# Are ''Pillow Wad'' Kiln Dried Woodshavings Safe?



## Hazelwykes1952 (Apr 6, 2011)

Are ''Pillow Wad'' Kiln Dried Dust Extracted Woodshavings safe- as I've heard such a lot over the internet saying pine shavings cause respiritory problems in hamsters?

Should I stick with ''Megasorb'' that I've recently changed over too or maybe try ''Aubiose''?

Have any of you tried ''Aubiose'' What do you think of it-Is there sharp pieces in it?Where can you obtain ''Aubiose'' I'm in the Birmingham area in the uk?


Does anyone use ''Megasorb'' What do you think of it?Do you think it has a funny smell?

Should i switch back to woodshavings such as the above? Is Kiln Dried Pine Woodshavings supposed to be safer than non kiln dried-or should i give ''Aubiose'' a try?

What is the safest & best litter out there for lining the bottom of the hamsters cage?


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## swatton42 (Oct 29, 2011)

Personally I prefer Megazorb to wood-shavings. No it doesn't have a funny smell. Sorry I've never used Abouise so I can't help on that one.


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## metame (Sep 25, 2009)

never heard of them!
i use carefresh though
one of my friends swears by megazorb but advises that its not very good for long haired hammies and seen as i have 2... i stick to carefresh


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

I use megazorb, I find it works out pretty cheap, absorbs wet really well and completely dust free. It doesnt smell to me but my rabbits are outside.


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## Snippet (Apr 14, 2011)

I haven't used megazorb, but from what I've seen it's similar to carefresh.

I used to use Auboise for my rats. It was amazing at odour control. I could leave it for 2 weeks without having to change it if I had to. It didn't feel too sharp to me, and my rats loved burrowing in it. It's main down side was that it's very light and got kicked out the cage, but I did use a thick layer and I had 3 playful rats living on it. It'd probably be much better with a hamster as they don't tend to throw their bedding all over the place.

I wouldn't touch wood shavings of any sort for any small animal. The phenols in wood shavings don't just irritate the respiratory system. They also cause liver damage.


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## GerbilNik (Apr 1, 2011)

The trouble is that the people from the UK invariably are quoting from US rat sites when the concern is voiced about woodshavings.

One issue that should not be overlooked is that US concerns over shavings are usually based on studies of native American woods harvested from American forests. European timber is nearly always harvested from sustainably developed forests. These forests deliberatly grow extremly fast growing trees like spruce. Spruce is far less aromatic and contains far less phenols than the slower growing woods like cedar and some North American pines.

The whole issue often gets resurrected by the old 1993 AFRMA article which is the bible of the "pine kills" movement.

AFRMA - Softwood Bedding

The trouble was that they interpreted a lot of the data wrongly as you can see here;

The Truth About Pine Shavings

However, as a result of the first article I linked to, Carefresh was hailed as the new best product. Which was rather odd, especially so when carefresh has been consistantly proved to be a poor product, even when it got evaluated by the scientific community.

Another issue is that all rats have mycoplasma, but a significant number of rats are genetically inclined to have continual respiratory problems as a result. Myco lives in all species, it is just that in most animals they are kept under control by their immune system.

It's up to yourself read the research and make a decision that you are happy with.


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## Snippet (Apr 14, 2011)

But why take the risk when there are much safer substrates out there?


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## GerbilNik (Apr 1, 2011)

I use woodshavings in my mix for my gerbils amongst other things. I've never once had a gerbil with any form of respiratory problem. Even with so called "safe" substrates like the card and paper based products have risks as they are far less absorbant and the build up of ammonia that can occur exacerbate respiratory problems.

I'm not saying go ahead and use shavings for every animal, I'm saying go and read all of the research and not just go with evidence that is without proper research just because at one point a long time ago someone said something (don't you find it strange that the original article has links to carefresh splattered all over it, even though it's now been proven that in fact its very dusty and not much use?) Me thinks someone was getting a bit of a back hander there  The whole pine kills thing came out around the time that carefresh did - coincidence? or careful planning?

I can understand due to problems etc why rats and mice aren't on woodshavings but it doesn't mean that no animal can have some form of them. Like I said, it's upto the individual to read the research and decide for themselves. I don't advocate woodshavings, but neither do condemn them - I don't use them solely for substrate as I mix in many other things. For my own hamster I use bedmax excel as I felt it was softer and much easier (Cardboard squares) and did the same when I had mice but for the gerbils the woodshavings are a good part of the mix which hold up tunnels excellently, are absorbant and provide good gnawing for them.


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## Guest (May 3, 2012)

GerbilNik said:


> The trouble is that the people from the UK invariably are quoting from US rat sites when the concern is voiced about woodshavings.
> .


I will always tell people to avoid any wood shavings due to my own experience, I don't need to quote from an american rat site 

I used shavings for a group of my rats once because I had run out of megazorb and thought it wouldn't cause any harm for a couple of days.
Within 3 hours of the rats being in the cage my old boy Zuess (rip) went into respiratory distress, he was so bad I thought I was going to lose him. He was fine before I had cleaned the cage, the only difference was the shavings.

There are far better substrates out there so personally I feel there is no need to take the risk.


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## GerbilNik (Apr 1, 2011)

As I said in my previous post - I understand why it is so for rats and mice but doesn't mean it applies to all animals. Certain types of woodshavings will of course affect some animals but doesn't mean every single type does as there are so many. 

I'm not going to get into a debate on the subject as this argument has cropped up so many times and never gets anywhere. I just provided links to proper scientific evidence so that the OP could make up their own mind. Whether anyone chooses to read them or not is up to them.


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