Aspen Questions

[CaliGirl]

Ok, so when I first got my ginea pig last june, I was using carfresh. About a couple months ago, I decided that the carefresh was burining a hole in my walet, so I switched to using fleece. But now I find that the fleece is too much of a mess and is beginning to smell. SO now Im looking for another bedding option. At first I thought pine, because its so cheap, but then I read that it can cause health problems for guinea pigs (Plus when I had a hamster I used pine and it smelt really bad because it wasn't absorbing the urin well) so now Im looking at Aspen bedding and i have a few questions about it before I consider buying it...
1. Is it cheaper to use aspen then to use carefresh?
2. Dose it absorbe the urin well? Does it smell?
3. How often do you have to change the bedding (I have 1 guinea pig in a 2x3 cage)
4. Is it messy? Does it get kicked out of the cage easy and stick to carpet?
5. How big of a bag do you buy, how much do you spend a month on aspen

If anyone could answer thies questions it would be a great help. Thanks

 

[Slap Maxwell]

1. Absolutely
2. I find that pine absorbs better and has a better smell, but aspen does absorb somewhat.
3. Change at least once a week and spot clean every two days, I would say.
4. It can get messy, yes, and it will stick to the carpet.
5. For a 2x3 and a $10 5 cubic feet bag you can find in feed stores, probably six-eight weeks.

I still recommend pine, but if you want to have an easy clean up on the carpet, get wood stove pellets or Yesterday's News.

 

[Furkidsmommy]

1. Aspen is a lot cheaper than carefresh

2. It does absorb the urine, but then again there are many different types of aspen and the way it absorbs seems to differ in relation to the size of the aspen flakes. small softer flakes seem to soak up the urine better.

3. I change the bedding in my cages once a week with a little spot cleaning here and there in between.

4. It can get kicked out but I don't find it to be a huge problem with my piggies.

5. I buy a huge 3 cu ft compressed bag from my local rescue and pay $11. One bag does three 2 x 4 cages easily with some to spare. I go through about 3 bags a month.

 

[CaliGirl]

So pine is ok to use? How do you tell if its kiln dried? Would it say on the bag itself, or would you have to call the componie? If its not kiln dried, would it say something different on the bag?

 

[Slap Maxwell]

Almost all pine is kiln dried. If you get it at a feed store ask if it is. Pet stores won't know- but Kaytee isn't kiln-dried.

 

[zakfoxmom]

I mix Aspen and Carefresh and that works really well for me.

 

[CaliGirl]

Almost all pine is kiln dried. If you get it at a feed store ask if it is. Pet stores won't know- but Kaytee isn't kiln-dried.

what about premier pet natural pine bedding? Thats what the petstore near my house carries

 

[Ly&Pigs]

If it does not say kiln-dried on the packaging, chances are it isn't kiln-dried. If you buy regular pine you need to put it in a container and air it out for 2-3 days before using it in a cage.

 

[aqh88]

Premier pet animal bedding(not premium or the one with the dog picture) is kiln dried and has very soft flakes. It works great in the cages I can use it in. The top one on this site:
(broken link removed)
The others I believe are not kiln dried and have different sized shavings.
Chris and I are both allergic to any wood shavings so I can't use it much. Mostly I use woody pellets with hay or a layer of critter care(offbrand carefresh from walmart) over top but now it looks like he's even allergic to woody pellets.

 

[Slap Maxwell]

If it does not say kiln-dried on the packaging, chances are it isn't kiln-dried. If you buy regular pine you need to put it in a container and air it out for 2-3 days before using it in a cage.

I have acctually found out that that most will not say they are kiln-dried, esspecially when they are for larger animals. You have to ask.