Looking for new bedding

[pinkie1205]

Okay so I'm kind of fed up with fleece and carefresh and I need a new kind of bedding.  With fleece, it got stinky too quick because for some reason the rats refused to learn how to use the litter box (I tried for a long time).  Carefresh smells funny and it's dusty IMO.

I wanted to get eco bedding but IMO that stuff is just a big mess.  Yea the box lasts a long time but it really has no odor control and well it's a mess.

I was thinking about ordering some Harlan Tekland Diamond soft.  Is this a good bedding?  I really want one that is soft and pretty much dust free.  I'm at my wits end when it comes to bedding. And yes I've tried Yesterday News also and I didn't like that too much.

[diabolique]

HT Diamond Soft is good bedding. It's extremely soft, puffy and light.  However, depending on your cage, you may find that Diamond Soft is SO light that your rats will be able to toss it out of the pan and all over the place -- that's what mine did! They had a veritable party    in there and the lovely, snow-like bedding was everywhere.  For odor absorbtion, it did quite well -- at least as well as Carefresh. My only issue with Diamond Soft was the fact that it could be tossed around so easily....oh, and the price.

Have you tried the new Sunseed Fresh World Bedding? It's available at PetSmart; it's not exactly cheap, though. I find that this is not at all dusty and that it does quite well with absorbing odors.

[Johnny_]

  Party!  I found that crittercare is very good bedding.  Its kind of like carefresh, but you can find it at walmart for cheap!

[Cigar]

I like using towels because I clean very often. Easy to wash. :]

[baileyjane]

Having used, and liked the Sunseed bedding for about a month now, I have to again say how well it keeps the smell down...even with my stinky guinea piggers! 

[pinkie1205]

Maybe I'll try that sunseed.  Right now they're on fleece but they were never really officially litterbox trained so they can funk up the cage really quick.  I don't like carefresh because I think it smells so funky and it's dusty, even the walmart kind is like that. 

[crazydaisy]

It's made by the same company that's why it seems like the same. I just don't care for the wet newspaper smell. I love diamond soft, but it's hard to find. If your just looking for petstore options I would go with sunseed or soft sorbent, good odor control and no dust.

[pinkie1205]

Is soft sorbent the kind that looks like little balls?  We got that once and I got the lavender kind.  I had seen it mentioned on here before so I thought hey, the smell cant be THAT strong....YEA right as soon as I started dumping it, I started sneezing and the rats started sneezing and the stuff actually had big flowers in it that butters kept trying to eat.  It lasted in the cage for a night then was dumped the next morning.  Now I think it's in the trash.  Plus it was kind of expensive for the amount that is needed to cover the floor of the pan. 

I have no problem buying from Kim's Ark as that was what I was planning to do.  I'm just trying to think in my head how big a 20 pound bag is (I think that's what the size was on the website)..I guess that would be really expensive to ship though.

I might just have to stick with fleece and get really anal about changing it every other day..haha

[diabolique]

I definitely think the Diamond Soft is worth a try. Like I said, I really liked it when I used it, but do be prepared for it to get tossed around quite a bit.  Kim's Ark has another bedding that I was thinking of trying, too. I can't remember what it's called....

Someone at a another forum sent me a few small bags to try, so I can't tell you how large the 20lb bag is. It seems like 20lbs should be quite a lot because the bedding is quite light and fluffy.