abies shavings - toxic? - Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Store, Photos of Guinea Pigs and More Forum!

**lau78** · #1 08-29-08, 07:23 am

I know that pine and cedar shavings negatively affect the health of animals.
What about abies shavings?

I bought a lot of superb shavings for my guinea pigs. But I discovered that they were made with abies..

**Toadies** · #2 08-29-08, 08:08 am

Hi! What is abies? The general rule for wood anything is unfinished and non-fragrant, as in aspen, non-oily (non-kiln dried pine and cedar are oily or high in resins). What family does this wood fall in?

**lau78** · #3 08-29-08, 09:41 am

Thank you very much Toadies.

Abies is a conifer.. sorry, I'm italian

**Toadies** · #4 08-30-08, 08:22 am

I did a search for shavings on this site and found a reference to airing out pine shavings for a week or two before using for the piggies. Since abies are a conifer, you might want to do that as a precaution. Maybe you could find some that have been kiln-dried.

**Ly&Pigs** · #5 08-30-08, 01:27 pm

Firs (Abies) are a genus of between 45-55 species of evergreen conifers in the family Pinaceae. (From Wikipedia)

I've never heard of this kind of shavings but are they hard shaving or soft shavings? If they are soft and non fragrant or feel oily they may be ok to use.

**lau78** · #6 09-04-08, 03:22 am

Thank you very very much!

I wrote to the producer asking if the shavings are kiln-dried. They didn't reply

The shavings are non fragrant, but I still don't know if they are safe for my pigs.

Now I'm covering the abies shavings with a layer of hay.. but it's only a temporary solution.
I'll buy another type of bedding soon