Alfalfa pellets as bedding?

[Heartsib]

I used to use alfalfa pellets as litter for my rats and, aside from a little dust, never had an issue with it -- liked the scent, nice and absorbent, cheap, and no problems with parasites.

Currently, I'm considering adopting some mice from a friend, and I was wondering if there are any known issues with using alfalfa pellets as bedding for smaller rodents. My rats didn't try eating them or anything, but I don't know if pellets are more palatable to mice or if there were other issues that I hadn't considered.

[Topaz]

I used to mix the rabbit pellets in with my mouse litter to help control odor and had no problems.  A friend of mine used only rabbit pellets and some of them started to lose their hair.  Since he switched to aspen, there have been no problems.

[slimynolegs]

I've heard that the little pellets can soak up and retain water and then sometimes grow fungus n stuff. Not sure about that- but I wouldn't want to risk it! I throw in pellet leftovers from my rats' dish into their pooping platter, and they don't seem to care. They never touch the stuff anyway.

Good luck!

[Ratlovingkippy06]

 i think i will try it, boys have a very nasty odor and this one boy smells worse than my 18 rats put together but i love him. I normally use aspen and i try to mix this green bedding from petsmart into it to help with odor. I will try it and let you know how it helps.