Pine shavings OK for guinea pigs?

Answer 1

Pine shavings as well as cedar have been known to cause respiratory and liver problems in small animals such as rabbits, hamsters and guinea pigs. Definately not the best idea. In truth, I am appalled that pet stores still sell this stuff knowing the problems it can cause. I guess its still all about money. You can use aspen shavings if you like, because they don't contain the oils that make pine and cedar dangerous. Thats what I use most commonly for my rabbit. You could also try a litter made of recycled paper. Carefresh and critter care are good brands and can be found in almost all pet stores and they come in cool colors in addition to the original grey or white. Any of these would be fine, I'm sure there are other good ones I haven't thought of. You can ask at your pet store.

Answer 2

Ideally Pine should be avoided with aspen being the better alternative. However that's not possible in all places. I use Pine cut with guinea pig pellets and hay. Smells like a horse stable ^.^ . Kiln Heated pine is safe as the oils burn off under the heat. Ceder is bad all over as the scent is toxic and can cause severe lung problems. Pine does the same thing but it's no where as powerful.

Hope that helps :-)

Answer 3

Look on the package. If it says 'kiln-treated' then it's okay. That means they heat the pine so that the pine oils are disapated. You can probably tell anyway by how strongly the bedding smells. If it smells like pine, they say it's not a great thing to use.

But at least you're not using cedar. Now that stuff is supposed to be really bad for small animals.

If you have a feed store near you, try woodypet for horses.

www.woodypet.com has a store locator. This stuff is cheap, lasts 2 or 3x more than regular bedding, and the pine is kiln treated.

Answer 4

I dont recommend any kind of tree shavings. they are hard on the digestive system. I used to have guinea pigs and now have a rabbit and I use recycled litter. They have paper litter that they like to chew up as well as pine pellets which are very absorbent. Guinea pigs eat their own feces as protein so what you really want is something that will absorb the smell of the urine. Shavings are quite cheap but they can kill your pet if digested enough.

Answer 5

My vet reccomends ASPEN shavings. This is what we used in a petstore where I worked for many years and we NEVER had a problem. Pine is more likely to cause problems. NEVER use cedar shavings. I also do not reccomend the paper types of bedding like carefresh. I worked in a chain petstore also, and we were required there to use carefresh bedding and the animals were always getting respiratory infections. My vet says that stuff is BAD! You can SEE the dust come out of it, even though they claim it is dust free. I say go with aspen.

Answer 6

Pine and Cedar equals BAD.

My guinea pig prefers newspaper and the floor.

Answer 7

Pine shavings are large for guinea pigs. in simple terms make particular it for sure says "kiln dried" on the bag. i've got continually used them and so have many those with out issues. you basically could make particular you p.c.. out any wood chunks, etc. from the bedding formerly letting your pig run around in it. yet for sure if your guinea pig seems to dislike pine, you may swap to a minimum of a few thing else. Cedar shavings, additionally pronounced on ASPCA, ARE undesirable for guinea pigs by way of scented oils in them. Oh and particular, like pronounced under, make particular it quite is not dusty. you are able to often times tell by finding in the backside of the bag in the shop formerly you purchase yet different circumstances you are able to't. I continually purchase the variety at Walmart, it quite is i think of $8 for 4 cubic feet worth and it quite is on no account dusty notwithstanding it does have wood chips in it often times.

Answer 8

I have 3 guniea pigs. I was using cedar chips for the oldest one. Then he started getting runny eyes and nose and being really lethargic so I asked someone who raised guniea pigs and they said the cedar chips slowly kill guniea pigs. They are not good for them. As soon as I switched over to the pine shaving chips,he got better. Use pine shavings for all guniea pigs.

Answer 9

Pine shavings have been known to cause chronic respiratory problems. Please do not use pine or even cedar shavings. A really great (great absorbtion power too!) fotter is a brand called Care Fresh, it is wonderful and it doesnt cause respiratory issues.

Answer 10

I have always heard to stay away from pine shavings. I heard that they can effect breathing and cause severe allergies.