Litter recommendations?

[toki]

Hi all, long time no see!

The litter I normally buy for Toki (Back-2-Nature on Amazon for about £12) has increased significantly in price, so I am looking to change to a new litter. The problem is I have no idea what would be safe to use. I have looked at wood stove pellets, but I have no idea if all brands of wood stove pellets are safe, or if there are dangers I should be looking out for. I know some people also use cat litter, but again I have no idea if this is typically safe or not. Does anyone have any litter recommendations? I am in the UK, so would need a litter that is available here.

I did find this cat litter:

which seems to be suitable (natural, non-clumping, unscented) and affordable, but I am generally paranoid about using a cat litter in case the dust is bad for bunny’s lungs. Does anyone know if this would be safe to use? Thanks for any help! 

[Bunny House]

Those look like what I use, even though it doesn’t say what type of wood they use. They are super aborsbant and help cut down smell! You can even look at your closest farm store because they should sell wood pellets for horses that are $5 in the states for even more in a bag, so I don’t know the price in the UK but it’s so cheap for how long it lasts me with 4 buns.

[toki]

Thanks Bunny House! I also noticed it doesn’t say what type of wood they are, but having checked the reviews, buyers seem to say it has a “pine scent” so I assume that’s what they’re made of. Pine litter seems to be safe according to the info I found in posts on this forum. I’ll buy some (if it comes back in stock, lol) and see how it goes.

I have just looked if there are any farm supplies places nearby but sadly can’t seem to find anything. Another reason to move to the states 

[Bunny House]

No problem! Pine and ceader is actually very dangerous to buns but if it is kiln dried then it is safe. The safest wood is aspen but of course it’s only in those messy shavings! You can always call the company that makes the litter and ask if the kiln dry it but I think you are safe with the litter!

[toki]

That’s a good idea; I just tried contacting Amazon to ask about it, but it seems that their Contact Us page doesn’t allow for product queries… I’m currently looking at other litters but none of them seem to mention if they’re kiln-dried or not. At this point I’m thinking I’ll just fork out the extra £5 for a bag of my current litter rather than worry 

[Bunny House]

Did you actually search up the company of the product to get their website information and phone number to call? Amazon wouldn’t know anything about it since they didn’t make it so you have to directly contact the manufacturer.

I hope you can get a good answer so you can save extra money

[toki]

I have tried seeing who manufactures the litter but to no avail; the product packaging/page doesn’t seem to have any info about it besides “made in EU.” There is a subheading on the page entitled “From the manufacturer” which lists a bunch of product features, however it mentions no other companies except Amazon… I initially assumed the manufacturer was Amazon themselves since they are such a retail behemoth. I have no idea about this sort of thing, though. The only thing I could think of would be to purchase the product, then contact Amazon’s Order Support to enquire about the manufacturer’s details… The lengths we go to for our buns 

[Bunny House]

Oh geez!! You could buy it and then return it if they don’t get back to you! Going down the rabbit hole for our babies ? let me know what you find!

[toki]

Yep, I might just try that! Amazon is great with free returns if their product doesn’t meet your standards. Yesterday I found a similar litter (supermarket own-brand) that is also affordable, and have asked them if it is kiln dried. Hopefully they reply with a yes! For the moment though I am quickly running out of litter, and the Amazon one is not yet back in stock, so I had to order some of my usual litter anyways.  I’ll let you know where this saga ends up!

[Bunny House]

I can’t wait!

[Luna's Parents]

Yup, we used wood stove pellets because they are SO cheap. Then we just throw a layer of hay on top.

[toki]

Thanks for chiming in Luna’s Parents! I will keep on the look out for wood stove pellets. Have found a few bags on Amazon but not *really* sure what to be looking for, since I am so unfamiliar with what dangers WSP’s can entail (if any). Something like this perhaps?:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/FirePower-Firepower-Wood-Pellets/dp/B0776Y6LD9

[Luna's Parents]

Posted By toki on 7/27/2018 2:42 AM

Thanks for chiming in Luna’s Parents! I will keep on the look out for wood stove pellets. Have found a few bags on Amazon but not *really* sure what to be looking for, since I am so unfamiliar with what dangers WSP’s can entail (if any). Something like this perhaps?:

Looks like the same thing we use. We buy ours at the hardware store. I don’t know of any dangers, but Luna never touches them, tries to eat them, etc. 

[toki]

Well, maybe I’ll give them a try then and see how it goes, thanks for getting back to me!

[ThorBunny]

We also use wood stove pellets, my favorite litter! Here in the US we buy 40lb bags at the hardware store for just $5 

The only danger is to make sure you buy the kind without any accelerants added, otherwise they are perfectly safe. Thor had a small nibble at one when we first changed over, but hasn’t tried to eat them since.

[toki]

Thanks for the advice ThorBunny! That is really helpful, and sounds very simple. At the moment looking for a new litter entails finding one that is unscented, non-clumping, and kiln dried. So if I can just look for something without added accelerants… that seems much preferable.

The supermarket brand I emailed about; they told me they would pass on the question to the relevant department and get back to me within 2 days. It’s been about 3 days now so I’m not sure how that’s going. The Amazon litter has also not come back into stock yet, so that’s not looking good. I did find a litter from Pets At Home which is described as kiln dried, however I would prefer not to support a pet-shop chain if I can help it.

I’ll keep waiting for a reply to my email and if I don’t get the answer by the time I need a new bag, I’ll probably try and pick up some wood stove pellets. Thanks everyone for the help!

[Author]

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