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Dust Free Hay/ Sawdust

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moonie8404

moonie8404

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My vet and I have come to the conclusion that my piggie Scruffy has a hay or sawdust allergy. he has a constant running nose, sneezes all the time and when so, wet comes out! I took him to vets after he had it for about a month, he was put on antibiotics and Vit C tablets but to no avail and vet infromed me that they can suffer from this is they are sensitive!

I know there is the site www.dustfreehay.co.uk - does anyone use this? if so what hay and what size do you buy? does anyone know of any other sites i can order from? also does anyone know if dust free sawdust exists, and if so where from?!

Thanks!
 
He needs to come off sawdust immediately - this is what is causing his problems. If you keep him on just hay and newspaper he will be better in a matter of days. Have a look around on this site and you will find that shavings and sawdust are a big no no. The fine particles of dust are to blame and it's also very drying on the skin. Good luck and hope he improves very soon. O0
 
yep i agree all of my piggies are now on newspaper and hay i stopped using sawdust/ wood chippings a couple of months ago they are healthier it is easier and less messy O0
 
I have a pig called Pudsey who is allergic to woodshavings. All my pigs are on fleece bedding but you can use megazorb which is low dust and carefresh which is expensive but I think its fab for no dust!

Dust free hay is good but I found it a bit expensive for how much a bag of it was. But it is not dusty at all. :)
 
megazorb - where can you get this from? I live in Kent, UK.

Fleece bedding, such as? can you explain what that is? sorry being VERY blonde today! hehe

I have had guinea pigs all my life and none of my others suffered from this. Hes a texel and quite a small little thing, so i think hes just overly sensitive! I shall remove the sawdust tonight but i am interested in this megazorb!

I am still going to get dust free hay, just for a trial i think, but not sure really how much you get for your money!, any reviews on this?
 
i have just been reading some posts and alot of people say megazorb isnt that good for GPS and mention vet bed?
 
I order from dust free hay and i agree its bril, but 10 bags @ £40 only lasted me just under 4 weeks which is expensive really i think.
 
moonie8404 said:
i have just been reading some posts and alot of people say megazorb isnt that good for GPS and mention vet bed?
Click to expand...

i now use vetbed for all my piggies - it's so much better for them and always stay dry on top
 
I find megazorb one of the better beddings but I still find it slightly dusty. I know this because I always end up with a coating on my nose of it when I am putting it in the hutch...lol (I have used it for my rabbits) if you google northern crop driers they list stockists.

Fleece is just fleece blankets from Ikea, Wilko's or Bargin Madness. You can use vet bed or pro fleece which is for animals. I use fleece blankets. :)

For a first try of dust free hay I got 2 bales of thick hay for £14.99 I think. It's worth a try and ok if you have only a couple of pigs to spoil but I have 10 so couldn't run to the expense. I now get my hay which is green and fresh from a local pet shop at £1.80 a big bag I can't refuse. :)
 
I buy from dustfreehay and think its brill! I have tried various sizes of bags and find the best value one is the large bale for £25. I get the finer hay and I use aubiose as well :)
 
HI,

My Sid is allergic to sawdust too...seems ok with hay though....but what i do and i have had no problems whatsoever...and i've been using this for the last 3+ years is paper shreddings, I put this ontop of quite a few layers of newspaper (which was advice i took from somewhere online here)..............the Guineas love it when i put a load in their bedroom, i could hear them m(or one of them) yapping away, and lots of rustling noises around...i'm pretty sure they're jumping around in there. They make tunnels with it too.
I have a regular supply of my own and some from friends and family, and it's all free, and i'm recycling. It may not work for yours, but it may? Worth a try?
Good luck ;)
 
hi siddy

yes i have used this before, although i stopped using it because the sneezing ans runny nose and i wanted to narrow down what it was. i ordered profleece last night and removed sawdust from his cage, although this morning he still has a running nose and sneezing but sitll going to give it a little while longer. i plan to get this dust free hay too to see if this makes a difference. if not i just dont know what the problem is! so frustrating!
 
many thanks for everyones help on here and would like to ask a couple of questions re dust fre hay!

which type do people tend to get - i am about to order 2 bales of stalky hay for £15,99 - is this the common one people use, and also 2 bales - how long does this last roughly - how big is one bale?

thanks! O0
 
moonie8404 said:
megazorb - where can you get this from? I live in Kent, UK.

Fleece bedding, such as? can you explain what that is? sorry being VERY blonde today! hehe

I have had guinea pigs all my life and none of my others suffered from this. Hes a texel and quite a small little thing, so i think hes just overly sensitive! I shall remove the sawdust tonight but i am interested in this megazorb!

I am still going to get dust free hay, just for a trial i think, but not sure really how much you get for your money!, any reviews on this?
Click to expand...

Hi moonie where abouts are you in Kent? I'm West Kent and have found the best place to get Megazorb is a livery or stable yard. The one i get mine from charges arund £6.00 for a large sack which lasts ages. PM me if you want further details. :)
 
moonie8404 said:
can anyone give any advice on the hay?!
Click to expand...

I personally always buy the soft hay, which my piggies love. I have 9 piggies and have just ordered another 10 bales, which will probably last me a month, but i always change the hay twice a day and they have some left over, so maybe I waste some of it!
 
As my pigs are on fleece I get the thicker hay as they love that more. My rabbits love the soft hay but then they are just silly! ;D
 
SunshineAndTwinkle said:
As my pigs are on fleece I get the thicker hay as they love that more. My rabbits love the soft hay but then they are just silly! ;D
Click to expand...

Yes mine are on fleece to and I buy Oxbow timothy which is quite thick. I think it would be a bit uncomfortable as bedding but it probably wears their teeth down better too.
 
I always found that with thicker hay my piggies wouldn't eat, so thats why i get the soft hay, which they will munch through no probs...fussy piggies hey :-)
 
Haha mine the opposite! My bunnies hate thick hay and prefer meadow but I get them willow sticks and balls to help their teeth! :D
 
so mixed reviews! thank you all so much for replying! I think then i shall try the soft hay, and then obviously try stalky hay if he is not keen on that!

i cant believe i never found this site before, its fantastic! i am getting addicted! :smiley6600:

thanks all again!
 
Yeah I would try the soft too. I do have so much wastage with the stalky for some reason but softer hay I don't have that. And yep this place is addictive! :D
 
SunshineAndTwinkle - I'm struggling to do any work whilst at my desk! but i just cant help it!

I have so many questions to ask as i never could find them in GP books and that, and this is the answer to all my problems!

i have just ordered 2 bales of the soft hay - and I'm so excited! anyone would think I would be havnig the hay and not Scruffy! aw, I'm so pleased though as I'm hoping this will clear his sneezing and runny nose. The sawdust hasnt done it, so it must be the hay - i cant think what else it would be! :D
 
I've housework to do and I'm still sat here! Doesn't help when you are a Big Brother addict and trying to find info out either...lol

I don't have many pig books found all I need here.

Absolutely no dust from dust free hay it's amazing how they do it. Hope Scruffy improves I have a sneezy pig so know how hard it can be. When we first got Pudsey e would even sneeze over his veggies!

Louise
x
 
its makes me wonder how there is no dust in the dust free hay!

Hey louise I noticed that you are in Liverpool, have you always lived there? Only cose my bfs family are from Liverpool, he was born down here in Wales, but his mum still has a bit of an ancent and all his other family up there have really strong ancients (if that how you spell ancients)
 
Louise,

Me too but unfortunately BB is blocked at work, so just have to wait until I get home from work for that one!

well i have these ancient books from when i was a little girl and had piggies! but i havent bought any, i just tend to go to book shops on my lunch break and read them for free!
 
It's just extraction. Meadow is very dusty at the bottom even makes me sneeze! :D

Moonie - Oh its all been going off Luke and Rebecca have been kissing all night! :D I love Luke!

Yep I'm from Liverpool, always lived here. I didn't think I had a strong Scouse accent but I heard myself of video camera and though Oh My God! I live inbetween Huyton and Netherley in a place called Naylorsfield which is so small taxi drivers don't know where it is! Loads of green fields! So we are on the outskirts of the city.

I love Liverpool though when Peter came up here (he is from Norfolk) he wanted to go to Toxteth to see the burnt out cars. So I took him but Toxteth also has streets that are like in Dickens times and he said where are we, I said Toxteth and he couldn't believe it. We get a bad press but there are good and bad in every big city. :)
 
I have only been up to Liverpool twice, to visit the other halfs family - we went to the Beatles Weekend, but they live just outside from the town centre where Liverpool Stadium is, we went there too - we have a brill time. True about bad places, we live somewhere where you get trouble, robberies every week, drug busts and all sorts, but same in most towns i think.

How I would love to live in the countryside, fields around me, few more animals....can dream hey! Which reminds me I must do the lottery!

Natasha
 
Haha mum does the lotto for me so I don't have to fork out. Always win on Dream number, no more than £10 though. Mum won in August 2006 £2000 for 5 numbers shame it wasn't the 6! ;D
 
£2000 is nice though - I am not greedy and would only like to win enough to leave this workplace and live somewhere better with more animals :-) We are getting some chickens soon - other half is not keen, but i am!
 
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