Carefresh

[Christemo]

I still wouldn't use it as litter.
Are there any animal welfare societies around you that could take it? It could end up being a tax-deductible donation.

[Tina.]

Originally Posted by Christemo

I still wouldn't use it as litter.
Are there any animal welfare societies around you that could take it? It could end up being a tax-deductible donation.

I can email the Calgary Humane Society I guess. But I am going to have to use it for another week since I will be spending the remainder of my money this week on fleece other stuff.

[Lilysmommy]

To be honest...Given that I've seen both Nancy and Kalandra mention how few cases of mites they've had from wooden bedding (and with Nancy having used it often with breeding), and Carefresh is considered to be at least the same as wooden bedding in that regard, and safer in that it doesn't give splinters or get caught anywhere, I don't think it'd be that horrible to at least finish out the bag, when it's just being used as litter. But that's just my opinion, of course.

[ObeyOurHedgehogs]

Everybody is saying how bad care fresh is but I don't see anyone coming up with any other solutions to the problem. I've been using care fresh and haven't had any of the problems anyone is talking about.If you still got a bag left, use instead of wasting your money. My hedgehog does just fine with it. Everyone says don't use wood, don't use care fresh but they have no better alternatives. Its like they want you to make it run on the plastic. Everyone has the "over care" thing going on where everything has cons and nothing has pros.

most people use fleece, thats the alternative, however i think alot of bedding gets a bad wrap.

your correct that most people dont say the pros to bedding, and will be very negative, i dont see how

IMO there is some people and hedgehogs that bedding will work better for, i personally dont find carefresh or wood shavings dusty , I do use fleece but dont have a problem with other beddings

[Nancy]

Sure there is a 100% safe alternative.... liners. Liners carry no risk of mites, dust, ingesting and blockages, or pieces caught in sensitive areas. Light coloured liners are also easier to spot blood, off coloured urine or feces, or lack of urine and feces. Liners are also less messy.

Just because a hedgehog has been on Carefresh or shavings without incident, doesn't make it safe, or risk free, just lucky.

I have used Carefresh with rescue/rehomes that have arrived using Carefresh. It has never impressed me. I've picked carefresh out of their food and water dishes which means an increased risk of them ingesting it. I also found it sucked all the moisture out of their poop making it impossible to tell if the poop was normal or not. The white is definitely better than the grey which is impossible to see off coloured urine.

It's totally up to the individual person. Any loose commercial type bedding carries risks and has caused problems. If someone decides the benefits outweighs the risks that is their choice.

[Kalandra]

Originally Posted by Lilysmommy

To be honest...Given that I've seen both Nancy and Kalandra mention how few cases of mites they've had from wooden bedding (and with Nancy having used it often with breeding), and Carefresh is considered to be at least the same as wooden bedding in that regard, and safer in that it doesn't give splinters or get caught anywhere, I don't think it'd be that horrible to at least finish out the bag, when it's just being used as litter. But that's just my opinion, of course.

Mites was why I moved away from wood bedding. I had two that got mites from a bag of aspen. One of those two developed a skin infection because of it and permanently lost all of his quills on his lower back/rump because of it. It was bad. I learned about using Vellux as liners soon after that and of course we have since learned that fleece or sewn liners are a better alternative.

I recommend carefresh ultra white to those who cannot or will not use liners. Of the substrate beddings it is one of the few that is 'ok' to me. It still has plenty of risks, but it at least is bright white, so seeing green stool or blood is more apt to happen and the risk of splinters and other problems are much lower. But there are still risks of it being dusty, and it hiding problems too.

Sewn cloth liners or fleece cut to cage size are safe, and the best bedding for a hedgehog that we have found so far.

[Virtual_Rachel]

Originally Posted by Kalandra

Mites was why I moved away from wood bedding. I had two that got mites from a bag of aspen. One of those two developed a skin infection because of it and permanently lost all of his quills on his lower back/rump because of it. It was bad. I learned about using Vellux as liners soon after that and of course we have since learned that fleece or sewn liners are a better alternative.

I recommend carefresh ultra white to those who cannot or will not use liners. Of the substrate beddings it is one of the few that is 'ok' to me. It still has plenty of risks, but it at least is bright white, so seeing green stool or blood is more apt to happen and the risk of splinters and other problems are much lower. But there are still risks of it being dusty, and it hiding problems too.

Sewn cloth liners or fleece cut to cage size are safe, and the best bedding for a hedgehog that we have found so far.

Where do you get these liners from? With fleece, do you just buy it from a fabric shop?

I currently use soft wood chips or care fresh. I haven't had any problems with it getting in her food bowl, which is up a level and she's pretty tidy in this regard, but the talk of mites concerns me a bit...

I'm in the UK.

[Lilysmommy]

Originally Posted by Virtual_Rachel

Where do you get these liners from? With fleece, do you just buy it from a fabric shop?

I currently use soft wood chips or care fresh. I haven't had any problems with it getting in her food bowl, which is up a level and she's pretty tidy in this regard, but the talk of mites concerns me a bit...

I'm in the UK.

Yup, you can just buy fleece or fabric from a shop. You can also sometimes find fleece blankets on sale at stores, and if there's decoration around the edges, just cut that off. With fleece, liners can be as simple as just cutting it to fit the cage, and leave it as one layer, or you can sew a multi-layer liner. You can also use other fabrics, but they need to be sewn so they don't unravel and produce strings to wrap around legs.

[Konakuer]

Wow, thanks a lot for the reviews... I'm using fleece now but I find it a little bit annoying to wash it everyday, because my hedgehog poops everywhere also his feet get too dirty... I was considering switching to carefresh but it's too expensive and now I see it's dusty too, so I will try to make him just be a little bit cleaner I guess.