Eating bedding?

[Sarita]

I just built a C&C cage and I am using a thin layer of dried pine bedding and then a layer of carefresh over top of the pine. My guinea is kind of digging thru the carefresh and nibbling on the wood underneath. Will this hurt him or make him sicky?

[CavySpirit]

Make sure you have lots of good quality Timothy Hay in the cage. If they have good hay to chew on, they'll usually leave the not so good stuff alone. Also, make sure there is a wooden hidey house available for them to knaw on with their incisors.

[loves2travel]

Originally Posted by CavySpirit

Make sure you have lots of good quality Timothy Hay in the cage. If they have good hay to chew on, they'll usually leave the not so good stuff alone. Also, make sure there is a wooden hidey house available for them to knaw on with their incisors.

cavy spirit, does there HAVE to be a wooden hidey house? Will just a piece of wood be ok?

[Faunn]

Your piggy shoudl have a house to hide in, wood might be the best, or better, than plastic because you won't have to buy the wood block, which could take up just a tiny bit more space than just a wood home. My piggy has a wooden house and he loves chewing on it, so I don't buy him wood blocks.

[ILovePiggies]

~My guinea pig eats her shavings sometimes. It concerns me sometimes?! She does have lots of hay food cardboard and wood to chew on too? Is she bored?~ ~C~

[ILovePiggies]

~Oh yeah, is black and white news paper bad if they chew on it?~ ~C~

[Treen]

The occasional shaving won't do any harm. And genereally black and white newspapers are printed with vegetable based dyes which are safe for them, so nibbling on it won't do them any harm (and most love to tear up strips and chew on them!). You can call the printers of any newspaper to check what dyes they use if you want to be sure.

Avoid coloured/ glossy inks as they're much more likely to be toxic to them.

[loves2travel]

uh oh, i dont have wooden hidey house in my cage, only some paper bags and tunnels

[cinn&sprinslave]

Originally Posted by loves2travel

uh oh, i dont have wooden hidey house in my cage, only some paper bags and tunnels

I dont have wooden hidey houses either and my piggs are fine they never chew on bedding except if they are being weird but that is very rare.. The wood sticks should be ok.

[mncavylover]

You shouldn't be using pine unless you're sure it is safe. Also, they should always have enough hay, pellets, etc. so this shouldn't be too much of a problem. Good luck! =)

[cinn&sprinslave]

It is very easy to see if pine is safe, it either smells like pine, or it just has a normal wood smell. I use the air drying technique that Voodoojoint (a member) posted in a thread. But it doesn't become safe as quick as the post says, it can take a lot longer depending on how much bedding you are air drying.
Mncavylover- don't worry I stick my nose up the pine to make sure it doesn't smell and if it does I don't use it. I leave it to air out for another couple of weeks or so.

[mncavylover]

Yes, I'm fine with that. I'm glad you take such precaution! I think I also posted a link about it. Just in case, here it is: http://guinealynx.info/my-pigs.html#bedding.