Bedding Pine Pellets

[pineapplepiggymom]

Are these pine pellets safe for piggy bedding? I don’t see where it says kiln dried so I am kind of lost.

 

[bpatters]

Maybe. Maybe not. They're kiln-dried pine, so they're theoretically safe. But some kiln-dried pellets have a strong pine odor, and those are not safe. The phenols (the chemicals that cause the pine smell) cause lung and liver disease, so if the pellets smell strongly of pine, I wouldn't use them. But if there's little or no pine odor, they're OK.

 

[pineapplepiggymom]

Maybe. Maybe not. They're kiln-dried pine, so they're theoretically safe. But some kiln-dried pellets have a strong pine odor, and those are not safe. The phenols (the chemicals that cause the pine smell) cause lung and liver disease, so if the pellets smell strongly of pine, I wouldn't use them. But if there's little or no pine odor, they're OK.

Thank you so much! That really helps!

 

[pineapplepiggymom]

Maybe. Maybe not. They're kiln-dried pine, so they're theoretically safe. But some kiln-dried pellets have a strong pine odor, and those are not safe. The phenols (the chemicals that cause the pine smell) cause lung and liver disease, so if the pellets smell strongly of pine, I wouldn't use them. But if there's little or no pine odor, they're OK.

If there isn’t an odor, would this be too hard on a piggy’s feet?

 

[bpatters]

No. I used pellets for years. I did put a layer of thin fleece over the pellets because that made it so much easier to clean up -- just take the fleece out and shake it and put it back in. It also meant they weren't dragging their food through the sawdust -- pellets disintegrate into a "floor" of sawdust which can actually be swept.

 

[pineapplepiggymom]

No. I used pellets for years. I did put a layer of thin fleece over the pellets because that made it so much easier to clean up -- just take the fleece out and shake it and put it back in. It also meant they weren't dragging their food through the sawdust -- pellets disintegrate into a "floor" of sawdust which can actually be swept.

Did you just do the pellets with thin fleece over top? What do you like for piggy bedding these days?

 

[bpatters]

I don't have any pigs at the moment.

But I used about a 3-4 inch layer of pellets with a thin layer of fleece on top. The pellets lasted about 10 months, and would have lasted longer, but I had to move the cage and it was impossible to do with pellets in it.