# Sawdust and Hay alternatives please?



## Maiisiku (Feb 20, 2009)

My hands have had enough of the sawdust and hay. I have used the chip typed sawdust for my hamsters cage and the dust free hay for my gerbils for about a year now. My hands are red raw and I really need to find something the gerbils can dig in and the hamster will be ok with. Carefresh is too expensive for me to use enough for the gerbils to dig with. 

Any ideas? My hands are bleeding after cleaning out the cages this week because the sawdust and hay irritates my hands so much.


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## Paws&Claws (Aug 29, 2009)

Hmm..
First of all have you thought about wearing gloves...? lol  and second of all i put this in the bottom of my rabbit cages.. Excel Herbage Timothy Hay 1kg | Pets at Home (well something similar anyway) My long haired rabbit cant have sawdust and it isnt enough with them just being on paper so this goes over the top of the paper  AND if you look hard enough you can get it for about £2 a bag x


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## emihawk (Jul 16, 2010)

Use shredded paper from old books if possible, if not then newspaper is alright too.


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## LisaLQ (Dec 19, 2009)

We use Walmsley Premierbed for our small animals.

Horse Bedding Supplies  Yorkshire, Lancashire, UK

Or there is Finacard that deliver.


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## mee (May 28, 2010)

After trying hutch hemp i would only use hemp bedding now but it only comes in small bags so i now use this AUBIOSE HEMP BEDDING 20KG 20kg bag is around £18. delivered so the bag lasts ages and the bedding does not need changed as much as wood shavings anyway:thumbup:


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## ashleighhhhh (Jul 8, 2009)

have you tryed aubiose or megazorb? you can get both in large amounts, for a good price  aubiose is a hemp bedding, and megazorb is like carefresh, just in smaller, softer pieces  they're both also horse bedding, but they work very good on odor and such.


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## owieprone (Nov 6, 2008)

Bedding.

shredded paper 5 down. found in petscorner and 'most' garden centres with an animal section. around 5 to 10 quid for a bin bag sized load of it. lasts for ages, good for burrowing, my rats love it.

not to be used for very old or injured animals tho as useless limbs can get tangled and is hard to get on top of and through if not completely compus mentus, no problems for able bodies though.


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## Waterlily (Apr 18, 2010)

yeah I use fleece and shredded paper but disposable kitchen gloves as well so the crap dont get on my hands, that may help you to wear them.


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## Maiisiku (Feb 20, 2009)

I had been using gloves but the ones I had broke and I need to replace them today. Thanks for all the ideas guys, I'll defiantly be looking at them. It's not just cleaning out that's a problem, it's the fact that when I handle them it's coming onto my skin and I haven't been able to handle them because of it.
Thanks for the advice! I will defiantly look at some alternatives and once I've used up what I have I'll switch.


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## Waterlily (Apr 18, 2010)

Maiisiku said:


> I had been using gloves but the ones I had broke and I need to replace them today. Thanks for all the ideas guys, I'll defiantly be looking at them. It's not just cleaning out that's a problem, it's the fact that when I handle them it's coming onto my skin and I haven't been able to handle them because of it.
> Thanks for the advice! I will defiantly look at some alternatives and once I've used up what I have I'll switch.


can you hold them for cuddles with woollen gloves on and clean them with disposable ones they dont break for me.


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