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UK Safe woodshavings?

muffin

muffin

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Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone know of a kiln-dried brand of woodshavings safe for piggies? I emailed 'pets at home' to ask if theirs were, but no reply. A horse supplier would be my best option, but are these shavings safe? I can't get megazorb here, and the shredded newspaper bedding company I emailed told me they didn't recommend their product for guinea pigs in case they ate it and ingested toxic ink. It's a chance they can't rule out. What does everyone reckon? They also said guinea pigs are pouch-mouthed animals. Is this true?
 
SkinnyPiggys

SkinnyPiggys

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Aspen shavings are the safest, followed by kiln dried pine shavings. Stay away from cedar. Many of us now use fleece liners instead of shavings. Take a look at past postings for more info on this.
 
Harleigh

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I use the pine shavings from my local feed and supply store, they work great and a giant $5 bag lasts me almost a month. I use a layer of newspaper on the bottom to help with the cleanup when we throw it in the dumpster. My piggies don't seem to mind.
 
daftscotslass

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You can't get aspen over here, nor can you find kiln-dried pine. Guinea pigs are not pouch-mouthed animals but dye can still harm them. Some people I know have good experience with aubiose (hemp-based) (broken link removed).

Have you tried fleece yet? It works great for me.
 
muffin

muffin

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It looks good. I like the price, I don't think it's much more than woodshavings, but I'd need to check their delivery rate to Scotland. I'd looked at hemp too but it was too pricey in the little packs, this looks really good though! I have my pigs on fleece but it's the pee corner I need to tackle. I'm thinking litter tray!
 
daftscotslass

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Litter tray with carefresh and a little bit of hay (they get reinforcement for peeing!) works well in my cage.
 
muffin

muffin

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Do you think the carefresh is cheaper than hemp? And how many pigs do you have and how often do you change it, if you don't mind me asking?
 
daftscotslass

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I have 3 piggies and clean out the litter tray every other day. Only one pig poops and pees in it, one pees in it and poops everywhere and the other is a law unto herself. I have to spot clean every couple of days, too.

There's nowhere that I can get aubiose around here so carefresh is really the only option.
 
muffin

muffin

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Drat, that probably means I won't be able to get it either. Some internet pet shop in the UK has carefresh for about £3.50 for a 10litre bag. That's the cheapest I've seen, but better for them than shavings. Do you think it would be too dangerous to use shavings in the litter tray? If it makes you feel better, mine pee in the corner, in the hay pile, and in the pigloo, and poo everywhere. To give them their dues they do get a lot of poo in the pee corner!
 
daftscotslass

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Are you near any garden centres? One near(ish) me in Falkirk sells pet supplies but no pets. The small pet shop (no pets for sale) in Stirling occasionally sells it too. You probably shouldn't pay any more than £2.99. PAH often sells it on buy one get one free but I try not to buy from there unless desperate.

Not been a fan of shavings for some time now, had too many illnesses from it. Alternatively... newspaper and hay. Hay has no absorbancy so you would need to change it every day but that might be an idea?
 
muffin

muffin

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Yeah, I have a newspaper liner in the corner at the moment which gets changed twice daily anyway. If I can't get carefresh/hemp cheap in bulk on line, I'll try that. Thanks.
 
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