# Bedding



## Maiisiku (Feb 20, 2009)

I am just wondering really not really advice. What do you use for your rodents main cage cover? I must admit we started using hay for the gerbils, I use hay for Tama's bedding but sawdust for the bottom. I'm actually considering doing away with the sawdust compleatly. I heard it wasn't very good for them.

My gerbils have had hay for a while now, it's much better for them to burrow in and it's dust free. They can also eat it too which I think is pretty good for them nutritionally. It's also quite economical. I believe I brought a 1.5 kg bag for £3.50 from tesco but [email protected] do a huge one for £5 which lasts ages. It's also better for them to build tunnels. It just suprised me that lots of people use sawdust rather than hay when they seem to love it so much more.

Does anyone else use Hay rather than sawdust?


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## Flissy (Jul 27, 2009)

I use Back 2 Nature now, Sausage was allergic to wood shavings and my boyfriend was allergic to Carefresh as it was really dusty 

I got a massive £15 bag which will hopefully last me a few months  I think I might look at paper cat litter for next time though as it would probably be cheaper.


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## ....zoe.... (Jul 8, 2009)

i use a range of different things, back-2-nature or hemp from my long haired hammies 

shavings for most of the others, wood chips for the snakes and coconut husk for the spider lol


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## happysaz133 (Jun 5, 2008)

I use woodshavings for them all  I heard you couldn't use hay for small rodents because it can irritate their eyes?


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## Maiisiku (Feb 20, 2009)

The packaging said that it was ok for gerbils as a floor cover and hamsters as bedding. Thanks for the cat litter idea!! I get paper cat litter anyway because it flushes really well and we get bin collections every other week for land fill. It is cheap actually. It's £8 for a 25ltr bag which for a hamster would last you probably a year if you change every week? Depending on the size of your cage. 
I should probably use that for Tama, I think it'd be quite safe.

In regard to it irritating their eyes, I haven't had any problems really. I had more problems with the woodshavings, the gerbils didn't like it because it was hard to make a nest with and it made them itch a lot (maybe they were sensitive to it). I was thinking Tama could benifit from having something proper to burrow in and was planning on getting a shoe box or something to make her a little digging area.


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## momentofmadness (Jul 19, 2008)

Maiisiku said:


> I am just wondering really not really advice. What do you use for your rodents main cage cover? I must admit we started using hay for the gerbils, I use hay for Tama's bedding but sawdust for the bottom. I'm actually considering doing away with the sawdust compleatly. I heard it wasn't very good for them.
> 
> My gerbils have had hay for a while now, it's much better for them to burrow in and it's dust free. They can also eat it too which I think is pretty good for them nutritionally. It's also quite economical. I believe I brought a 1.5 kg bag for £3.50 from tesco but [email protected] do a huge one for £5 which lasts ages. It's also better for them to build tunnels. It just suprised me that lots of people use sawdust rather than hay when they seem to love it so much more.
> 
> Does anyone else use Hay rather than sawdust?


That is a lot of money for hay.. I expect its dust extracted.... When I was a kid we used hay for gerbils...


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## momentofmadness (Jul 19, 2008)

happysaz133 said:


> I use woodshavings for them all  I heard you couldn't use hay for small rodents because it can irritate their eyes?


Where do rodents like best in the wild....... In the barn.. full of hay and straw in the warmth eating the chaff.....


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## momentofmadness (Jul 19, 2008)

Also our gerbils liked old socks.... They tear them up and make perfect beds....


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## metame (Sep 25, 2009)

where do you get your back 2 nature from?


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## Flissy (Jul 27, 2009)

metame said:


> where do you get your back 2 nature from?


I got mine from pet planet: Back 2 Nature Bedding 15Lt Small Animal Litter & Bedding for Sale

except i got a massive 35 litre bag but i cant find it on there any more so maybe they've stopped doing it?


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## Jazzy (Apr 15, 2009)

I use woodshavings for all our rodents (10 guinea pigs and 7 hamsters) and never had a problem. I use hay for the guinea pigs for bedding which we get in bales from a horse supplier and some paper bedding from pets at home for the hamsters.


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## momentofmadness (Jul 19, 2008)

Jazzy said:


> I use woodshavings for all our rodents (10 guinea pigs and 7 hamsters) and never had a problem. I use hay for the guinea pigs for bedding which we get in bales from a horse supplier and some paper bedding from pets at home for the hamsters.


How much do you pay for a bale?


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## Jazzy (Apr 15, 2009)

My o/h gets it cos I don't drive but he says it was around £5.75 a bale but he says they do smaller bales that are a bit cheaper. The last one was really nice hay too cos I like to put loads in for my piggys in the winter to keep them warm.


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## momentofmadness (Jul 19, 2008)

Jazzy said:


> My o/h gets it cos I don't drive but he says it was around £5.75 a bale but he says they do smaller bales that are a bit cheaper. The last one was really nice hay too cos I like to put loads in for my piggys in the winter to keep them warm.


It used to be about 3 quid a bale round here.. but due to bad summers it makes it like gold...


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## metame (Sep 25, 2009)

Flissy said:


> I got mine from pet planet: Back 2 Nature Bedding 15Lt Small Animal Litter & Bedding for Sale
> 
> except i got a massive 35 litre bag but i cant find it on there any more so maybe they've stopped doing it?


cheers


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

i use eco pet bed its tiny card board squares i get a huge 22kg bale for £5.00 plus postage which comes to about £12.00 from here Pet Supplies | Pet Food, Products & Accessories | GJW Titmuss

i also use bio-catlet litter in there litter trays.

i have rats and a gambian pouched rat


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## trekky (Apr 16, 2008)

Ecopet bed for my Pouched rats as well with Biocatolet in the corner toilets.

£10 for a large bail lasts us about a month for our 4 cages


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## laurvystein (Dec 21, 2009)

I've always used wood shavings. My hamster doesn't seem to like hay very much.


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## LisaLQ (Dec 19, 2009)

I use cardboard bedding for our rats. Cheap, and doesn't irritate their lungs (sawdust isnt very good for rodents, and although you can get away with kiln dried shavings such as Bedmax, I wouldn't recommend the regular kind).

When I had the Ferret Nation and Explorer I used sheets of newspaper on the bases, and litter trays of Back 2 Nature, or Breeder Celect. I find that my rats prefer a proper bedding to dig through though and cardboard does the job, and is super cheap.

http://www.walmsleypremierbed.co.uk/


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

blade100 said:


> i use eco pet bed its tiny card board squares i get a huge 22kg bale for £5.00 plus postage which comes to about £12.00 from here Pet Supplies | Pet Food, Products & Accessories | GJW Titmuss
> 
> i also use bio-catlet litter in there litter trays.
> 
> i have rats and a gambian pouched rat


I use the eco pet bed for my rats as their substrate, gave up with litter trays as they were just scraping it all out & storing their food in it
for bedding I use cheap boxes of tissue that they can tear up themselves & drag into their hammocks, it's a bed & fun game at the same time


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