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| This article is from the Spring 2002
AFRMA Rat & Mouse Tales news-magazine.
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The Bedding
Dilemma
Part 3
by Nichole Royer
| Whether you use
hardwood beddings,
paper beddings,
pelleted beddings, or
a combination, the
important thing is the
health of your pet. |
This issue we will cover Miscellaneous Beddings and
look into the New Paper Beddings being offered.
Miscellaneous Beddings
Rabbit Pellets
Yes, we are talking about the stuff you feed to rabbits. Surprisingly,
Rabbit Pellets. |
this makes a very acceptable bedding for rats and mice. It is inexpensive (if
bought in bulk), pleasant smelling, and harmless if eaten. It doesn t eliminate
odor like Gentle Touch™/Aspen Supreme™, but the small size of its pellets
seems to be more comfortable than many other pelleted beddings. Most people
use this in a pinch when their regular bedding is unavailable.
Corn Cob Bedding/Bed-o’ Cobs®
Many laboratories use corn cob based bedding, as do many bird and
reptile enthusiasts.
Ground corn cob is available at almost all pet shops, as well as Walmart
and some grocery stores. It is simply dried corn cob which has been ground to
various consistencies. It is very easily available, and very cheap. Though it is
absorbent, corn cob does very little to control odor and tends to grow mold
Bed-o’ Cobs® |
whenever it gets wet. This necessitates removing wet bedding daily. Also, corn
cob is very coarse, and must be uncomfortable for our critters to stand on. (Think
of it as standing on gravel in your bare feet all the time.)
Bed-o’ Cobs® brand corn cob bedding is manufactured by
The Andersons, P.O. Box 119, Maumee, OH 43537, 1-866-234-0505 Fax: (419) 891-6655,
e-mail: coborders@andersonsinc.com
www.bedocobs.com/.
Other companies that have corn cob beddings are: Harlan Teklad
(Harlan Teklad, P.O. Box 44220, Madison, Wisconsin 53744, 1-800-4-TEKLAD
(483-5523), (608) 277-2070, Fax: (608) 277-2066, e-mail: tekladinfo@harlan.com,
Harlan Bedding Products),
Green Pet Products Inc. (the makers of Aspen Supreme™, 410 West Center
Street, Conrad, Iowa 50621, 1-800-405-NEST (6378), (515) 366-3148, Fax:
(515) 366-2366, e-mail: sales@greenpet.com, www.greenpet.com),
and Northeastern Products Corp. (P.O. Box 98, 115 Sweet Road, Warrensburg, NY 12885, 1-800-873-8233,
(518) 623-3161, Fax: (518) 623-3803, www.nep-co.com).
Clean-N-Comfy™
This product is simply corn cob with an added deodorizing ingredient.
Unlike plain corn cob, it has a rather unique smell (I won’t even begin to describe
it). Those people who have used it say that it does a good job controlling odor;
however, the odd smell prevented many of us from trying it. Though not overly
strong, the odor has a chemical “twang” to it that bothered many of us to the
point that we didn’t want it near our animals. Others thought it smelled good, so
this is one to try for yourselves. It has recently appeared in many Petco’s and is
relatively inexpensive.
Manufactured by Green Pet Products Inc. (the makers of Aspen Supreme™),
410 West Center Street, Conrad, IA 50621, 1-800-405-NEST (6378), (515) 366-3148,
Fax: (515) 366-2366, e-mail: sales@ greenpet.com, www.greenpet.com.
New Beddings
Many of these new paper beddings have just recently been
tried by Southern California fanciers. We will be running an article about them in
a future issue of the newsletter. We’d love to hear from our members that have
tried these new products and their results with them
.
Paper
ECOfresh™ |
ECOfresh™
A new product from Absorption Corporation, this is 100% recycled
paper that looks like an off-white CareFRESH™ rolled into little hard balls.
ECOfresh™ is made by Absorption Corporation, 6960 Salashan Parkway, Ferndale, WA
98248, 1-800-242-2287, (360) 734-7415, Fax: (360) 671-1588,
e-mail: absorbs@absorption-corp.com,
http://www.absorptioncorp.com/. [Product now used in the
Puppy Go Potty™ system.]
Cell Sorb Plus™
Cell Sorb Plus™ |
This product is made with recycled paper (the ink in the paper is
soybean based) and a non-toxic patented neutralizing mineral. It looks like
pellets that went through a roller to make large crumbles.
Manufactured by Fangman Specialties, Inc., 897 Ohio Pike, Cincinnati, OH
45245, (513) 752-4500, e-mail: AlFangman@Cell-Sorb-Plus.com,
www.cell-sorb-plus.com.
Pet’s Preference
This is made from 100% recycled paper fiber. It comes in pellets or a
soft texture that looks like finely ground CareFRESH™.
Pet’s Preference original texture. |
Pet’s Preference soft texture. |
Pet’s Preference Critter Litter & Bedding is manufactured by Stutzman Environmental Products
www.stutzman-environmental.com/petsprefer.htm.
They also make Crown Animal Bedding – a pelletized recycled paper fiber,
www.stutzman-environmental.com/crown.htm and Good Mews – recycled paper pellets,
www.stutzman-environmental.com/goodmews.htm.
Contact Stutzman Environmental Products, P.O. Box 307, 9205
South Kraxberger Road, Canby, OR 97013, 1-888-877-7665, (503) 266-4610,
Fax: (503) 266-8776, e-mail: goodmews@stutzman-environmental.com,
www.stutzman-environmental.com/index.htm.
Paperlet For Small Animals
This is a recycled pulp rolled paper pellet that is good for nesting material.
Paperlet For Small Animals. |
Manufactured by Peparlet Co., Ltd., 422 Shimodoma, Fujieda-Shi Shizuoka-Ken
426-0003, Japan, Tel: 81-054-643-2943, Fax: 81-54-644-6513, e-mail:
info@peparlet.com, www.peparlet.com.
TEK-FRESH
This comes in a gray or white form that is 100% reclaimed virgin wood pulp.
Available from Harlan Teklad, 1-800-4-TEKLAD (483-5523), http://www.harlan.com/.
Part 4: More New Beddings.
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