ooh, we should have a coke vs. pepsi and a starbucks vs. Tim Hortons discussion next! lol. I'm going to write a novel because I am only a few months ahead of you on this same thing and I wish I new many other things in advance! you can take or leave any of my advice/suggestions
I used paper bedding in one area of the cage for a while and have officially stopped. I found it to be dusty and it started smelling earlier than wood pellets (even the carefresh that claims 10 days odor control). I mistakenly purchased food quality hardwood pellets at Wal Mart because I didn't know of any other kind at the time, which cost me $19 for a 40lb bag. I learned later that what I should have purchased was some other type of horse bedding pellets that are often made of pine. I've now used them both - pine for a month, hardwood for 2 months.
If I lived someplace cold where i could get hardwood pellets made for heating, I would try those in a heartbeat. I LOVE the hardwood pellets, but there is no lower cost option I've been able to find close to me in hardwood pellets. I find that the hardwood pellets last longer and clump better for me to spot-clean the high pee areas when I do a cage cleaning. The pine completely disintegrate and I find that I replace pine pellets at a much higher rate than the hardwood. The other major consideration for pine pellets is the odor. I bought 40lb pine pellets from Tractor Supply for $5.99 but the odors from them where so strong that I had to dump them into a huge bin in the garage and let them air out for close to a month before I could use them for my GPs.
@bpatters and I both live in Texas and she kindly shared that she uses TerrAmigo horse stall bedding, which is only available at specialty places. I googled several other places locally and the types of pellet bedding they have available and I plan to try several others to see if I can find the best option available to me locally. I will not be purchasing the pine from tractor supply ever again though because of the odor and the replacement rate I've experienced.
Last thing to point out...I watched several videos online of how people managed their pellet cages. Most of them changed the fleece about once/week and then just mixed up all the pellets underneath as part of the cleaning. Then about every 8 weeks they would dump out and replace 100% of the pellets and start fresh. Since I only have two piggies who seem to pee in concentrated areas, I just scoop out pellets that were in those high-pee areas and occasionally dump in new pellets to maintain the right amount on the cage floor. This is why I prefer the hardwood - SO EASY to remove the heavy-pee areas and the odor control is awesome. The pine just seems to disintegrate everywhere.
So in summary:
Check for the pellets available near you and try a few different types. open pine bags first to check for odor and do not purchase those. Then live with your pellet/fleece cage for a few months and figure out what maintenance method works best for you (100% replace or spot clean).
I would love to hear what you discover too, as I'm always open to learning new things!