Wood Pellets/Chips Which wood pellets are safe?

[Raine59]

I started using Equine Fresh pellets after reading a post here about Equine Pine from Tractor Supply. When I went to my Tractor Supply and asked if they had Equine Pine, they pointed to a display of Equine Fresh. I assume these are similar products but not sure if they are really the same. I found something online that Equine Pine is kiln dried but can't find anything about Equine Fresh. I understand kiln dried pine products are okay for piggies. But also I "fluff" it with water until it is basically sawdust because I think the pellets as they come are too hard on their feet. I wonder whether it could be dangerous for them to breathe in the sawdust or if they even do. Does anyone KNOW the answer to this? Are there any wood pellets other than pine?

[MENTION=11509]lissie[/MENTION] .... I read on another post that you say you use wood pellets (pine or some other?) and you posted a pic but it looked like they were whole.

 

[bpatters]

I used to use pine pellets, but Tractor Supply could no longer get the brand I liked. The new ones smelled very strongly of pine, and those are NOT ok to use. If there's no pine odor, they're ok.

Fluffing it or leaving it as pellets didn't seem to matter to mine -- they didn't have any problems with their feet while they were on it, except once when I used a bag of the heavily scented stuff without realized it wasn't the right kind. I had a terrible head cold and sinus infection and couldn't smell a thing, and it wasn't until a week later that I realized they were on the wrong kind of pellets.

 

[Raine59]

[MENTION=13820]bpatters[/MENTION] So what are you using now?

 

[bpatters]

Fleece, and I absolutely hate it.

 

[Raine59]

I'm just looking for something safe for the litterbox/hay area. I use fleece in most of the cage and love it. But I don't like to use it in the hay area.

 

[Kimberly713]

I use this brand: Somerset Wood Fuel Pellets No smell, no dust.
I just put about 2 inches of it in the hay area in the heavy traffic spots, and the corners and places I notice they dont pee on alot I just filled with aspen. Working wonderfully so far.

 

[lissie]

[MENTION=11509]lissie[/MENTION] .... I read on another post that you say you use wood pellets (pine or some other?) and you posted a pic but it looked like they were whole.

The one I use is called Atlas Wood Stove Pellets. You can use any kind of wood pellets as long as they don't contain fire starters, and don't smell too strong like pine. I use them whole. Now I only use them in the kitchen. When I was using in the whole cage, it took up too much trashcan space (I can't compost and I have to pay for trash)

 

[Raine59]

[MENTION=19714]spy9doc[/MENTION]....I recently expanded my cage and added a 2 x 3 section to my 2 x 4. I decided to keep the 2 x 4 section with fleece as before and use some sort of wood pellets/shavings for the 2 x 3 section. So I did need quite a bit of loosed bedding, whatever the type. I've found the pet store paper litters to be prohibitively expensive, even for a small litter box. But I decided to divide the 2 x 3 section in half and make half of it fleece and half a combination of aspen shavings and "fluffed" pine pellets and I think that will work better. Thanks for the link to the brand you tried but I have not seen this locally and don't really want to order online since the shipping really adds up.