Wood Pellets/Chips Not sure which wood pellet brand to use

[CavyTV]

Hi

So lately I've been thinking of switching from u-haul and fleece to wood pellets and fleece. So far, I looked at Lowe's and Tractor Supply. I'm really not sure what to look for or if the brands I found are even safe (I've heard many stories of people's guinea pigs eating/sampling the wood pellets so I want to be safe than sorry) so I was hoping that someone can recommend a brand or help me figure this out. Here are the three different pellets I looked at:

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I definitely know that the Cozy 'N Fresh Small Animal Bedding from tractor supply is suitable but it's expensive for the amount you get. 5.99 for only 20 lbs. and I have a 2x8 C&C cage! The other 2 are much cheaper (the first link being the cheapest) but, or course, if they aren't safe then I won't buy them.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance!

 

[CavyTV]

Forgot to ask, is it really loud when guinea pigs are on wood pellets? Even when Flyn just simply runs across the cage it causes a lot of noise as he likes to jump on the part of the cage that's not supported by a table (half is on a table and the other half is on a stand made out of grids). I'm imagining Flyn going crazy and disturbing my sleep and making all sorts of noise with the wood pellets under his feet He LOVES to run back and forth in the cage the second I put my head on the pillow Little stinker.

 

[BCPiggies]

I'd recommend two old towels underneath fleece, folded to the size of the cage. It's super cheap, re-usable, soft on piggy feet, and easy to clean!

 

[CupcakeCavy]

U-Haul (what she already uses) tends to work a lot better for most people as it provides better odor control.

 

[CavyTV]

That's what I'm using at the moment. I only had enough u-haul to make one cage liner. Both make my room smell. I was hoping for some advice on the wood pellets, not other bedding alternatives. I have tried wood and paper shavings in the past. I have also already tried towels and fleece/u-haul and fleece.

 

[bpatters]

We can't really recommend by pellet brand most of the time. Because they're so heavy and expensive to ship, they're generally sold in a very local area. A Tractor Supply in one area of the country may have a totally different brand than a TS in the other area.

What you're ideally looking for is pellets that are used as horse stall bedding. They'll be guaranteed not to have any accelerants added, and all you have to do is make sure they don't have a really strong pine smell. If you can find hardwood pellets somewhere, those won't have a pine odor, but you'll have to check to be sure they don't have any accelerants added so they can be used as stove fuel.

 

[ArcanaNoir]

Sometimes the employees at the TSC can tell you whether certain brands contain accelerants. The internet listings don't specify the specific company that makes the wood pellets because the stores get them from varying places. When you go to the store you will be able to get more information from reading the bags the pellets are in. You might be able to find even more information by looking up the company name on the bag on the internet.

The cost-effectiveness of the pellets (specifically the expensive ones you listed) will depend on how many pigs you have and if you have any extra potty mats in the cage in frequently peed on places. I have two pigs in a 2x6 with mats under their houses and in the kitchen area. The rest of the cage is just fleece over wood pellets. I used one and a half 40 pound bags of pellets for my cage, and it's been about 9 months and I haven't had to replace them yet. One time I sifted out the dust and I'll probably do that again in the summer, but the pellets are still mostly in tact. I definitely think it helps with the smell but I do change the mats out twice a week. Since the whole cage isn't covered by a uhaul pad there is less bulk and I can fit everything into one load of laundry at the end of the week.