Question about pine shaving?

[kerri101]

I want to switch from aspen to pine....Ive head many say pine smells better.....but when I went to two pet stores I asked if the pine shavings are kiln dried and they had no idea what I was taking about.....are there any brands that people know are kiln dried pine safe shavings thanks

 

[ChinnieShop]

I was under the impression that we should stray away from all pine shavings, but I could be wrong. You could always go to fleece, many members on here go that route as well.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

There is nothing wrong with pine shavings. A lot of the big breeders use it because it is safe and cheap. I have used it for 12 years with no problems

 

[jess32247]

I've heard that it's not safe as well, but I bought a huge bag of it a few months ago and have been using it with my hamster since then with no problems. Granted that's only a few months, but if there was a problem I think there would be more of a fuss about it. lol

I think it would say on the bag which is kiln dried and which is not. If it didn't say on the front, it might say on the label. Not much help, but i think the bag I bought wasn't kiln dried, still no problem with it.

 

[ChinnyMom]

from what i have read, a majority of pine shavings in pet stores are kiln dried, even if they don't state it on the bag.

what you want to sniff for is if the shavings smell really 'piney'. this could indicate that they are not kiln dried. kiln dried pine shavings will have some pine smell to them, but they won't be as aromatic as non kiln dried.

i buy the living world brand pine shavings and have not had any issue with that brand at all.

 

[greychins]

I've read the same thing - that many don't state they're kiln dried, but that the majority are.

We've used pine shavings for the last 9 years and haven't yet had a problem.

 

[kerri101]

Thank you for the information....I saw a few threads where pine shavings were preferred...I spot clean daily and cage clean 2 times a week or more but many say pine smells better then aspen...I cant use fleece as chilla wants to chew it sigh... fleece is so pretty and snuggly

 

[saphire]

from what i have read, a majority of pine shavings in pet stores are kiln dried, even if they don't state it on the bag.

what you want to sniff for is if the shavings smell really 'piney'. this could indicate that they are not kiln dried. kiln dried pine shavings will have some pine smell to them, but they won't be as aromatic as non kiln dried.

i buy the living world brand pine shavings and have not had any issue with that brand at all.

Ditto to all!!

 

[Essentia]

I wouldn't use kiln dried pine with a hamster, but it is fine with chins. Hamsters have super small lungs and their nose in the shavings, so even with it being kiln dried there could be some harmful phenols.

 

[Dark Star]

shavings

Dark Star has been using pine shaving for years....actually white pine is preferred. A person can buy 10 cubic ft. bags that have been dryed and screened to remove the dust for about 8 dollars per bag.

 

[Gumby and Elmo]

I use a brand called Nepco, been using it for 7 yrs with no problems.
It does say klin dried pine on the pack, maybe u could google Nepco and see.

 

[mistywaterwoman]

I had the same experience with my feed store, they had never heard the term "kiln dried" before.
The guy brought me back into their warehouse to show me which ones they carried, and I checked the bags, and only two brands had the words "HIGH HEAT DRIED" on them.

I even went to the website of those two brands, and both said they were dried in giant ovens at high temps, so I took that to infer "kiln dried".

So now when I go to my feed store, I just simplify it for them and ask for the white bag of shavings, lol.

 

[saphire]

I have found some that is kiln dried and sifted

 

[Lillybabe]

I personally prefer aspen to pine. I find the aspen smells less when peed on and it always seems less dusty. I originally used kiln dried pine when I got my first chinchilla but quickly switched to aspen. Pine drives my allergies up the wall. I do not think either is going to smell great once peed on. When I used only shavings as bedding I would spot clean by scooping out the heavily peed in areas and then replace all of the bedding once a week. This really helped with the odor factor.