Wood shavings for your guinea pig cage
In order to provide a soft comfortable surface for your guinea pig and to soak up the urine the floor needs to be covered. For the majority, wood shavings, though irritation to the eyes can be caused by very fine sawdust, therefore this should be avoided.
There are other types of wood shavings that should not be used such as, Cedar wood shavings, this type of wood shaving can usually be distinguished by its red tint, they uses phenols which can result in sever irritations to guinea pigs. On the other hand pine wood shavings will cause your pet less problems and are also a softwood, also you can use, without problems, kiln dried processed pine. Scented shavings should also be avoided as these too may result in irritation. Corn on the cob beddings is not recommended as guinea pigs have been known to eat it, which can result in it swelling in the stomach. The safest form of wood shavings to use is wood shavings that are made from hard woods such as those that are created from small animal litter made from wood pulp such as Carefresh. Most shops will sell a variety so be careful to look at the type you wish to buy.
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1 Comment»
Rich Whiting
28. April 2009 | 20:07 h
I wanted to add some information to the post about wood shavings for Guinea Pigs. Some of the information, such as avoiding extremely dusty products is absolutely correct. The info about cedar is a little off - phenols are not something that is “used” - they are a naturally occurring aspect of the wood species, and the kiln drying process used to produce the bedding product substantially reduces these phenols. Lastly, Carefresh, which is a product made from the sludge waste stream of the paper pulp making process, is not a hardwood product - these kinds of pulps are made from Pine, Spruce or Fir trees. This bedding has been found to be very poor at absorbing ammonia, and so can expose small pets to nasal and respiratory inflammation. Hardwood, such as Aspen can be an excellent choice, though it does not have the ammonia reducing properties of Pine. http://www.PineIsFine.com is a website that has a lot more information on this subject.