Best Bedding for Mice and other small Rodents

A lot of people ask 'What is the best bedding for my hamster/mouse/rabbit etc?' it is one of the most popular questions. Personally I think the answer to this is usually given by someone's own preference, however there are many types of bedding on the market which are not safe for any rodents, rabbits and guinea pigs.

The most common type of bedding/cage flooring is wood shavings, now these spark an on going debate as to their safety. The simple answer is, yes they are perfectly safe for use provided they are non dusty plain hardwood shavings. Pine, Aspen, Cedar and certain scented brands are not safe for use at all as they contain chemical toxins which give off their sweet smell that might be lovely to us but to your pet they can be deadly. These cause URI which is upper respiratory infection which can be fatal very quickly once it starts as many pets such as mice and hamsters will not display the symptoms until it advances due to their instincts to behave as a normal strong animal so the predators don't pick it off. They are usually dusty, the chemicals can cause irritation to human and animal skins (depending on the sensitivity of the human) and are poisonous to your pet. Some people say they use them and are fine with them but that is a very small minority of people who are putting their pets at a serious health risk.

What other types of bedding are out there?

Well for starters for actual bedding in your pets houses, bedding compartments hay is a very good option, I highly recommend Excel Burgess Herbage Timothy Hay. It is a little pricier than other types of common dry hay which is dusty and carries a high allergy risk. However this Excel hay is completely non dusty, green, fresh, smells sweet and is brilliant for all small animals including rabbits, mice, hamsters, guinea, pigs, rats etc as all of them need fibre especially rabbits, it cuts their teeth down, carries a bare minimal risk of allergies, great for digestion and it has a natural sweet smell harmless to your pet. Although it is expensive and not amazingly suitable for a pure cage flooring without being mixed with shavings.

Straw is another near perfectly safe option however it can be very difficult to clean up in large amounts such as rabbit hutches and large guinea pig indoor runs. For tanks and wire bar cages it works wonders and cannot be thrown out of the cage to make a mess all over the house, it absorbs the urine but is not brilliant for absorbing odour which for some animals, males in particular is not the best option. This is a good option for those pets with skin allergies but I'll get to that in a second.

Wood shavings. Now there is a difference between wood shavings and saw dust. Wood shavings are flakes of wood around a cm big or more and are flakey and do not contain any dust. I use horse ones which come in large bales and are dust free, insect free and they are not treated to be scented etc. Sawdust is the name given to the small dusty pieces of poor quality wood shaving that many pet stores provide in small bales or bags which are usually full of dust and sold at a ridiculous price. Many of these have been scented and chemically treated too. Wood shavings are perfectly safe for your pets provided they are dust free, they are not made from pine, aspen, cedar or have been scented and they have not been lying open all over the place for insects and mites to nest in, good quality ones will be absolutely fine although they can still carry allergy issues.

1. My pet has a skin allergy to shavings, what can I use instead?

The best thing for you to use would be straw and herbage hay. Three of my mice have an allergy to wood shavings and I find that straw and hay work wonders for controlling this and are much cheaper than wood shavings. Also be sure that you are not using the low quality saw dust, it is called dust because that's pretty much all it contains. Be sure to check for lice, mites etc on your pet as well just in case.

2. What is the cheapest type of bedding available?

The cheapest type would have to be straw purely because it can be sold in large quantities for a fraction of the price of shavings. Hay is another cheap option but a good quality herbage hay will cost more and is not very suitable as a cage flooring that is why you should sprinkle it on top of a thin layer of wood shavings.

3. I'm allergic to my pets bedding, what can I do?

The simple option would be to change brand. Remember not all brands are the same it is like soap you could use one brand it cause bad irritation change and be absolutely fine. But remember to please use whichever is best for your pet, using hay might be a problem for those with pollen allergies. Or of course, wear gloves.

4. What can I put in my pets house for them to sleep on?

Do not use any woollen substances you can by from the pet store, they may be warm but many animals will eat them and cause digestion problems, in some cases they can cause death. This really is not a suitable bedding and is costly for what it is. As I keep saying, hay is the best option and it is natural and great for your pets health. You can also use straw or an option is fleece, you will need to run it round the washing machine or in the sink but for an actual bed it is a good idea as most won't toilet on their bedding. It works out cheaper than buying actual bedding every week.

5. Are there any brands not suitable for bedding?

Aspen, Cedar, Pine, Saw DUST, scented, and of course kitchen roll/jay cloth/ anything that swells as it absorbs water and urine. Lots of pets actually chew on or sometimes eat their bedding which if it is something that can swell or made from a wool substance it can become a fatal issue swelling inside your pets stomach or choking them. The brands Aspen, cedar, pine, dust and scented are usually very high priced, very poor quality, cause fatal conditions such a severe skin allergies, URI, poisoning and irritating human skin however they are the best for odour control. Do not use these brands and I am hoping people will stop as it is a very serious problem people over look for the sake of a bit of stink, They are dangerous to all small animals from rabbits to mice they contain chemicals, chemical treatments and work similar to your air fresheners which are labelled as irritants.

6. Can I use paper as a bedding?

In theory yes you can, although it isn't much of an absorbent and does not control odour it is safe for your pets, easy to get hold of and cheap. However you must not use coloured paper, newspaper, anything with ink on it, or scented paper as they can and will poison your pet. Plain old printer paper is absolutely fine but it is a good idea to mix it with something because it can get wet and take a while to dry out.

7. What bedding is the easiest to clean up after?

Wood shavings, straw, paper can all be a messy problem to deal with, shavings being the worst as they scatter can be thrown out the cage and get stuck to the carpet, they get everywhere. Larger things like Carefresh bedding (which is a waste of money as it does not work and needs to be mixed with shavings anyway) are much easier to clean, hay is fairly simple to remove too.

8. Can I have some information on Carefresh bedding?

Simple answer, it doesn't work. It is seriously over priced for what appears to be chewed up cardboard, it smells of cardboard and doesn't control odour. It comes out in large chunks which can easily be pushed aside for you animal to toilet on the plastic or wooden flooring, it is harder to get hold of, it doesn't absorb very will and will cost you a fortune to line a rabbit hutch or a large hamster cage. The bags you go through them one a week and it in the UK costs £6 for the smallest bag which every week really mounts up (Its about the equivalent to 12 dollars) for a 14litre bag which is compressed into larger chunks and doesn't last. I don't recommend this it causes more trouble than it is supposed to help with.

9. Tell me about URI.

URI stands for upper respiratory infection. It is a fatal condition that affects many small animals a year and most of them die from it. It affects the upper respiratory tract including, nose, sinuses. windpipe and lungs. Humans can suffer from this too and usually do when they get a cold or tonsillitis but to a small animal this is a very dangerous problem.

The symptoms include wheezing, sneezing, coughing, a hiccough like noise, shaking, low activity, change of behaviour, loss of appetite and watering/ bleeding from the eyes, nose, ears and sometimes mouth. Usually in animals like mice they will exhibit no symptoms until it advances as small rodents pretend to be ok so predators are less likely to pick them off. If left untreated it will almost certainly destroy your pet, there are anti-biotic treatments available which do work and getting your pet to the vets immediately after any symptoms occur especially with a change of bedding then you have a better chance of saving them. Scarring can build up on the lungs too which can be fatal or cut the life span of your pet. This is treatable but if left for a number of days to see if it wears off it will kill them.

10. what bedding do you personally use?

I use a horse wood shaving it is dust free but some of my pets are allergic to the shavings so for them I use straw. My five mice and my rabbit all have Excel Burgess herbage hay which works amazing wonders for all of their health and their teeth. They all have hay in their beds and hay for eating, my rabbit and female mice have wood shavings where as the males have straw.