Bedding dilemma

[blackie]

Here in Norway, pet shops don't sell fancy bedding like "carefesh", "corncob" etc. At least not that I'm aware of. I've always used woodshavings as bedding for my gerbils and it works fine they have never had any allergic reactions. the problem is that the pet shops keep changing the brand of shavings all the time. So If I'm happy with one type of bedding, maybe next time I go to the pet shop they will not sell that bedding anymore. I know that pine is "bad" but usually only two types of shavings is available; one that is labeled as pine, and another one that is not pine, but it doesn't say what type of tree it is from. This type of bedding also tends to be more dusty, so I've been using pine for a while. Some people say that European pine is better than North-American pine? So the last time I bought bedding I got some Dutch brand called "Witte Mollen" don't know if anyone is familiar with it. So if this bedding is more dusty than the pine, which one should I use?

[doomgerbiluk]

If your gerbils are healthy on the bedding your using then I would stick with that.
It seems the US pine is a problem because of the way it is processed.
My animals (except my elderly rats) have no problems with wood shavings (the rats are on chopped up cardboard boxes) BUT my husband does . Carefresh I found very to be very dusty and had my family sneezing like mad. Megazorb seems to avoid the dust issue and we will be transferring to it soon. (I have supply problems with megazorb).

[lydia]

Agree with Doomgerbiluk,if your gerbils are fine with the pine woodshavings,I would stick with that.Especially as the other woodshavings are more dusty.
Do you have reptile shops in Norway ? In the U.K.,the majority of pet shops do not sell reptiles as well,we have seperate shops selling reptiles and their supplies.If you do have reptile shops,try one of these for Aspen.This is also a good bedding for small rodents.

Lyd

[j]

Yeah I've read that before about Pine, it's the Pine bedding in the US and Canada because it's proccessed differently.

If your gerbils seem fine on it, then just continue using what you've been using.

[dapple]

The difference in processing is that the safe pine is kiln dried.