[RowenaBlue]

Hi! Was wondering about CareFresh bedding because my breeder informed us on our pet contacts that her health guarantee is void if we use Carefresh bedding. (I was planning on using Carefresh Ultra) She cites the Dioxin in the product as a carcinogen and the reason it would void her guarantee. Is this still used in the bedding... Should I not use it? Thanks for any help you can give! I'm just trying my best over here XD

 

[mimsy]

I'm not sure if they are still using it. I *thought* they removed it. However, they do have a bunch of chemicals they use, which is proprietary and therefore will not give the list, it's supposed to control odor. I'm guessing the breeder is suspicious of them, can't really complain about an over protective breeder, beats the one who is lacking on concerns of her rats.

Personally I cannot stand the smell of any of the paper type beddings or litters so don't use them.

 

[RowenaBlue]

I'm not really complaining, just wondering. Ive had hamsters before and used it so the smell doesnt bother me too much. I know that just because they were fine and lived about 2.5 years, doesnt mean there was nothing wrong with it. I was just curious.

 

[amandad]

We use Carefresh where we work for the hamsters, and use a crumbled paper bedding (which I use at home for our rats and carefresh for our hamster) for the rats, mice, guinea pigs and ferrets. What did the breeder tell you to use? I don't think there is anything wrong with CareFresh. You can always use Kaytee Paper bedding or soft granule bedding. Or you can use the crumbled paper bedding. I use the crumbled paper bedding in the summer and a mixture of that and Carefresh (I used to only use Carefresh but it was too dusty - at least the Carefresh Custom is...).

 

[RowenaBlue]

We use Carefresh where we work for the hamsters, and use a crumbled paper bedding (which I use at home for our rats and carefresh for our hamster) for the rats, mice, guinea pigs and ferrets. What did the breeder tell you to use? I don't think there is anything wrong with CareFresh. You can always use Kaytee Paper bedding or soft granule bedding. Or you can use the crumbled paper bedding. I use the crumbled paper bedding in the summer and a mixture of that and Carefresh (I used to only use Carefresh but it was too dusty - at least the Carefresh Custom is...).

The Ultra is supposed to be better at the dustyness problem which is why a lot of people told me about it. She didnt want us to use any paper based litter. She uses Eco-Shaving litter, (http://www.awf.com/american_wood_fibers_americas_choice_pellets.htm) so I dont know XD they have a seperate page for cedar chips so I'm assuming that these are made differently.

 

[mimsy]

I use something similar, it's a wood pellet one. The nice thing is it's cheaper. It also does do well with odor. The one I use is all douglas fir, which is bird safe so I would imagine rat safe. Birds tend to be a lot more sensitive than rats and they can't handle cedar or pine either.

Now if you use a substrate, these pellets don't really work great for that. If you use fleece, it's great though. I do use substrate for my girls because they like it. I use aspen for that.

 

[dguizzy]

So it's actually bad to use Carefresh bedding? I switched to it over the past few months because I couldn't stand the fleece anymore.

 

[Kelsbels]

It's not bad to use, but it's good to double check the content list of what's inside. I wouldn't use the versions of Carefresh that has color litter, or baking soda in it. Baking soda is dangerous for rats.

When I had rats years ago we used Carefresh Natural and it worked for us just fine. However since it was many years ago I don't know if anything has changed with the "formula", so just check the list of contents.

 

[mimsy]

it's probably safe. For those that worry about chemicals however it's not going to be a favorite. They don't list the chemicals used to counter odor. I hate the smell of it so don't use it and can't say much else about it.

 

[Nieve5552]

Ive tried two types of carfresh, aspen and coconut husk bedding (kritter's crumble) and Im the most satisfied with the coconut husk
Its quite earthy so heavy particles, minimal dust which Im very happy with! Looks and feels very natural too, and doesnt perform any less than the other bedding types when it comes to odor control in my opinion. I feel like the pan where the bedding is appear tider and cleaner too, as the bedding doesnt show stains from pee or other things like carefresh and wood shavings do.