Rat Bedding

[marisa]

Just wanted to share a new "mixture" of bedding I use with my rats. Rats don't seem to smell nearly as much as mice and I clean often (once per week) but I was looking for something that really eliminated any smell at all.

Anyways a little pricey, but I just started using 50/50 aspen/carefresh mix. The first time I used it I let my rats go far longer before a cleaning than normal just to see the smell level.....it was over two weeks before it smelled at all! I then cleaned it of course. lol. :D

So anyways if anyone has a small colony and is constantly looking for less smell, this works great. Really absorbant for sure.

Marisa

[beanersmysav]

Have you ever tried one of those odor absorbant mats? Just wondering if they works.

[mykee]

I've also noticed that since switching to aspen from pine a year or so ago ( I know I know...) I've noticed a big difference in odour absorbency.

[Linds]

I don't know why people claim that pine is so odour absorbing :confused: I don't find it dampers odours at all. I still use it anyways though. My feeders are far from living space, so it doesn't have to be perfectly odourless, and with as many as 250 rats, other methods just aren't cost efficient :/

I've used the hardwood chips/carefresh mixture before when I've run low on Carefresh and it worked quite well. Only on my pets of course... LOL... my feeders would be worth their weight in gold if they were on Carefresh :p Have you ever tried Yesterday's News? I've recently switched my pets over to it. I like it way more than Carefresh (which I never thought I would like anything more). It is heavy enough that it never gets tossed out of the cage, lasts even <i>longer</i>, is cheaper, and doesn't get that strange smell when it gets dirty. LOL... in fact, it works so well on inhibiting odours I have to be very careful. Sometimes I get so busy I will resort to jsut tossing the water and food through their bars, so I don't actually take them out and get a chance to see their bedding in better light... I swear they would be walking around in their own filth and only that (yet still odourless) if it was ever allowed to go that far!

[sapphire_moon]

Well think about this...when rats are in bins, no matter what kind of substrate, when it gets to where WE can smell it, it must be about 1,000 times WORSE for them.

The ONLY thing pine does is cover up the smell, it also causes respirtory problems, liver and kidney problems(so i've heard, but i've never seen an actual report on this stuff, so it is up to each individual)

Like I've said, I only have pet rats, that have YN in litter pans and fleece covering the bottom of the cage.

[mykee]

Sapphire, I'm guessing that the rats don't have a problem smelling their own "waste" as it were, unless of course the ammonia is strong enough to kill. Think about it; same way we as humans can handle the smell of our own farts but make others gag....

[sapphire_moon]

lol, yes,
But rats have MUCH more sensitive noses than humans (ALMOST more so than dogs) so when they are in something enclosed with only screen on top for ventilation, and it starts to smell where WE can smell it, it must be HORRIBLE for them!