[mel2626]

Hello to all,

I've been thinking that I'd like to switch the type of litter I use because my girl seems to make quite a mess (an understatement) of the regular non-clumping litter. I keep the litter in a little tray below her wheel but by morning there are pieces of litter everywhere (almost like over-obsessive Hansel and Gretel crumbs of everwhere she's walked through the night!) because it sticks to her feet etc. I'd prefer to use something environmentally friendly if possible. I can't really scoop the litter anyway since her poops are so small, so having to change more often is no problem. lol I go through A LOT of tissues! :lol:

I'v seen the following litter types and I'm really interested to see if anyone has had luck with these:
Paper pellets
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... Id=3399918
Pine pellets
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... Id=3399930
If you've used anything else in this same genre (or know that these products are harmful in any way), please let me know.
Thanks!!
Melissa

 

[LarryT]

What type are you using now?
I use yesterdays news by purina.
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... Id=2751591

 

[krbshappy71]

Have you considered liners in the box instead? Can swap them out each morning, wash at the end of the week. Nothing to be tracked elsewhere.

 

[LizardGirl]

Liners work, but are harder if you are trying to get your hedgie into the habit of using the litterbox only for his business. He won't be able to tell the difference, and will likely think "hmm, poop on liner. Hey, there's a liner right here!" and not tell the difference. :lol:

 

[leannem]

I also use yesterdays news and it's pretty good. Sometimes hard to tell the difference between poopies and litter while spot cleaning. And keep an eye out for bits of plastic at the bottom of the bag. I also remember hearing someone finding a staple in the bottom of their bag. And I agree with LG about the liners. I tried that for 3 days and gave up because the entire second floor of Harleys cage became the potty. :roll:

 

[mel2626]

Hi guys,

Larry, I like that one that you use. My original thought was a recycled paper kind so that may do the trick. Do you have to pick out the poopies one-by-one still (sorry if that's too graphic ) and how often do you need to change for one hedgie? I actually just returned a pooper scooper becaue I didn't ever use it but the tissues are just fine with me!


I didn't want to put liners in the "potty area" because the rest of her cage is a liner as LG suggested. So far she's been really good about going only in that area (and on the wheel of course!! lol) so I'd rather not risk puttting down the same material. Though you are 100% correct about no mess~If she didn't care much for her litter box, I'd definitely go with a liner instead.

Thanks so much for everyone's help!

 

[LarryT]

I pick the poop out every morning with a tissue and change the litter every 2-3 days

 

[SnufflePuff]

Yesterday's News is by far the best for not being tracked around the cage.
Just make sure you get the unscented kind. There is also now a "softer" variety but I haven't tried it.

And you can use a litter scoop to scoop up poop and pee (the pellets go mushy when they're wet), I do and it works great. Just make sure you completely change the litter every few days, because its hard to get all the wet litter out scooping, so its good to just dump it.

 

[Hedgieonboard]

For mine I use two papertowels folded but this might only work if your hedgie will go on it and in the same area. I kept them attached but somehow he mananged to take the one on the top and detach it and would carry it into his dig box and sleep and use the bathroom on the bottom one. I didn't want to take it from him if he loved it so much since he wasn't tearing it up so I just set out to see if there was another reason he was doing it. I went and got an igloo the next day, made a cover and put it next to his hedgie bag and blankets and filled it with scraps...the extra room and all the scraps did the trick and now he leaves both his papertowels alone again lol Clean up in the morning is a breeze and just grab the old papertowels and put new ones in. Hope this helps

 

[mel2626]

Thanks everyone~ so helpful!

Hedgieonboard- sounds like your little one found a "woobie" to sleep with, as my fiance' would say! lol I think I may actually start to put something under her igloo because I'm fairly certain she uses it for peeing only. lol She really is shy about it~ cracks me up! I'm not sure about paper towels though because she's quite the digger/burrower and I wonder if I'll wake up to "snow" in her cage! lol I'm willing to try anything though!

I'm going to pick up some Yesterdays News and give it a shot since evryone so far has given it rave reviews!! I'll keep an eye out for any bits of plastic or staples~ thanks for the heads-up on that! I like the fact that it will absorb the pee and make it a bit easier for those few days to get rid of the used stuff in between changings.

Thanks again everyone for your help!!!

 

[mel2626]

Oh and completely off topic: leannem I'll have to let my mom know there's a Langley in Canada- that's her last name!

 

[krbshappy71]

Liners work, but are harder if you are trying to get your hedgie into the habit of using the litterbox only for his business. He won't be able to tell the difference, and will likely think "hmm, poop on liner. Hey, there's a liner right here!" and not tell the difference. :lol:

Oh, I didn't see in his original post that he was having trouble litter-box training. Just that the hedgie was tracking stuff everywhere.

 

[mel2626]

No prob KRB!

She's still pretty young~ She'll be 3 months on Dec 24th and she's behaving pretty well so far, but the litter thing was bugging me because she seemed to track the most around the cage after I just cleaned it! lol Plus it was supposed to be dust-free but not enough because you could see all the litter dust build up each morning from her peeing in the wheel. I do love using the fleece liners in the cage. I want to get some more fabric and make her a few more (maybe that'll be one of her Christmas presents!! :lol: ).

~Melissa and Miss Muffet