bedding and wood stove pellets for litter and my rats do great with that.

Staci
 
I wonder why the rat's would be heavier, are they eating it and it's making them fat? or are they eating it and it's making them bloat? interesting article :)
 
I use aspen but I want to try carefresh. I tried fleece in the bottom but after a day the cage smelled so bad we had to go back to shavings.
 
So with YN I don't have my girls litter trained (I really should do that) but can I just put that all over the bottom instead?? That might solve my problem of them carrying the shavings up into their bed *sigh*. I know if I put carefresh it would be worse. They would definately want to sleep on that. :roll:
 
My girls aren't litter trained either... so yes, I use YN on the bottom. It CAN get a bit pricey, depending on how often you need to change it.
 
Whenever I have small ratties, up to about 2 months old, I always put YN all in the bottom of the pan, cause babies are such poop machines.
 
I've actually found that wood stove pellets are better than YN, they are waaay cheaper and they cut down smell TONS, way more than YN even.
 
I would switch to wood stove pellets but the bags here, the ones I've found states: not for human or animal consumption. So, I'm a little worried that something might be added cause I know my rats will nibble on it.
 
I find that YN is wonderful. It does get dusty if the ratties pee a lot, but I change the litter boxes often. Mine, unfortunately, use the litter only for poop. They prefer to pee on cloth. :roll: So I have to use a lot of soap at laundry time!

For young ratties, I have decided to do what Jorats does and have YN in the whole bottom tray. That really keeps the smell down.

Out of curiosity, :eek:fftopic: how much does YN cost in different places? Here I can get the largest bag [30 lb, or 13.6 kg] for $12.69 Cdn at Sobey's.
 

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