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Post by deguconvert on Aug 16, 2011 23:06:08 GMT
I've used just about every bedding available so here's my say.
Finacard:
It's a love hate relationship for me, it's great becasue it's made from shredded cardboard. A bale can last a long time and it's not bad for foraging and digging. On the bad side is, last few bales I got were incredibly dusty. I've never seen so much dust. Only reason I noticed is because it was sunny at the time and when I was putting fresh finacard down all I could see was millions of dust particles. Now a lot of people use finacard and I would urge anyone to make sure by using a tourch to see if it kicks up a lot of dust. Most people don't notice it. Well i've had my third bale of Finacard thick of dust so won't be getting it again.
Megazorb:
Best bedding so far for odor control and for keeping the place dry, my issue is that it's again very dusty for Degus. Secondly get's everywhere. It is serious light, Wood Shavings got nothing on Megazorb from the Degu house distribution team.
premier bed:
Similar to finacard but less expensive, bigger bale and the shredding process produces little square pieces of cardboard. I prefer finacards shredding process how it comes out as lacy strands instead of Premier beds squares but premier bed wins hands down in the dust test. Hardly no dust at all. but because of how the shreds are shaped, not as good for digging I think. But overall A very decent degu bedding.
Paper bedding:
I wouldn't bother personally, it just doesn't last at all. may work in conjunction with other bedding materials such as finacard or wood shavings.
Wood Pellets and paper pellets (cat litter):
I hate these and refuse to use them. I find them hard on the feat and Degus try to eat them and they can swell in their stomaches and cause problems or in extreme circustances death. I would not use this crap at all. Pet stores seem to love using them because they have pellets in abundance so why not is their rationality.
Large Wood shavings (P@H)
Now after trying every exotic bedding imaginable and thinking wood shavings weren't good enough for my Goos. I came 360. Turns out at P@H when they say large shavings, they really mean nice large shavings not just the size of the bale. I got the small bale once and it had small shavings. Got the "Large Bale" and the shavings were noticeably larger so it's not just the quantity, it's the size of the flakes haha. Weird I know but it's true.
Anyway the Wood shavings, not to be confused with sawdust which is a big no no. They are great, they have hardly any dust at all. I've done my dust tests and it was seriously good. and they love diging in it. It's quite cheap for thr amount you get which will last for ages. Best of all it's completely safe and as Pets at Home are everywhere in the uk, it's easy to get a hold of. Plus your not paying for postage. Serious if you live in the uk, give Pets at home large woodshavings a try. The bale is worth the money.
I suggest anyone using Finacard to try kicking it up then using a flashlight to see if it's very dusty, don't just put your fingers at the bottom of the bale to check , most of the dust comes out when kicked up and you can't see it without a light source.
It's abit like my loft in my house, I know it's very dusty up there so I wear a facemask but you can't see the dust until light shines on it. Try the test you might just get shocked. I didn't want my Degus breathing in all that dust so that's why I don't use it anymore, a lot of people have also reported this problem with finacard recently. It's ashame because it's a great bedding if not for this issue.
Also I think Degutopia need to update their site, a lot of the bedding like Megazord and Finacard have become veru dusty and they state it as dust free. Maybe that was true in their test batches but not from what people I know are reporting. Maybe the products have changed. I laugh how they say "Dust Extracted".. maybe they just forgot to turn the extractor on.
Anyway that's my advice. 
BTW. fleese is fine apart from the reasons suggested by other people such as chewing. but beware in many ways it's more pain staking then just clearing out the cage. Degu have tiny hairs, they will cling to the fleese and if you wet it first they will just stick to it and not come off, you'll have to brush the hair off first. Then you'll have to wash them seperately and change them every couple of days instead of using bedding which you can chaange around once a week.
Just warning you it's actually quite hard keeping up with fleeces especially if they get destroyed. I know because I use to use fleeces with my Guinea Pigs, it was a royal pain I can tell you Degualot wrote this in another thread. I wanted to make a sticky out of this as this is a frequent question and being able to point to this will be invaluable. Well done, Degualot! |
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Post by amie on Aug 16, 2011 23:38:25 GMT
This is awesome! Thanks Degualot! |
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Post by Kins on Aug 17, 2011 8:33:47 GMT
Excellent post. Good plan making it a sticky DC!
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Post by degualot on Aug 17, 2011 20:24:40 GMT
Thanks people, hope it helps. just trying to be more apart of the community since I've got a lot of great advice from other members and moderators. I thought I would try give something back. |
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Post by listracian on Aug 17, 2011 21:10:54 GMT
I just want to say that actually the Pets @ Home wood shavings set off my asthma stupid amounts. I tried it again recently and it still did the same so guessing it must be dustier then it seems? I'm not allergic to it I know that much! But yeah anytime they were up and about and kicking it about it messed my asthma up real bad so personally I avoid it - if it plays with my breathing I assume it will play with theirs! Personally I have settled with a mix of Finacard and megazorb - I agree they are dusty but it seems to only be when I clean them out and change all the bedding when the goo's kick it about it doesn't mess my asthma up as much as others. Could just be me with the asthma and stuff but thought I would share |
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Post by degualot on Aug 17, 2011 22:18:42 GMT
listracianMaybe the shavings effect people differently. I also have asthma but I have no problem with the wood shavings. Yeah Finacard and Megazorb they are dusty and if your Degus have no problems breathing or sneezing then that's fine. Also Degus like to forage and they stick their noses deep into bedding and sniff a lot to get the scent of buried treats so that's also something to think about regarding lying dust. I don't think the wood shavings are dustier but I guess all bales can be different no matter what you use. I check every bale I get and I do this throughly with a few different tests. one of the test's is to drop the bedding infront of a blackboard and shine a work light onto it. Let's just say the Finacard looked like a nuclear fallout cloud. I tested others such as megazorb and premier bed this way and both were not as bad but megazorb came a close second to finacard. I find this test very reliable because it get's everyting into the air, much more reliable than guessing if it looks dusty. but then again I'm not saying everyone should go to such lengths. As long as the Goo's are happy that's all that matters. Personally I find large amounts of dust in bedding a great concern but that's just me. Can't be good for Degus in the long run. I realise most people view finacard as the pierce de resistance of bedding used for Degus and love it so much you would think they are sleeping in it and will not tolerate ill will said about finacard but all i'm saying is after 3 bales with exactly the same amount of heavey dust it can't just be mine. I looked on other forums and a lot of other people are reporting about this as well. Anyone else on here who uses Finacard just please have a go at what I said and let me know. I may be wrong about this but I'm just voicing my concern.
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Post by malteser60 on Aug 17, 2011 22:25:37 GMT
I think everybody loves finacard cause its cheap, holds smell well (at least for me it does), and the goos seem to like it.
I'm going to change the bedding of my goos this Friday so will do the finacard test.
As for Megazorb, personally I didn't like it that much. It was definitely much lighter than finacard so went everywhere. I also found it quite dusty, and I really didn't like the smell. It had a very weird, funny smell that made me almost gag every-so-often. About the only good thing was my hamsters loved it and it was a better choice for the digging pit.
Haven't tried wood shavings yet. I might give that a go once the finacard has finished... got a while yet to go though.
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Post by degualot on Aug 17, 2011 22:46:14 GMT
malteser60. yes I had the same experience as you regarding Megazorb, with the smell and how it get's everywhere. It wasn't really bad but people are always on a quest for the perfect bedding and I left this one behind. I still have bale of finacard to use up and after that I will be looking at alternatives. Finacard might be different depending on where it comes from and the bales just as anything I guess. It's hard to get consistent quality. Including Wood Shavings. I'm using them for now because I find them not as dusty. I'm yet to find a true dust free bedding as well as being properly dust extracted. If anyone lives near or around Yorkshire in England I say give premier bed ago. I really liked it. Really cheap but not the best for digging or odour control but really has hardly any dust. I guess at the end of the day we all have our preferences. Anyone else who has a great product which you think is better please let me know. I'm always on the search for the ultimate bedding at an affordable cost:)
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Post by sancho on Aug 21, 2011 13:40:56 GMT
I'm not sure how hard it would be to get this in the UK, but nowadays I swear on hemp as bedidng for my goos, as well as for my hamsters. After googling I found this one here in UK www.hemcore.co.uk/bedding.phpThey promote it as horse bedding on that site, but it works fine for any other small rodent and you can get it in almost every petstore here in germany. To me one of the biggest advantages is, that it is dustfree and that hemp prevents a lot of bugs and mites, as they just don't like hemp. We had that problem with one of our hamsters some time ago (maybe from the hay he got or so) but since we use hemp there were no problems at all (could be fortune, but who knows) It feels pretty natural and soft, although a single piece can be very annoying if it sticks in your sock cause you just walked on it  . Maybe this would be an option for you, if it's not too hard to get and not too expensive. Of course, it has good soaking abilities and stays pretty dry so you don't have to change it very often. |
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Post by philbailey1806 on Aug 21, 2011 14:29:38 GMT
I have to say I've only ever tried wood shavings, carefresh and megazorb, but out of the three I think carefresh is easily the best, but I use megazorb, sheerly becase its half the price for twice as much!
The wood shavings made me sneeze and since my degus are in my room, that was a big no no.
The megazorb is good at absorbing smells and is uber cheap, but it does have a strange, sharp smell and it's so light, it gets kicked everywhere! The day after clean out I can literally have a pile of it on my floor, but I'd rather clean up more often than pay the extra for carefresh.
In my opinion carefresh is perfect, it doesn.t often get kicked out, the actual bedding is odourless and it absorbs odours really well, I never have smelly goos. The only bad thing about it is the price. For what you get it is extortionate, but it's definately the best I've used.
Also, I'm inclined to disagree about how dusty megazorb is. I haven't found it to be dusty at all, but the wood shavings made me sneeze, wheeze and even irritated my eyes a little, it's now been donated to the hamster lol.
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abirose
Burrowing Degu
Forum Helper
Posts: 276
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Post by abirose on Aug 21, 2011 15:18:26 GMT
Just a quick question about Finacard, I'm using a plain paper bedding the goo's love it because they can make nests with it its almost like thick kitchen roll and its very cheap (£2.55 and I will get about 3-4 cage cleans with it!).
I'd agree with the sticky though that it doesn't do anything about the smell, however it is fantastic for staying in the cage! I have three girls and have to do a full cage clean every four days because the cage is in my room and it gets too smelly.
How long does Finacard tend to last before it needs changing? (I know this maybe different depending on peoples preferences and how smelly the goos are!)
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Post by Kins on Aug 21, 2011 15:57:36 GMT
I use Finacard and I only have to clean my goos out every 3-4 weeks (I have 2 homemade wooden cages) and even then it doesn't really smell.
It does depend on the goos though. My big goos are much less smelly than my little goos, one of whom I've nicknamed Stinky Stan, hehe!
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Post by degualot on Aug 21, 2011 19:05:49 GMT
carefresh is awsome, I love it but I just can't afford it, so expensive it's almost laughable. Might try that hemp just to give it ago to see what it's like. I think that's a good suggestion. I'm in the process of building a wood cage because i'm sick to death of wire cages. I'm joining the club, making plans as I type this haha.
BTW... according to some members of other forums, some people are saying that megazorb expands when wet, like Cat litter, and If your Goo eats it will expand and have the same effect as the litter. I don't know if this is true, anyone know about this?
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Post by listracian on Sept 3, 2011 8:05:32 GMT
I have been looking at horse beddings in general at the moment for my goo's, been doing a lot of research on them or trying to in my spare time. I found a large equine suppliers down here as I bought some megazorb for £8 for huge bag which made me happy but they had loads. I was wondering if many others have gone down this route? It seems pretty cheap to get bulk bedding and horse bedding tends to be super absorbent. Though the megazorb I bought seemed to be less dusty then the previous bag, I even did the hitting it against something dark thing.
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Post by degualot on Sept 3, 2011 10:15:32 GMT
I've used it before and it is a good bedding, i'm more interested in how it abzorbs liquid. might do some tests like the cat litter test.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2011 20:57:20 GMT
Hello all, I am going to get my first degus in a few weeks and I'm trying to get everything ready for them before they arrive. I'm uncertain about what bedding I should use and I was hoping some of you might help me I can choose between small wood chips, compressed sawdust pellets (they're quite large) and hemp bedding. Have any of you tried using hemp for bedding? I've done some googling and apparently a lot of rat owners find it to be a great choice. I'd like to try it, but I have to make sure it's not harmful to degus Storm |
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Post by Whizz on Sept 16, 2011 21:49:05 GMT
Hello all, I am going to get my first degus in a few weeks and I'm trying to get everything ready for them before they arrive. I'm uncertain about what bedding I should use and I was hoping some of you might help me I can choose between small wood chips, compressed sawdust pellets (they're quite large) and hemp bedding. Have any of you tried using hemp for bedding? I've done some googling and apparently a lot of rat owners find it to be a great choice. I'd like to try it, but I have to make sure it's not harmful to degus Storm Hello Storm! Welcome to the forum. Never use the compressed sawdust pellets, as if they are eaten they will expand (a lot like cat litter) inside the Degu and can cause blockages - we could lead to serious problems! I know that some Degus won't eat these, but I would rather be safe than sorry. Wood chips.. again they could expand. I would also be concerned about what wood they are made from. Probably not the best at keeping odour down either. I ordered a bag of Hemp bedding a few months back and have been using it. I find it is great for keeping the odour down and it is light enough for them to forage through and bury things but not too light that they will kick it out of the cage. I personally find it very good at absorbing their urine, as mine tend to urinate on the bottom floor of my cage more so then the other shelves. I would personally go for Hemp bedding. If you find you don't get on with it - seek out other beddings. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2011 16:20:30 GMT
Thank you, Whizz That was what I was hoping to hear! I'll order it right away. Sadly, the few pet stores we have in Norway are rather traditional and generally have just sawdust and sometimes wood chips, so I was very happy when I found out that there is a pet webstore that has hemp bedding available The only downside is having to wait a week for the stuff I order  |
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Post by finacard on Oct 15, 2011 12:32:03 GMT
A few months ago, it was brought to my attention the dustiness of some of the Finacard bales. Since then a lot of time and effort was put in to improve. New machinery has been installed which has resulted in much lower dust levels and further it has also made Finacard much softer.
If any one who had a dusty bale in the past and would like to see what the new improved Finacard is like then do send me message and I will send you some FOC
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Post by rhydowenrodentrefuge on Oct 29, 2011 9:30:48 GMT
I just wanted to add that we've tried the new Finacard and do find it to be much improved. So a thumbs up from the degus and other small furries here.
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