Eating bedding?

[kogia]

I noticed my chin has taken an interest to his carefresh bedding. Should I be worried? (I just switch from a questionable pine bedding to carefresh today...)

 

[CerLynn]

If you just switched, he is likely just trying it out. Both of our boys still like to nibble on it occasionally. Just keep an eye on him, but he'll be fine as long as he's not actually ingesting significant quantities.

 

[alli713]

Some chins do actually try and eat the carefresh so I would keep an eye on him.
I'm not sure what was wrong with the pine bedding you had, but pine as well as aspen are both fine to use as bedding.

 

[Sandi]

I had to switch from the carefresh bedding because both of my chins would not stop nibbling on it. I thought at first they were just curious about it but every time I looked over at their cage they always had a piece of it in their paws, so I got rid of it and bought some kiln dried pine.

 

[Cuddlebug]

I switched to aspen because my chins thought that carefresh was a treat. Aspen is also a lot cheaper than carefresh.

 

[Essentia]

I had to switch from the carefresh bedding because both of my chins would not stop nibbling on it. I thought at first they were just curious about it but every time I looked over at their cage they always had a piece of it in their paws, so I got rid of it and bought some kiln dried pine.

Same here. It is just so appetizing to them. I haven't had a single chin that didn't eat it.

 

[IslandDreamer322]

All 4 of our boys LOVED to eat Carefresh- so I made the switch to aspen. I was constantly worried about them - Now they nibble the aspen when I first change it- and then they leave it alone!

 

[jmdebb]

I love that stuff cuz it does work great on the smell, but when I used it, unfortunately all my chins were nibbling on it all the time and I didn't want to take a chance so I personally stopped using it cuz I didn't know if they were ingesting it or not.

Jean

 

[cherylslittleangels]

I just use plain old pine. Occasionally there'll be some large pieces that didn't get ground up and my chins LOVE to get ahold of those. I have 15 cages so pine is the cheapest alternative for me. I make is a point to clean 2 cages each evening when I come home from work and then clean 3 on sat and 3 on sunday and wipe down the chin room walls and wash the floor on the weekend. This way NO cage has to go over a week without being fully cleaned so there is no urine odor. If a water bottle ends up leaking or a cage gets nasty for some reason or other, it will just be placed ahead of the next cage in line for cleaning. I'm a little 'OCD' when it comes to my chinnies

 

[StarGaz'N]

I would keep a watch to see how much they are nibbling on it. If it continues to be a problem, you may want to switch to aspen or find a different brand of KD pine bedding.

I've always used KD pine shavings and have never had any problems.

 

[Gumby and Elmo]

why not jjust switch back to KDpine, its safe even if they eat it XD.
I've tried Carefresh too, my boys think its food all over the floor, plus it was super dusty for me, I didn't like it, since then, I've been using good old KD pine.

 

[CerLynn]

From what I've heard (from HedgeMom, if I recall), ingesting wood shavings is no safer than ingesting Carefresh (that's not to say that either is harmless if ingested - they can both cause impactions but it's rare in either case). As has been suggested, keep an eye on him to make sure he's not actually eating it, but it may be just a phase with the newness/change.

 

[kogia]

Thanks everyone! He seems to be over it an into his hay and pellets once again.

I switched to the carefresh because the pine bedding is hard as heck to get out of the carpet, and the carefresh doesn't seem to leave the cage. (Add the fact that I try to be environmentally conscientious)

 

[Terbear24]

I used carefresh for the longest time when I just had my original 3 chinnies but I switched to pine because it was alot cheaper.

 

[jfleenor2]

I don't know if it's still true, maybe with the old packaging, but it used to have a warning on the back of the Carefresh bag. It said Caution: ingestion may cause bowel obstruction (not those exact words). Why take the chance? The kiln-dried pine or aspen is fine. I switched to aspen myself.

 

[dinobrie]

Thanks everyone! He seems to be over it an into his hay and pellets once again.

I switched to the carefresh because the pine bedding is hard as heck to get out of the carpet, and the carefresh doesn't seem to leave the cage. (Add the fact that I try to be environmentally conscientious)

We had the same problem with the care free bedding as well, our first chin chewing on the Carefree. We stopped using it after we were told that if enough of the Carefree is ingested, then it will swell up in their digestive system and that's really really bad.

The pine works really well, but if you want to be really eco-friendly, have you thought about making cage liners, or buying them? We switched from the Carefree to liners and I think that was the best thing ever. It was so easy to sew them up (6 liners in 3 hours, granted they weren't the best ever, but they were great) and then you can just throw them in the wash like everything else. It's easy to sew, like a pillowcase, and way easier to clean up than pine or Carefree.