Eating bedding?

[Amba1027]

We have been using Carefresh bedding for Gizmo since we got him (less than 2 weeks). The Petsmart we got him from using the Carefresh for all of their small animals so he's been keep in it for most of his short life. I saw some threads on here about Carefresh not being the best choices for chins because of the issues it could cause if ingested. So we decided we'd use up the bag we had and buy liners to use instead of bedding. He had never shown any interest in eating the bedding so I didn't see any harm in keeping him in the Carefresh a little longer. Well today I see that Gizmo is spending more time than usual at the bottom of the cage after peeing. I go over to check out what he's doing and sure enough he's munching on a piece of bedding. I immediately shooed him away from it and cleaned all of the bedding out of the cage. I them went out to buy some pine bedding. He has since spent almost the entire evening at the bottom of the cage munching on the pine bedding. I know the pine doesn't present the same problem as the Carefresh but it it ok for him to be eating so much of it? I'm trying to get my order of liners in asap but I'm waiting to hear back from the shop about something and shipping and processing of the order will take a few weeks. Will he be ok til then if he keeps up with the bedding munching?

 

[ChinnyMom]

is he actually eating the shavings or just chewing them up?

fleece liners (corner litter pan optional) are sooooo much easier than a whole cage bottom full of litter!

 

[Twilight Chinchillas]

He's probably just chewing up the larger pieces of pine, like he would any other wood you place in his cage. I wouldn't be concerned, and doubt he is actually digesting the pine.

Wanted to add that I use pine bedding and my chins pick out the bigger pieces and chew on them, and no problems.

 

[Amba1027]

Thanks guys! You all are probably right, he is just chewing it up. I didn't even think of that. I think him eating the Carefresh this afternoon has just left me in a panicky mom mood. Who knows, maybe he was just chewing the Carefresh too, but I wouldn't want to take a chance with that. Thanks again everyone! You've put my mind at ease.

 

[x3ndless]

i actualy have a question about the bedding, currently we are using carefresh but my little one is eating or chewing alot of it. For our old guinea pigs we had some soft fabric at the bottom of the cage it might have been linen but i do not know for sure. Would stuff like that work fine?

 

[ChinnyMom]

with chins, the only safe fabric to use is anti-pill fleece (also known as polar or blizzard fleece). any fabric that comes apart in strands is not safe because they can ingest the threads if they chew on the fabric, causing problems in the digestive system (think string entwined in the intestines!).

if you put fleece items in your chin's cage, and you see them chewing on it excessively (meaning more than the initial first test nibble or two), then you need to remove it from the cage. if fleece is eaten it can cause an impaction in the digestive system. most chins don't chew fleece though.

i would switch the carefresh to kiln dried pine or aspen shavings immediately. carefresh is an unsafe bedding and should not be used with chins.

 

[x3ndless]

okay will do thanks for the info