sarahnash news 7 - random questions

Sarahnash

The rats have several water sources. Why do they drink from just one until it’s empty making me feel guilty? :((

I have read that newspaper is safe / and not safe for small furries. The rats have it on the cage floor and also ripped up as bedding. I have ordered some unprinted newspaper (also known as chip shop paper) just in case. Opinions out there?

George the gerbil is currently burrowing in a mixture of megazorb and carefresh. Does anyone have further ideas of good safe burrowing substrate?

Cannot seem to get Teddy’s toilet right for him. He had picked a corner and used that. That’s good, I would pick up the soiled stuff and throw some clean down. Then he stopped peeing there.
Then he was peeing in his sand pit - that’s fine, so I throw the soiled sand away and replace with back to nature pellets (which are easier to clean up and frankly cheaper). Now he won’t go in there.
Almost like he likes it dirty.
Can I be too clean, should I leave it soiled? But I must spot clean daily, it’s the law!

AnnB

The rats just like making you fret - it's probably no different to us drinking from our favourite mug.

I've been using newspaper and other shredded/printed paper for years and although it would be quite difficult to prove, I don't believe any of the mice have suffered health issues because of it.

I was still at first school in the seventies last time I had a Gerbil so I won't be much help with safe burrowing substrate I'm afraid.

Yes, you're obviously too clean! :D I think they do like a pee corner to have a certain odour, I guess that's why they go back to the same place each time because if they wanted it to be clean, they'd use a different place each time.

Sarahnash

AnnB said:

I've been using newspaper and other shredded/printed paper for years and although it would be quite difficult to prove, I don't believe any of the mice have suffered health issues because of it.

I tried unprinted newspaper, otherwise known as chip shop paper. Lasted 1 day. Didn’t absorb the smell of wee, had little wicking/soak ability. I may be fanciful but I don’t think the rats liked it either. Have gone back to newspaper on the floors and ripped up for bedding.

racingmouse

Sometimes the most basic things work the best Sarah especially if they are cheap and readily available like newspapers waiting to be recycled! Leaving old newspapers to air out (allow the inky smell to fade) can be just as good as any other paper-based nesting/substrate. Paper based products are definitely the safest. Aubiose flooring (hemp) is also very good. I started using this when I had the mice and worried it may be too much like wood shavings, but they loved it and it didn`t cause any respiratory reactions either and was absorbent. 

I wouldn`t choose Aubios for gerbils though as they dig a lot and use their noses a lot and it can have a spikey appearance and feel to it (although not so much for larger pets) so for gerbils, your on the right track with Carefresh/Megazorb combination.  Good quality wood shavings can also be fine, but these require careful unpacking and airing before use. I un-packed the wood shavings and broke them up into bin containers and took out a few handfuls when required for spot cleaning. Done the same with the Aubiose. 

All worked well.