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wood shaving???? interesting please read!!

B

bunnylove

Wise Old Thumper
i have just had a call reguarding flora, anyway the lady i was dealing with said that wood shaving are bad to use because it takes the oil out of their skin and lets of fumes (cant remeber the fume now) but i have never heard of this, she said they use hemp, i would not know where toget this from.

has anyone else heard this and what do you use in your outside bun hutches?

Eve x
 
I have heard various people saying shavings are bad, but mine have always been on shavings and dust-extracted straw, and mine have lovely healthy coats and lovely skin - so I suppose it depends on the bun?? Not sure where you would get hemp from, Im sure someone will be along soon to advise. :wink: Cant wait to see the pics of your buns!! :D
 
thank kerri

but you can see them on the rr site flora and valentine, but will send some pictures when i get them here.

Eve x
 
I think the wood shaving's debate has been mentioned several time's on RU. I know many good Breeder's/Rescue's bed here animal's on wood shaving's.

I used to use it and had no problems, apart from it being a little dusty.

I now use shredded newspaper due to Ted been an Angora. Shredded newspaper is more environmentally friendly then wood shavings and its dust free.

I believe Hemp bedding is rather expensive???

Louise
 
I have heard that argument used about GPs but they come from a humid environment so are prone to fungal infections if their skin dries out too much, which is why sawdust isn't recommended for bedding GPs.

I believe the problem with the fumes is the phenolic compounds from pine that has been linked to liver problems but I was only aware of this in relation to certain types of litter not actual shavings themselves.

I don't use shavings myself (would make a terrible mess of the house ;) ) but thought that as they are larger and not dusty like sawdust they were fine to use as bedding in outdoor hutches.

I can't suggest an alternative except maybe a layer of shredded newspaper like Louise uses then loads of hay as extra bedding.

Caz
 
I bed my g.pig on newspaper, and I read shavings were bad for their lungs, but my buns are on shavings and straw, as Ralf physically eats paper and I read they can die of this somewhere on the forum a few days ago??

Therefore I have taken all the yellow pages off him, and egg boxes (as much as he did love them) but I would rather provide him with other toys, than risk him dying of paper eating!! :shock:

Poppy is a shredder so she has been kept very amused this week, as she has been given Ralf's egg boxes and Yellow pages!! :lol:
 
Hi Eve

I use hemp for the kids and get it from Woodgreen. It comes in 48 litre bags ( dont know why they measure it in litres instead of kg's!)
Very tightly packed, lasts 2 - 3 weeks and is £7 per bag. Thats only for the 2 of them though. When the Super Bun and wife turn up I might use that for them or i might use peat trays as thats what he has at Woodgreen.
Has anybody else used Peat trays, are they any good?
 
thanks mark, i may give it a go but with 14 i am thinking rather expensive and what are peat trays?

eve x
 
Peat trays are litter trays with peat in them, they are suppposed to be nice and cool for the buns and their bums. A lot of them have these in their runs at WG.The only down thing about them is that if left outside in the run they can get a bit soggy!
But a big bag of peat is fairly cheap so I might give it a try. I'm going to ask the girls at WG what peat they use.
Do you know any of the girls at WG and have you been up to Hayden WG ?
 
no i have only spoke to wd over the phone (godmanchester) i think they are, but need to wait until they have a home visitor available first :roll: :roll:
 
I use hemp bedding for my chinchillas, it is also ideal for long haired animals.

I get it from the Friendly Estate and it costs £12 of 18kg (plus about £4 postage). Not a lot in my opinion.

Yes, pine woodshavings can cause liver and respiratory problems in some animals. I haven't used it for years on my small furries. Insteady I use hemp, megazorb and/or cross shredded paper.

Vera
 
We used to keep our lot on wood shavings with no problems. But it makes a lot of mess and now we're living on carpet rather than laminate it'd be a nightmare to vacuum it all up. So they're on newspaper now.

If you're keeping a bunny in a mostly open, wire-topped cage, and on wood-flakes, rather than the stuff that's more like sawdust, then there shouldn't really be a problem as the cage will be really well ventilated. I think most of the problems arise when the bunny is in a more closed in space, and then the compounds given off by the pine can build up.
 
thanks bertie but i only use it with my outdoor hutches and the ones in the shed, my hutches that are in the garden are covered at night with tarpullen, so they are weather proof and stop the fright of mr fox if he does happen to walk by.

so i am wondering what else i can use as a base for my hutches that is not gonna kill my pocket and to be used in a wide area as most of my hutch are five foot long so changing the base ever other day with somethink reasonable priced.

newspaper thaey would tear up and eat, so bad idea i think.

any suggestions?
 
I havent used shavings for a while due to the shavings all over the floor and shavings stuck in simba's fluff. I did have him bedded on straw/hay but have just changed to having vetbed on his floor.
I know many people who use shavings. I always thought it was only pine shavings that were bad.
 
Don't know about other woods. I've only heard pine mentioned. And those ones that are treated to smell like other things, like lemon, I wouldn't touch those. Bad mojo.
 
i use the wood SHAVINGS not the dust and i have no problems with it, guineas are on paper, they both have hay.

I don't use newspaper as sugar pulls and eats it so i stopped using it, messy Moo she is :lol:
 
Cedar shavings (not common in the UK) are the most toxic, followed by pine.

Megazorb is cheap, about £5 - 6 for 80l bag. Russel Rabbit Bedding (chopped straw) is a good option too - not suitable for long haired animals though.

Vera
 
I've heard that cedar and pine used long-term cause liver damage, but that aspen shavings are okay. Unfortunately, the aspen ones are a bit more expensive (at least in the usa). I don't know what other woods there are, because those are the only three I've seen...
 
shavings

I use woo shavings for all my buns 'cept two who have pro fleece and newspaper because they get messy coats having longer woolly hair. I've also tried Megazorb which was recommended to me as being more absorpent and its o.k. but I found it a bit smelly.Tho it was good value at £5 per 20 ltre bag. I got it from a horse food supplier/farm. I am lucky in that I collect my shavings from a local joiners yard free in big wheelie bin size bags.It is a bit dusty sometimes but as I have 12 buns that need cleaning out I get thru a lot and its FREE. :D I dont have any problems with dust. I have heard that pine shavings are not to be used.
 
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