Bedding: Fleece vs Paper vs Wood
Kiln dried PINE and aspen are the only types of bedding I recommend! I DO NOT endorse or in anyway support the use of ANY cloth or paper based bedding; that includes and especially pertains to CareFRESH and NEWSPAPER bedding. THIS IS SUPPORTED BY RESEARCH, WHICH ARE REFERENCED & EXPLAINED BELOW!
According to the below research, kiln dried PINE is SAFE. Anything negative you have heard or read about it is falsified by the below articles. I still do not condone the use of Cedar, although the 2nd research study below, "The Effects of Chronic Exposure to Common Bedding Materials on the Metabolic Rate and Overall Health of Male CD-1 Mice" does show it to be safe.
I have summed up the research articles to save you time and keep it simple with direct supporting quotes from each article, but links are included if you would like to read the each article for yourself.
According to the below research, kiln dried PINE is SAFE. Anything negative you have heard or read about it is falsified by the below articles. I still do not condone the use of Cedar, although the 2nd research study below, "The Effects of Chronic Exposure to Common Bedding Materials on the Metabolic Rate and Overall Health of Male CD-1 Mice" does show it to be safe.
I have summed up the research articles to save you time and keep it simple with direct supporting quotes from each article, but links are included if you would like to read the each article for yourself.
ARTICLE: Evaluation of Cage Micro-Environment of Mice Housed
on Various Types of Bedding Materials
on Various Types of Bedding Materials
- Pine ABSORBS/neutralizes ammonia, paper bedding (CareFRESH) does NOT:
As shown in Tables 2 and 3 below, 3 weeks of pine has SIGNIFICANTLY less ammonia than 2 weeks of CareFRESH.
Note that in Table #2 CareFRESH had to be discontinued after 2 weeks due to ammonia concentrations being too high to be safely continued in the study.
- Here is the website link:
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Evaluation-of-cage-micro-environment-of-mice-housed-Smith-Stockwell/da2e2ff611acf8e2ea44a06860096f6737f73d13
- Here is the link to the PDF of the full research article:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/da2e/2ff611acf8e2ea44a06860096f6737f73d13.pdf?_ga=2.82367894.1097558870.1533759165-1498562516.1483593854
ARTICLE: The Effects of Chronic Exposure to Common Bedding Materials on the Metabolic Rate and Overall Health of Male CD-1 Mice
- There are 3 older studies prior to 1991 that say pine is not safe - this study specifically references these studies, and disproves them
- This research shows that pine is safe for rodents and is not harmful to the respiratory system, had no effect of growth rate, food intake, oxygen consumption, or IgE antibody concentrations (which is associated with lung damage and allergens from working with wood):
"Because the IgE antibody levels for the cedar and pine bedding were not higher than those of the CareFRESH Original bedding, it is not likely that plicatic acid or abietic acid as found in resinous beddings, were having any effect on the respiratory tracts of the mice."
"This research shows that CareFRESH®Original, cedar, and pine are all equally healthy bedding materials for mice with respect to growth, food intake, oxygen consumption, IgE antibody levels, and overall well being for at least a 4-month period. "
- Newspaper is NOT safe:
"The newspaper was not very absorbent and needed to be changed every few days to prevent a strong buildup of ammonia, which is the product of ureasepositive bacteria breaking down the urine and feces (Gamble & Clough, 1976)."
"The data for the CareFRESH®Original bedding was particularly variable. Sailstad et al. (1998) reported that individual mouse IgE levels in response to allergens can be highly variable. Although the results were not significant, the pine bedding had the lowest mean values throughout the experiment and appeared to be the least variable."
"Even though ammonia levels from urine were not measured in this study, personal observation through smell indicated that ammonia levels were highest when the mice were housed on the newspaper. It is possible that the apparently higher levels of ammonia were adversely affecting the respiratory tract of the mice and causing an allergen IgE immune response. Gamble and Clough (1976) found that ammonia causes damage to both the tracheal and bronchial epithelia. They also found that ammonia levels increase with high heat and humidity, both of which are optimal for bacterial growth.
"It might be that pine bedding was more able to absorb urine and neutralize ammonia than were cedar and CareFRESH®Original beddings, which resulted in lower mean IgE antibody levels." - Rodents actually PREFER PINE/wood chip beddings over other alternatives:
"Some research has shown that rodents actually have a preference for wood chip beddings over artificial beddings. A study by Lanteigne and Reebs (2006) found that hamsters preferred pine shavings over aspen shavings, corncob, and wood pellets."
- Here is the PDF link to the full research article:
http://www.animalsandsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/46-55-The-Effects-of-Chronic-Exposure-to-Common-Bedding-Materials-on-the-Metabolic-Rate-and-Overall-Health-of-Male-CD-1-Mice.pdf
ARTICLE: Effect of Bedding Materials on Concentration of Odorous Compounds and Escherichia coli in Beef Cattle Bedded Manure Packs
- Wood bedding has less odor than other bedding, including paper based bedding, as tested for 6 weeks:
"Results of this study indicate that ground corn cobs or shredded paper may increase odor production/whereas wood shavings may have the least impact on air quality."
"Four bedded packs of each bedding material were maintained for two 6-wk periods ( = 64). Straight- and branched-chained fatty acids and aromatic compounds were measured. Corn cob bedding had the highest concentration of odorous VOC, and wood shavings had the lowest [concentration of odorous VOC]( < 0.01). Calculated odor activity values were highest for corn cob bedding and shredded paper and lowest [odor] for wood shavings ( < 0.01)."
"Results of this study indicate that ground corn cobs or SHREDDED PAPER MAY INCREASE ODOR production/whereas WOOD SHAVINGS MAY HAVE THE LEAST IMPACT ON AIR QUALITY."
- Here is the website link, where the PDF can be downloaded:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236836836_Effect_of_Bedding_Materials_on_Concentration_of_Odorous_Compounds_and_Escherichia_coli_in_Beef_Cattle_Bedded_Manure_Packs