"Super Shavin's" bedding?

[DorkyChantelle]

My degus are due for a cage cleaning and I'm out of aspen shavings. I went to the two local pet stores where I usually get it and they're both completely out as well. I put in an order for some but what can I do until then? Their stocks of animal bedding seems seriously low. All they have right now besides pine (which I really really don't want to use) is something called Super Shavin's. It's made without cutting down trees (they scoop up the wood byproducts so it ends up being a mix of different woods). It's advertised as "lower in aromatic oils, non-dusty." One site says that it is a kiln-dried mix of northwest hemlock, spruce, and fir trees. I'm not very knowledgeable on the different types of bedding. I just know pine is bad and aspen is good, lol. So what do you guys think? I have no license or access to a drive at the moment so this is my only choice.

If that stuff is bad, is there any household stuff I could use as bedding? Would a towel be okay? Paper towels? Paper? Timothy hay?

Any help would be appreciated; this cage is getting pretty smelly!

[Sasami]

I'm not really sure...I've never seen that here. But you can use timothy hay...though it might be a little messy.

[Amethystbelle]

I wouldn't use the super shavings as they contain pine, spruce, hemlock and fir all of which are toxic to degu's. I use pine shavings and in my opinion out of all wood shavings they are the safest for degu's as they aren't toxic to them and cause little to no allergies. I have been using them for the last 8 years with no problems so if you can't get your normal aspen then they are the next best thing. You could use timothy hay but it does rot very quickly so would need replacing every day or so to prevent smells occuring as would kitchen towel

[kimsgerbils]

Kiln dried pine does work well on degus, they are quite hardy and when I was low on aspen, I would put them on pine and they were fine. I do prefer aspen, for my sake mostly...

[DorkyChantelle]

Thanks for the info everyone Looks like I'm going to use pine temporarily until my aspen shavings come in. I guess I just thought it was a "do not use" type of wood (plus it irritates my nose so I expect it irritates theirs, lol). I'm sure they'll be fine - and will be glad to have a clean cage!

[DorkyChantelle]

Ugh, so here's the situation. I asked my dad to pick up some pine shavings today and he came home with Super Shavings and said that it was all they had. So it's all I have now.

Will it harm them even if I only use it for a few days? Gah, I'm so frustrated - I just want my aspen shavings, lol.

[Amethystbelle]

I personally wouldn't use it if it contains the woods you listed incase they ingested any (as they are toxic) or it caused any serious allergies but at the end of the day it is up to you but i personally wouldn't use them and would make do with whatever else i had for a few days

[ratty_ratkins]

i wouldnt use it either.
how about shredded newspaper?

[DorkyChantelle]

I ended up putting some in just to see what they would do. Immediately I could tell that they would ingest it so I emptied the cage back out and right now I'm just using timothy hay as bedding. I put down a facecloth under their wheel just so hay doesn't get caught in it (and to give them a soft place to sit on the bottom level). I feel much better even though I know it's not the ideal bedding - at least it's safe! I'm really not sure what exactly is in Super Shavings. I can't find it listed anywhere on the bag (although it proudly exlaims "Not pine or cedar!"). I find it interesting that they don't list what kind of wood is in it. I could tell by the smell that it wasn't something that would be too good for degus.

Hopefully my aspen shavings come in soon but at least they've got a clean cage now

[kimsgerbils]

Just wondering, are super shavin's sorta like "White Shavings" that they sell in feed stores?

[DorkyChantelle]

Quote: Originally Posted by kimsgerbils Just wondering, are super shavin's sorta like "White Shavings" that they sell in feed stores?

I'm not sure, but it says "Blend of white shavings" or something like that one the front. It doesn't have the same feel as regular shavings, it just feels like if you put a piece of wood through a chipper and stuck it in a bag (and it smells strongly of forest, lol).

[heavensmom]

what about care fresh