I’ve had hedgehogs for 24 years. I’ve also had allergies & asthma! I use fabric liners instead of any wood or paper type beddings simply because of my allergies and asthma. But here are some things I’ve learned - Aromatic oils in both cedar and pine can irritate respiratory systems of small animals, cedar being the worse. It can cause ‘burns’ in the respiratory system. It was described to me by a veterinarian teacher as “cooking the respitsystem from the inside out”! Kiln dried pine is less offensive than non-dried pine. Aspen is safer than kiln dried pine. Recycled newspaper bedding has an odor (usually because of inks and chemicals used recycling it into bedding) and that odor increases when wet from either water spills and definitely from urine. Paper types like Carefresh can be easy to spot clean bust also easily kicked about creating more mess than necessary. Corn cob bedding gets moldy fast once wet. ALL of these beddings have some level of dust. Another consideration, at least with hedgehogs, all these bedding types can mask or hide changes in urine and feces, such as blood in either, they may give early alert or warning of illnesses.
There’s a lot to consider to insure the best for your pets and yourself. Hope this helps some.
Teresa and the HedgeHerd
