Bedding

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wolfy2449

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 21, 2015
Messages
65
Location
Indiana
I've been looking through the forum to find stuff on bedding, however, I don't have time to look through all 51 pages. I was wondering what the best type of bedding would be. I'm going to try to make fleece liners, however, I'm getting the cage when I get the chin, so I can't measure it to make them now (and there's no guarentee that she won't chew them). I'll only have one or two chins and this should be temporary bedding so cost isn't really an issue.
I've seen stuff about Carefresh not being very good for chins, so what would be good to use until I get the chance to make fleece liners? Also what would be good to use as a litter box and what kind of litter should I use?
 
The best bedding/litter is either aspen or pine shavings. Pine helps mask the pee smell better, but aspen has no smell at all really and is less likely to bother allergies if that is an issue for you.
 
Thank you Amethyst! That also works great since pine is easy to find around here, is cheap, and smells good.

Also for the fleece liners, what would be a good and absorbant material to have as the middle layer?
 
I just use more fleece in the middle, that way I know it's safe even if a seam fails or the fleece gets nibbled a bit (before I notice). Other people have used towels, but then you have to make sure you keep a very close eye on the liners.

To make sure the fleece stays absorbent don't use fabric softener, and don't use detergent with softener in it. The best thing to use in the wash is a cup or two of white vinegar, it's a natural antibacterial, deodorizer, and is safe for use around chins.
 
Thanks for the advice. I've also heard of using flannel or terry cotton. Do you know much about those materials and if they'd work well?
 
Well terry cloth is what a towel is made of, and I assume that's the same as terry cotton? But either way fleece is the only chin safe fabric, since it doesn't shred or fray into strings or break in clumps if nibbled or chewed, which cause gut issues like blockage, strangulated intestine and things like that. Fleece can cause a blockage too if enough is eaten, but you should be able to tell (and change to another bedding) if it's being chewed on long before they have eaten enough to cause an issue. So basically anything you use inside the fleece liners for absorbing the pee if it's not more fleece you just have to make sure that there is no possible way for the chin to access it. Personally I don't risk it, even though I am home most of the time I can't watch them 24/7 so if they do chew the fleece enough to get inside, or pull the fleece enough to get inside, since I do liners pillowcase style there is an opening on one end, it's just more fleece inside.
Another thing with using any different fabric is that some shrink more or less when washed then fleece which can cause the liner to become deformed.
 
2 layers inside, so the whole thing is 3 layers of fleece thick.
 
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