Welcome to The Social Rat!

Bringing the Northern California pet rat community together.
Home     Adopt     Care and Health     Classes and Agility     Outreach and Inspiration     Links     Calendar     Contests      
Veterinarians
Basic Rat Care
Child's First Pet??
Rat Cages
SAFE Bedding
The BEST Diet
Toys and Treats
Litter Training
Health Info
Letting Go
Grieving a Pet
The fact that your pet rats will spend a vast majority of their lives in their cage means that they will also spend a lot of time on the bedding that you place inside their cage. PLEASE DO NOT USE PINE OR CEDAR!!! Aspen shavings are a suitable alternative.
 
Respiratory toxicity of cedar and pine wood:
A review of the biomedical literature from 1986 through 1995
Written by Jeff Johnston, doctoral candidate in epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
 
 

 Information on SOME of the Safe Beddings

 

The Bedding Dilemma

Whether you use hardwood beddings, paper beddings, pelleted beddings, or a combination, the important thing is the health of your pet. This series of 4 articles by Nichole Royer for the American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association is a frantastic introduction to all things related to bedding.

 

Paper Bedding Photos

 

Alpha-Dri

     Alpha-Dri is a (white) laboratory grade bedding product that offers superior absorbency and odor control. Each little square acts like a mini sponge and the product is virtually dustless.

 

CareFRESH

     CareFRESH pet bedding is made from reclaimed cellulous. It is biodegradable and flushable in small quantities. It is soft to the touch but some people notice that their rats sneeze more than usual when kept on this bedding due to the dust.

 

CareFRESH Ultra

     RMCA Review

     CareFRESH Ultra pet bedding is made from ultra long, ultra soft bleached fibers. It is biodegradable and flushable in small quanitities. It promotes a more natural living enviornment that other beddings and is less dusty that the original CareFRESH formula.

 

Cell-Sorb Plus

     RMCA Review

     Cell-Sorb Plus is a pelleted paper based bedding product. It has amazing odor control ability but tends to be much heavier than other bedding options. Great for rats that like to kick their bedding out of the cage.

 

Cellu-Dri Soft

     Cellu-Dri (recycled cellulose fiber) is manufactured by the same company as Alpha-Dri. It it a LOOSE bedding and is unbelievably soft. Makes wonderful nesting material for small critters.

 

Cellu-Dri Pellet

 

Diamond Soft

     Diamond Soft cellulose bedding material is a unique laboratory animal bedding, consisting of specially-processed bleached hardwood paper pulp. As the product name indicates, this material is softer than any other contact bedding product currently on the market, allowing for the most comfortable environment possible for your valuable animals. It is an excellent contact bedding material.

 

Eco-Bedding

     RMCA Review

     Eco-BeddingTM is 100% recycled paper. The unique and patented process of cutting and folding paper strips makes for an excellent bedding material. Eco-BeddingTM is highly absorbent, easily compostable, and completely dust free, solving the problem of inhalant irritations or allergies.

 

ECOfresh 

 

Paper Chip Soft

 

Paper Chip Pellet

 

Pet's Preference Soft

Made from 100% recycled paper fiber, Pet's Preference is biodegradable and can be composted, incinerated, or landfilled. Use as landscape mulch or flush in small quantities.

 

Soft Texture: This loose fiber bedding is soft, fluffy, highly absorbent. Its soft texture encourages the natural burrowing habits of rodents and makes it an excellent nursery substrate for baby birds and young animals. Available in 30 liter package.

 

Pet's Preference

Made from 100% recycled paper fiber, Pet's Preference is biodegradable and can be composted, incinerated, or landfilled. Use as landscape mulch or flush in small quantities.

 

Original Texture: This convenient pelleted form is completely dust free, clean, and easy to use. Ideal for use in litter boxes for rabbits, ferrets, cats, etc. Pet's Preference Original Texture is as versatile as it is easy to use. Available in 10 lb. and 30 lb. packages.

 

Tek-FRESH

     TEK-FRESH is manufactured from 100% reclaimed virgin wood pulp, making it environmentally friendly. Our pulp comes from plants that make paper towels and tissue paper, which means TEK-FRESH is extremely absorbent. Unlike most other paper bedding, it is not made from recycled news print or similar waste materials, so it is not contaminated with inks or chemicals, and no dyes or perfumes are added.

 

Yesterday's News

Environmentally friendly Yesterday’s News is a perfect complement to your healthy home. With superior absorbency, Yesterday’s News brand litters utilize recycled newspaper to create safe, odor controlling pellets your cat will readily accept. Yesterday’s News is virtually dust-free, with no small particles to track around the house.

  

Wood Bedding Photos

 

Aspen: Shaved

 

Aspen: Shredded

 

Aspen Supreme

     Aspen Supreme uses a special blend of fresh aspen wood particles — a natural by-product of a renewable resource. It contains no cedar or pine and is non-toxic to birds. Aspen Supreme offers superior odor control and absorbency for small animals, birds and reptiles, and provides a drier environment.

 

Beta Chip

 

Gentle Touch Aspen Pet Bedding

     100% Natural Aspen wood, 1/4" Pellet sizes. They manufacture several products including PINEWOOD products so you MUST ensure that you are buying the ASPEN PET BEDDING

 

Sani-Chips

     We start with only the most select hardwoods. These trees are taken from areas that have never been sprayed with unhealthy pesticides or herbicides. When a tree is felled, new trees are planted to ensure that these forests continue to thrive. We never use pine, cedar, or other softwoods because their unhealthy organic compounds can cause distress to your animals. All of our animal beddings are heat treated and rotary drum dried, reaching a temperature of 1200 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes. This reduces the moisture content to 8% (+/- 2%) and kills harmful bacteria.

 

 

Pelleted Bedding Photos

 

Alfalfa Pellets

 

Aspen Supreme

 

Cell-Sorb Plus

     RMCA Review

     Cell-Sorb Plus is a pelleted paper based bedding product. It has amazing odor control ability but tends to be much heavier than other bedding options. Great for rats that like to kick their bedding out of the cage.

 

Cellu Dri Pellet

 

Critter Country

     Critter County is made of winter wheat grass, and several other plant fibers. Critter Country provides a safe, odor free, and dust free environment for all animals. Critter Country is safe if ingested as it contain NO CHEMICALS or additives . The clean, heat treated ingredients of this product are free of any insect, mold or fungus contamination. Critter Country and waste are safely flushed into municipal waste systems.

 

Eco Straw

 

Gentle Touch Aspen Pet Bedding

     100% Natural Aspen wood, 1/4" Pellet sizes. They manufacture several products including PINEWOOD products so you MUST ensure that you are buying the ASPEN PET BEDDING!

 

Paper Chip Soft

 

Paper Chip

 

Pet's Preference

 

Yesterday's News

Environmentally friendly Yesterday’s News is a perfect complement to your healthy home. With superior absorbency, Yesterday’s News brand litters utilize recycled newspaper to create safe, odor controlling pellets your cat will readily accept. Yesterday’s News is virtually dust-free, with no small particles to track around the house.

 

Misc Bedding Photos

 

Corn Cob

 

Swheat Scoop