Fitch, Auboise, Megazorb or another substrate, from those who have tried them?

[SarahP]

With Megazorb I'm never happy to have it as a top layer. It is very absorbent, but super dusty, and fine. So it can easily be ingested accidentally (as a vet once told me - showed me bits of Megazorb in the bunny's poos).

When I had bunnies I used Easibed.

I'm surprised you found Back-2-Nature not to be absorbent enough. I think it's really good. :?

 

[Mackers]

Well as someone who has used (over the years) :-

Woodshavings
Compressed wood pellets
Newspaper
Hemcore
Aubiose
Megazorb
Fitch

if someone said to me I could only ever use ONE of these for all my furries, I'd choose Fitch. My bunnies currently have megazorb covered with hay in their litter trays and it works fine so I'll continue to use it but the Fitch works best for messy and potentially stinky piggies.

 

[bizziel]

Harvey eats anything paper based (carefresh, megazorb etc) so I just use newspaper, a little wood based cat litter and lots of cheap hay. I have hay for eating and hay for peeing, apparently paper litter tastes great but woe betide me if I don't give them Hay for pets ing for munching :roll: Then I just change the tray everyday when I get home from work. But I only have 2 buns so it's not a big job.

 

[Miss Binky Bunny]

Yes - I can see how this will happen - so not sure why some bunny owners do use it? Ah well - got another bag of megazorb arriving soon so will continue to use that - not sure what to do with 20kgs of Easibed though :lol:

Can you put a more absorbent substrate at the bottom of the litter then scatter the Easibed on top?

 

[Miss Binky Bunny]

It's care fresh natural that I use. I haven't tried the coloured one.

The natura; is what we've been on at the moment. It's soaking through so fast though. The multi coloured litter plus are more compressed and pellet shaped. They did seem more absorbent when I tried them though. If it wasn't expensive I would go back to that.

 

[Miss Binky Bunny]

Harvey eats anything paper based (carefresh, megazorb etc) so I just use newspaper, a little wood based cat litter and lots of cheap hay. I have hay for eating and hay for peeing, apparently paper litter tastes great but woe betide me if I don't give them Hay for pets ing for munching :roll: Then I just change the tray everyday when I get home from work. But I only have 2 buns so it's not a big job.

Binks is a wood pulp fanatic. She eats the newspaper her try is lined with some days along with any cardboard box she can find at her level. I've tried her on so many gnaw chew sticks which she ignores. The only sticks that have interested her have been apple sticks recently relieved of trees

 

[Clare-uk]

I'm after the best litter too, anything pellet shaped my girls eat :roll: must admit I'm tempted by Fitch so if you do try post how you get on

I have separate hay for eating/peeing. Cheap for pee & dearer for noms - my family think I'm barking (but then again I am)

 

[Miss Binky Bunny]

Thank you everyone for all the great feedback and replies. In the end I ordered a 20kg bale of Fitch which arrived today. It's A LOT!
Took a 60L Carefresh bag and a 42L container just to pack half of it into compressed. It is lovely and dust free and smell free. Will see how it gets on with the rest.

SarahP... I did find B2N not particularly absorbent. At the time Binks started eating celery so perhaps that is why she started weeing more than before??? I'm wondering if Readigrass is quite salty also as since ordering some of that, she really pees like a trouper!

Reasons for choosing the Fitch over the others mostly came down to feedback from here and research that said Megazorb was more dusty and smelly; a 20kg bag of Fitch or Aubiose lasted as long as 2x80Ls of Megazorb, and that Fitch seemed overall most absorbent, less dusty, wouldn't get everywhere and is a similar price wise. And while wood pellets I've tried have been great, I'm worried about the pawsies as Binks has had sore hocks.

Hoping this thread may be informative for others also. It's been a great help to me.
Thank you everyone. Love RU :wave:

 

[Miss Binky Bunny]

I'm after the best litter too, anything pellet shaped my girls eat :roll: must admit I'm tempted by Fitch so if you do try post how you get on

I have separate hay for eating/peeing. Cheap for pee & dearer for noms - my family think I'm barking (but then again I am)

Fitch does seem very good so far Clare and it's not pellet shaped. I can't seeing it being less absorbent than Bk2N or Carefresh Natural has been, nor any others, from the substrates I've tried to this date.

 

[Clare-uk]

Sounds good :thumb:
I used to use those wood pellets & lots of hay on top but the girls just dug them out & munched them :shock: I whisked them straight out then worried about Jazz eating them, not that he ever has he's a good boy & my girls are hoovers with ears :lol:

 

[lollypop1984]

hi i have used shavings which is ok, its kiln dried so should be safe. back to nature is ok also but is a bit hard, good for buns with respiratory issues and litter trays. i have used care fresh but not with buns i like it but too expensive. i have just ordered a bale of megazorb so not sure on this substrate as yet i will let you know what i think.
If anyone has any advice on substrates i would appreciate it as i thought shavings was ok if it was kiln dried.
thanks

 

[Pinky&Kief]

I just use newspaper and hay in her cage and some rugs/mats in her run (laminate floor in mine and the bun's room). She's not specifically litter trained but just uses two corners of her cage which i clean out every day or so. It seems to work well and i find she eats more hay like that.

 

[leong]

We use equinola for our lot, cheap from a local agricultural supplier and works really well.

 

[Jonm]

I use

http://www.petsathome.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/en/pets/woodshavings-p385--1

and the bedding

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/p...dding/woodshavings/recycled-paper-pet-bedding

then hey along with the bedding

 

[leong]

Jonm, see if you can find a farmer who will sell you some hay for horses, we pay £3 a bale and the bedding is £6 for 25kg. Pets at home are a rip off and you definitely don't want to be using wood shavings with buns.

 

[Jonm]

Jonm, see if you can find a farmer who will sell you some hay for horses, we pay £3 a bale and the bedding is £6 for 25kg. Pets at home are a rip off and you definitely don't want to be using wood shavings with buns.

only use the woodshavings on the lower level where she does her business and plays around... she loves the stuff... she likes to hide her treats under it and dig... she doesn't eat the hay well very little of it she just uses it as bedding with the shredded paper... I put it down to her being wild...

 

[BattleKat]

When I used substrate for the rabbits I found aubiose to be an excellent product both in terms of absorbency and price.
I didn't get on with fitch at all. The bale I got definitely couldn't be described as soft and fluffy.

For the mice I either use bunny bed o'linum or hugro hemp bedding both from zooplus. Both more expensive than aubiose but lovely and soft and dust free (although I found aubiose fine for the rabbits).

I don't know where you read that citronella is safe but the oil is generally regarded as something rabbits shouldn't come in to direct contact with. I'd actually avoid anything scented, personally.
An extreme example, but one study found A dose of 1 to 4 mL/kg given by stomach tube in rabbits caused paralysis, coma, and death.. If as little as 2ml for a small rabbit can cause death, I do wonder what harm ingesting and inhaling small quantities could do to the kidneys over time.

 

[Miss Binky Bunny]

When I used substrate for the rabbits I found aubiose to be an excellent product both in terms of absorbency and price.
I didn't get on with fitch at all. The bale I got definitely couldn't be described as soft and fluffy.

For the mice I either use bunny bed o'linum or hugro hemp bedding both from zooplus. Both more expensive than aubiose but lovely and soft and dust free (although I found aubiose fine for the rabbits).

I don't know where you read that citronella is safe but the oil is generally regarded as something rabbits shouldn't come in to direct contact with. I'd actually avoid anything scented, personally.
An extreme example, but one study found A dose of 1 to 4 mL/kg given by stomach tube in rabbits caused paralysis, coma, and death.. If as little as 2ml for a small rabbit can cause death, I do wonder what harm ingesting and inhaling small quantities could do to the kidneys over time.

Confusing then, as citronella is from the lemon grass plant and lemon grass supposedly safe for rabbits: http://www.gardenmyths.com/citronella-plant-keeps-mosquitoes-away/


BTW, I wasn't advocating letting rabbits come in direct contact with any oil. With all essential oils, contact with undiluted oil is not recommended for animals, humans or furniture! A lot does come down to the concentration and amount of exposure to the oil. Those Glade air diffusers are horrendously toxic as well. There's a ton of information about the dangers of air fresheners...


I had a little dig around the Net this morning and located the article you referred to: http://www.drugs.com/npp/citronella-oil.html. The following is from there:

<Adverse Reactions

Citronella oil has been reported to cause contact dermatitis in humans. 3

Toxicology

Animal toxicity studies have shown that citronella oil has an LD 50 in mice of 4600 mg/kg and in rats of 7200 mg/kg. A dose of 1 to 4 mL/kg given by stomach tube in rabbits caused paralysis, coma, and death. At least 1 case of death has been reported in a child who ingested an unknown quantity of citronella oil. A review of 5 cases of childhood citronella oil poisoning suggests that dilution of the oil following ingestion may be sufficient to treat most cases of ingestion and that emesis may be induced with a relatively low risk of major pulmonary complications. If spontaneous vomiting has occurred, observation for respiratory symptoms is required. 10>


Another interesting article mentions the toxicology of geraniol as well as citronella and both as being irritants: http://www.pesticide.org/Alternativ...est-solutions/plant-based-mosquito-repellents
<Geraniol
Geraniol is an alcohol found in many plant oils, including citronella, lemongrass, and oil of rose.8 It is used as a fragrance in personal care products and detergents and also to flavor drinks, ice cream, and candies.9>


There were some other interesting articles I came across concerning essential oils and animals, and it would be very interesting to see what complementary practioners who treat animals have to say about the subject. http://www.optimumchoices.com/animals_essential_oils.htm,
http://www.peta.org/living/companion-animals/abcs-cruelty-free-flea-control/

 

[moi]

for me its fitch everytime! Cant guarentee it wont go everywhere though, even with lipped litter trays my lots are a messy bunch x

 

[G-Man]

Hi Miss Binky, how are you getting on with Fitch? I use layer of newspaper, layer of bedexcel and then straw but they pull on the paper which then scatters the bedexcel which then scatters the hay which then leads to 3 of us having a staring contest which they win. So I think I'll stop the paper as it's this they seem to want to shred and just stick with either magazorb or Fitch with hay on top. Hopefully we'll have their new home finished by start of next week and I've new bigger boxes to use as litter trays (bit like these but lower http://www.bmstores.co.uk/products/underbed-storage-box-with-lid-32l-257927) so hoping they may be more comfortable and less likely to make dirty protests!!