Pine Shavings, need more info

[Isabelle88]

I have read that pine shavings are very bad because it could hurt their lungs, bare with me here, about 8 years ago i got a hamster, first pet ever and I was taught from that, hamster and rabbit very different yes But i learned and have always dealt with bedding. With Dude my oldest rabbits, 7 yrs old, he was in a petstore in his cage alone with pine bedding, the owner was Dude’s owner and had to sell him, we took Dude home, cage and all, so I figured he has bedding and continue with what he had. Dude’s never had a problem, we use a mix of large and fine pine bedding he loves to chew on and the new rabbits seem to like it as well, it really sucks up the pee and gives them alot to chew, to me its great but I see all these warnings and I figured I’d ask how bad is it really when there are no signs of toruble.

 

The bedding isnt dusty, had a very fine one once and Dude sneezed alot so i make sure theres no dust and when they, all the rabbits sleep they have a piece of wood high in their cage they sleep on so no inhaling of the bedding when  they sleep.

[skibunny8503]

I can’t really answer how harmful the bedding is but my first rabbit had nothing but pine bedding in his litter.  I didn’t know it was harmful at all but he lived to be 12, so it might depend on the rabbit??  Not sure.  But before he died I didn’t know what exactly was wrong with him so it could have been harmful to him.  When we got our new rabbit, I learned about the pine being bad and switched to a wood stove pellet (or Yesterday’s News works too) and I liked that a lot better.  I found that it really absorbs the pee a lot better than pine and a it better to clean up.

[jerseygirl]

This is House Rabbit Society recommendations on litters and litter training

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/litter.html#litter

If you want to try something different without changing the type too much for them, try aspen shavings.

[RabbitPam]

Yes, there are newer studies and research that have added to our knowledge in more recent years, and it’s been putting pine shavings in the bad column in increasing numbers. My philosophy is “when in doubt, don’t.” (Which is useful under many kinds of circumstances, like at work, LOL. )

Anyway, it’s currently controversial enough that a switch to Aspen pellets, or Aspen shavings, is a good choice. I actually had been reading that Pine pellets, like wood stove, were great at the beginning of this year, but then after a long post where a discussion brought out the notion that if I can smell them, the bunny may be inhaling the harmful element as well, I switched. The thing is, there are several great options for bunny-safe bedding, so why not change? Aspen is super absorbent too. Also Yesterday’s News and Care Fresh make great products. Prices are competitive, so why take a chance?
Hope that helped.

[Elrohwen]

As I mentioned in response to your last post, your buns will pick up litter training much more easily if you remove the shavings from the bottom of their cages and just put litter in a litter box. If you’re only putting litter in a box and not the whole cage, you’ll save tons of money too.

I agree with RabbitPam that I would also avoid the pine. If you really want to use shavings, aspen is the way to go. However, if you’re going use litter boxes, you can get something like Yesterday’s News which I use and love.

[Beka27]

I have also used pine shavings in the past with previous “small pets” and while I never had a problem with them personally, the warnings I’ve heard since then have been enough to convince me to find alternative litters. I use woodstove pellets and I love them. They are very absorbent, they keep the litterbox odor-free for at least 3-4 days, and they are super cheap. I highly recommend them.

[bunnycutie]

unfortunately, i have to use it for my rabbit. it is in his litterbox. it is so weird. pine shavings are the only thing he will pee on. i’ve tried wood stove pellets, cedar, aspen, straw, newspaper, yesterdays news, sifted softwood, and kitty litter. all of these he held his pee for a day before exploding in my room. i remember straw was the WORST! he held his pee for three days! it was incredible! i didn’t know a rabbit could hold pee that long. hehe. i wish he would use something else…

[MooBunnay]

Bunnycutie – you might want to try putting a layer of hay over the pine shavings, and then if he gets used to that you might be able to switch the type of bedding. My bunnies always have a layer of hay of their litter because for some reason they like to munch from one side of the box and pee on the other side

[bunnycutie]

he always does have hay in his pan-he likes to eat and poo! i will try spreading it around, instead of just one corner. thanks MB!

[tabalab]

I use pine shavings but will be switching I just layer the bottom with newspaper sticking up all around so my buns have something to shred and encourage them to go into the littler box and i also shred newspaper my self and have an inch layer on top on the pine. Boyfriend bought so I thought I might as well use it.

[lancy]

i choose birch shavings which are commonly used for rodents. i use newspaper too, since my bun is not picky of any kind of substrates.  he just love his litter box. however, some people also doubt about newspaper, say, the volatile ink would hurt respiratory system.

[RabbitPam]

The yellow pages phone books are safe for bunnies because the ink is soy based. I think the newspaper is too, but not sure.
If you have a shredder, you could take a phone book and shred it up, then store it in a bag for litter.

It sounds like he prefers a soft bed underfoot, so have you tried the original Carefresh? The one without color added is the cheapest and it’s very soft.

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