Dan's vet visit/bedding

[ratfriend]

I took Dan and Max to the vet this morning for their sneezing. She didn't feel they were sick--but gave them Baytril anyway--just to be safe. Dan keeps gaining weight--which is great! The vet felt that despite the lung scarring and rattle that he's really thriving. Anyway, she said that if, after they finish this round of Baytril, they're still sneezing the same as they are now (which isn't bad, but I don't want to take any chances, especially with Dan's scarred lungs), that I should look into the possibility that the rats are allergic to their bedding. Any suggestions on something really benign for rats? I currently use carefresh and newspaper. She suggested a kind of paper they shred themselves to make nests, but she couldn't remember what it was called. She also suggested corn cob (is that right?) and white paper towels.

[BabyBlue]

CareFresh can be too dusty for some rats. I'd suggest Crushed Walnut over corn cob, they're similar but Crushed walnut shells are much smaller and not as uncomfortable on their feet. It also controls odor better and corn cob can get moldy when it gets wet. You can try giving them crushed walnut (found in bird bedding section) and paper towel for nesting.

[Ensie]

After Smores came down with pneumonia, my vet thought that the aspen shavings I had her on before could have caused/contributed to the pneumonia. I immediately switched to crushed walnut shell and I couldn't be happier. For absolutely dust/allergy-free bedding, cloth would be the way to go. With cloth, you have to have a LOT of it for the bedding because it has to be changed every day (or it stinks) and then it has to be washed.

[ratfriend]

Thanks for the recommendations. Do you know of an online store that sells both the crushed walnut  bedding AND the good lab blocks everyone keeps mentioning here? Harlan? None of my local pet stores carry either.

I just did a search on Google and I found a place that carries the crushed walnut bedding (but not the Harlan blocks--I can get those from Lone Star Rats)--but it says it doesn't absorb anything. What is the point then? I guess I'm confused... or maybe it keeps them drier?

[Courtney]

i use yesterday's news for bedding.  i found both carefresh and aspen too dusty and i really don't recommend corn cob.  

yesterday's news is recycled newspaper that is made into hard pellets.  it's dust free, extremly absorbant, and really traps in odor.  you can find it in the cat litter section of just about any petstore (i'm sure they sell it online too).  i pay about 12 dollars (canadian) for a 30 lb bag of regular (not the finly ground because i find that to be a little bit dusty) unscented yesterday's news.  

whatever you decide to use i hope it works for you and your little ones start feeling better!

[Ensie]

I picked up crushed walnut shell at my local feed store. It weighs a ton, so buying it online and then having it shipped probably isn't the way to go.

For lab blocks, you can also check at a local feed store to see if they sell Harlan Teklad, Mazuri, or LM (three brands I've heard recommended here; I use Mazuri and my rats like them). If the store doesn't have the stuff in stock, see if they'll special order it for you. The feed store probably won't charge extra for it. You just have to wait for the stuff to come in, but you wouldn't have to pay for shipping.

You can order Teklad Mazuri from a couple of online stores operated by Forum members: http://www.geocities.com/kimsarkrescue/store.html and http://www.rat-store.com/

[ratfriend]

Wow! thanks for the Kim's Arks URL--they have the Harlan blocks and lots of bedding--I'm going to try the white tek-fresh first--but they have the pellets, too, so if that doesn't work out, I'll know where to get more.

Courtney--your little ratty is so cute--I just love the siamese and dumbo rats! I'm hoping to get one of each in August.

[BabyBlue]

Oxbow is another brand that's recommended. I found them at a local store and my vet also sells them. I get my Harlen from Kim's Ark too and my rats are very happy with it. Ordering bedding online is always a pain since it costs a ton for shipping

[ratfriend]

Yeah, after looking around some more I saw that Kim's Ark doesn't ship bedding anyway--you have to pick it up. I read the other thread about Cel-sorb plus and I'm thinking I might try that first. I'll look at my local Petsmart for that and if they don't have it, maybe they'll order it. I'm pretty sure when I was looking for walnut earlier I saw that, but just passed it by.

[BabyBlue]

Petsmarts just started carrying Cellsorb, so you should be able to find it. Or at least they should have it soon if they don't already. They also have the crushed walnut in the bird bedding section, granted it's Kaytee brand

[Courtney]

Courtney--your little ratty is so cute--I just love the siamese and dumbo rats! I'm hoping to get one of each in August.

Thanks!  that's Nyani, she came to live with me almost a month ago and even though she has such a sweet little face, she's caused quite the problems during intros!  but what a love around people.