Wood shavings?

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honeycup

Hey Everyone,

I know that wood shavings are not a good idea to use as bedding but i have searched everywere near me and i can not get any other substitutes for bedding so i have decided to use hay wich is ok. I now have a dilemma, i have a big bag of woodshavings from my hamster that sadly passed away and i was wondering if i could use this as florring for the cavy cage/hutch, this wouldnt be a forever thing but may last for two months. This raises further question as the wood shavings are only dusty when i pull them out of the bag and then settle (not dusty anymore) the place were I'm getting my gps from use the exact same wood shavings i wont be able to transfer to anything but all hay so please say should i use the shavings or should i just use all hay barring in mind they will be outside in a hutch most of the year.

Please help :)

Brendan
 
I will transfer to all hay if nessacery because i will be able to afford it.
 
For my outdoor pigs I use shavings covered with a thick layer of hay. I know it's controversial whether to use shavings or not, but mine are ok as they have little contact with the actual shavings and I make sure I get dust extracted shavings.
 
yea as far as i know mine are also dust extract this helps because i can use some woodshavings at the bottom then bundle hay on top this helps thankyou.
 
I use pine shavings someimes and my piggies dont ever seem to hve a problem? What does it do to them anyways?
 
I had a pig go completely bald on his belly - the vet told us it was almost definitely due to the strength of the oils in the shavings. We put him on hay and never had the problem from then on. The fine dust (even the supposed dust extracted stuff is still full of dust) can also contribute to respiratory issues. I was also told by my local rescue that she had seen pigs with feet burned bright red from their owners using shavings.

I use fleece but would use megazorb or hay if I didn't.
 
So when my piggy gives birth... what bedding do you sugest i use until i can put them on hay? I was told not to use hay because it could maybe poke them in the eye or somthing. I am planning to bring her in in a box before she gives birth.
 
For babies I would use something like vetbed or fleece. It is far easier to tell if there is any abnormal bleeding coming from the mum that way.
 
Where do i get that from? Is it expenive? Also Just having a towel over some plastic (like a shopping bag sort of thing to protect the box), Would that be okay?
 
baby-wilson said:
Where do i get that from? Is it expenive? Also Just having a towel over some plastic (like a shopping bag sort of thing to protect the box), Would that be okay?
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I would never move a piggy due to give birth into a box while waiting for her to give birth. She will be much more comfortable in her normal environment. As long as you have decent quality hay it shouldnt scratch the babies eyes, it needs to be available at all times anyway as its a very important part of the diet. A heavily pregnant sow is more likely to have complications in birth if you start moving her around and changing things she is used to. As for the shavings issue, appart from being dusty they dry out the coat, you only have to rub some in your hands to see what it does to the piggies feet and skin. Just about any guinea pig that has come into my rescue with skin problems has been previously kept on wood shavings or sawdust. Good alternatives are newspaper and hay, megazorb, Ecobed, shredded paper, vetbed, fleece, Medibed, Russel bedding, the list is endless ;)
 
I use woodshavings aswell, with hay or straw layered on top, and never had any problems with it.

Woodshavings are just SO GOOD when it comes to soaking up the urine, and hay only wouldnt work for me.

So I think that combination is ideal - piggies dont have that much contact with shavings, but they still benefit from not having little puddles in their cage.
 
I clean my rabbit cage every 2-3 days and there is always a huge wet patch in one corner where they always sit so i am getting mum to get me some more shavings so there isnt as much mess for me to clean and the rabbits dont have to sit is widdle all the time.
 
:) Aubiose is 'like shavings' without the potential problems. You need something soft on top for them to sleep on but it absorbs urine well.
 
instead of shavings i totally recommend recycled paper. i find it to be more absorbent and its softer on my cavy's feet. i recommend carefresh.
 
While I wouldn't use any type of woodshavings personally, I see a lot of North American members on other forums recommending Aspen as safer than pine.
 
i use woodshavings with a layer of hay over the top and have had no problems so far. i find other beddings i have used including just hay over paper have left my piggies damp when they sit on where they have piddled. I am thinking of trying carefresh though to see how my piggies get on with this
 
I've always used a good layer of news paper,then shavings, straw and then hay.Use it for rabbits,guinea pigs and pet hen! Also have lino square floor tiles stuck on the floor of hutch to protect the wood from the urine!
 
Though I now use Megazorb as it is less messy. I have used dust extracted wood shavings (hay on top) for years without any problem whatsoever. If it wasn't that I found Megazorb absorbs odours better and makes much less mess and is easier to hoover up...I'd still be using shavings.

Personally I believe skin problems are more a result of cross infection, exacerbated by dirty living conditions/poor diet, than woodshavings.
But that's my thoughts, based on my years in rescue :)

Barbara
 
Wood shavings do dry out the skin- fact. This leaves it more prone to Fungal probs ie it is easier for them to be caught. Even in a clean environment the Guin will have dried out skin though be less prone than one in dirty conditions and on shavings. It is a combination of dry skin and bad husbandry plus anything thats in the air.
 
karenrgpr said:
Wood shavings do dry out the skin- fact.
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I'd be really interested in reading the research to back this fact up. I'm not trying to be difficult or doubting that you believe this to be true Karen, so please don't think that :)

The simple reason I'd love to find out more is that my guineas and the rescue guins have never shown any indication of dry skin in all the years they were kept on shavings. Never been prone to skin infections either.

Thank you,
Barbara :)
 
I'll look it out. It was done by a Dr. someone who is involved in the Hamster fancy. I know I have a magazine somewhere with it in. :) I would guess that as your pigs are kept clean and inside then they have escaped this. I make a point of asking what bedding pigs were kept on when people brought them to me, the Fungal ones are kept on shavings every time (but then again its a common bedding so not a fair test :) ) and some were outside too making it a double whammy.

It seems that some pigs are more sensitive than others (skin) no matter what the bedding, but shavings certainly don't help. :)
 
karenrgpr said:
I'll look it out. It was done by a Dr. someone who is involved in the Hamster fancy. I know I have a magazine somewhere with it in. :) I would guess that as your pigs are kept clean and inside then they have escaped this. I make a point of asking what bedding pigs were kept on when people brought them to me, the Fungal ones are kept on shavings every time (but then again its a common bedding so not a fair test :) ) and some were outside too making it a double whammy.

It seems that some pigs are more sensitive than others (skin) no matter what the bedding, but shavings certainly don't help. :)
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Thank you.
You are right when you say that most guineas are kept on shavings and so that isn't really an accurate indication of how this influences the incidence of skin problems. Probably some guineas are more sensitive to certain products, just like we are. Guineas with a lowered immune system and under stress are no doubt, like us more prone to ill health and disease. Likely why so many rescue guins are susceptible to fungal and parasitic infestation :(
Who on earth would believe wood shavings could be so controversial ::) ;D

Barbara
 
All mine are on woodshavings with hay on top. I kept them this way in all the 20years or so I've kept piggies and have never had any problems with them. Its not possible to have a 100% dust free environment (in the typical home/shed anyway). If the shavings have been dried properly then all the oils should have evaporated from them.

Kat
 
my runs are so big its more economical to use paper and hay tried wood shavings years ago and didn't get on with them, but mine are cleaned often so wet paper and hay isn't really a real problem with mine unless a water bottle leaks ugh!
 
michellemuffin said:
my runs are so big its more economical to use paper and hay tried wood shavings years ago and didn't get on with them, but mine are cleaned often so wet paper and hay isn't really a real problem with mine unless a water bottle leaks ugh!
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I tried this for a short while but I didn't really find it acceptable. My guineas are all indoors with me during the winter and even cleaned every other day, I found they got too smelly....just the urine I suppose ::)

Barbara
 
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