Carefresh: Carefresh is too dusty!

[rjramer06]

We just went through our last bag of Carefresh, and I've had it with the stuff. We have been using it in our kitchen area of the cage, but I am wanting to change to something else. It's hard to sweep off the fleece and kicks up a lot of dust when I'm sweeping. Has anyone else had problems with dust from Carefresh?

Also just a few aspen bedding questions:

Is aspen a good bedding for a kitchen area?
How well does aspen hold in liquids/smell?
Would a cheap bag from Wal-Mart be ok? We only have a Petsmart near us and 1 feed supply store but they don't sell bedding.
Walmart.com: Alphapet®: Aspen 1500 Cu. In. Bedding: Small Animals - Here is what I'm looking at.

[catalineh06]

I have started using Yesterday's News, there is no dust and I think it covers odor pretty well.

[angiekay]

My colors carefresh isn't dusty at all that I've noticed; however, I'm only using it in the litter/hay trays, I put a handful in the bottom the cover and fill with grass/hay and they wee and poo mostly in those.

[juliaaa]

Originally Posted by catalineh06

I have started using Yesterday's News, there is no dust and I think it covers odor pretty well.

I also used Yesterday's News for a while, particularly in my rabbit's litterbox. It was dust-free and pretty absorbant. Unfortunately, my rabbit hated the feeling of it on his feet, and refused to go in the litterbox.

[Ilovemypiggies1]

When I was using Carefresh, I found that it was very dusty. I switched to Aspen because of the cheaper price and Aspen works very good as a kitchen area/litter box because it is cheap and works well. It's not too dusty and doesn't have a strong smell but with Aspen I only have to change my litter box every 3-4 days and I have 2 pigs. It's really your opinion, I've heard that Carefresh can be a wonderful bedding other than the dust. A lot of piggie and small animal owners use Yesterdays News which from what I have heard is good, however, a friend of mine has 2 piggies and used Yesterday's News and after 2-3 days it started to smell.

[lissie]

I use yesterday's news in 2x2 kitchen area. It works well but can be quite expensive and very heavy.

Does Aspen stick to fleece? I might try it.

[angiekay]

Originally Posted by lissie

I use yesterday's news in 2x2 kitchen area. It works well but can be quite expensive and very heavy.

Does Aspen stick to fleece? I might try it.

Good question, I would like to know also, because I don't find it hard to vacuum up the carefressh with what little I'm using in my litter/hay boxes, but Aspen may last longer and be more cost economical.

[fieryone]

I use Yesterday's News with Carefresh Ultra over it and it works great. I also find regular Carefresh to be dusty, but the Ultra (white) isn't at all. It keeps odors down better than the regular, too.

[Aquena]

I have found that Aspen does stick to fleece and that once Aspen gets wet, it stays soggy and mats down.

In the main part of the cage, I use 2 thick towels with a top layer of fleece.

In the hayloft/kitchen area I use a melamine rectangle serving tray under the hay bin and where the piggies lay/eat with yesterdays news about 1/2" thick - which I change out every other day.

I use yesterdays news in my litter boxes. I have not noticed any smell with Yesterdays News.

[rjramer06]

Would using fleece in the kitchen area be a good idea or no? I only have a small kitchen area (mostly just to hold the hay in one area) and that's where they do most of the peeing at.

I was using white Carefresh (don't know if it was Ultra or not) and I found it to be VERY dusty. It stuck to the fleece a bit, but I didn't know if it was any better than aspen bedding.

I talked with my vet today about it. She said she uses a mix of aspen and Carefresh, so maybe I will try that. It's just that again, my kitchen area is so small that I don't know if it would be worth it buying 2 bags of stuff.

Going over to my vet's tomorrow (she's really cool with us now, haha) to buy some aspen bedding off of her and some Oxbow performance pellets.

[IluvePiggies]

I just started using Aspen and haven't found it dusty. I have found that it does seem to hold the stink in better but it is best to add just a handful of bedding everyday to refresh. I changed my cage Thursday night. Usually it smells very quicky because they poo very quickly but I haven't noticed one stink. It is this bedding: Premier Pet Natural Pine Bedding - Bedding & Nesting - Small Pet - PetSmart but Aspen, not pine. On the back of the Aspen bag, it tells you for each specific pet, when to change the Aspen and when to refresh it.

Now, I have noticed that most people put bedding in the kitchen because their piggies tend to go more in the kitchen area and plus its just a little area to clean up of bedding. I would go with bedding in the kitchen but that's just my opinion.

[lissie]

Originally Posted by rljr1001

Would using fleece in the kitchen area be a good idea or no?

I have tried it and it's kinda hard to clean because hay sticks to fleece. If you take it out and shake and put in new fleee everyday, that might work.

[fieryone]

Originally Posted by rljr1001

I was using white Carefresh (don't know if it was Ultra or not) and I found it to be VERY dusty. It stuck to the fleece a bit, but I didn't know if it was any better than aspen bedding.

Yes, that's the ultra. Maybe you got a bad bag or something because I've had some that's more fluffy and some that is less dense, but never have I noticed dust. But I'm comparing it to regular Carefresh which, to me, is very dusty.

In my experience, everything but Yesterday's News sticks to fleece if it gets on it. I use a coroplast box with a fiddlestick bridge as a kitchen litter box and that keeps everything in the box and off the fleece.

[YayPiggies]

I used to use aspen with my hamster. It was great. I covered it with a small layer of SunSeed Fresh World bedding and that took care of the odor.