The next in my substrate series looking at chopped and shredded card as a form of substrate against the criteria of absorption, irritation and enrichment.
I just learned from another animal keeper on CZcams that a heavy duty home paper shredder should be able to cope with cardboard as long as I don’t push it too hard, so that could be a fantastic thing to use for bulking up a substrate! (whichever one I end up choosing after watching this whole series 😁)
Thanks for your great work. Your substrate series is really helpful and clears up a lot of misconceptions as do your videos in general. Your video on tumours really helped me make a decision back im july when one of my 8 girls got one and I was really unsure if I should risk it but I am glad I did. I have a pretty large cage and I normally use fleece with newspaper under it and in the lowest level I got like 15 cm of hemp and hay and a big dig box with coconut fiber soil for enrichment besides another digbox with fleece scraps, toilet paper and cardboard. I know that fleece isnt the best at absorbing or in general 😅 but the further up my cage platforms are the more bedding would fall everywhere and they just really enjoy their platforms so I kinda just deal with having to clean the fleece every 4-5 days. I once thought about switching over to those small animal carpets (hemp mats?) but they are hecking expensive and I dont really know how well they work. Would you happen to have experience with them?
Hemp Mats do become smelly quickly I’m afraid and don’t wash so it’s a real expense. Why not consider replacing your shelves higher up with hanging cat litter trays. These can then hold substrate or litter (I use litter in my shelf/trays) and are much kinder on the nose lol, plus more space to scatter feed on.
I’m very excited to see the one with soil! I might try some cardboard just for them to use as bedding, I don’t know how common it is in Australia though.
It is annoyingly not a global substrate yet which is a shame as it’s a good one. You could always chop some cardboard boxes up and throw it in with them for enrichment
Isamu Rat Care yeah I’m quite surprised, I expected this one to be the same tone as fleece, I’ll have to keep my eye out for it. Though we do have a lot of cardboard boxes, so it could be an idea to rip some up too.
Hello fellow Australian :-) I know this was four months ago but I thought I'd share where I get my cardboard substrate from: critterlitter.com.au/store/viewItem.asp?idProduct=899 Shipping is expensive though 🙈
I use bed safe cardboard substrate. It's £7 for 20kg from a horse supplies yard. Lasts around 4 months before I need to re stock. It has been a game changer for one of them sneezing. One had a uri in the past before I had him.
I’ve used cut up cardboard in a foraging box and my boys LOVED it. Like you mentioned, they trailed bigger pieces up to their hammocks which is really adorable to watch. About six months ago, i switched from fleece to using fleece and/or aubiose. However, I find the aubiose quite dusty and it even makes me sneeze for a day or two after putting it in the cage. I’ve got two older boys who have RI issues off and on, so I’ve decided I need to change their substrate to see if that helps them at all. After watching all your videos on substrates, I’ve decided to use a mixture of bedmax and shredded cardboard. Really hoping it helps with their sneezing...and mine! Thanks for all the advice you’ve offered in this series, it has been so helpful! And also means if this new substrate mixture doesn’t work out, I’ve got plenty of notes written down to fall back on. Could you please confirm that this is the bedmax bedding you use? (Saw pine in the description and got worried!) www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00J9T0T9K/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?smid=A1KM72FJ6L90IP&psc=1
Yep that’s the bedmax I use. Worth ringing around any horse suppliers meat though though as you can save a lot. The key thing with the bedmax is it’s heat treated pine which means the phenols have been “cooked” away so not the same risk as many shavings
I’m in Northern Ireland and when I checked their website, they had no stockists over here. Spoke to my friend who runs a stables and she hasn’t even heard of bedmax. I’m just glad amazon ships it over here with a decent enough price tag (other places were saying it’d be £13 for shipping alone 😫). Thanks for your help!
It is a lot harder in Northern Ireland. There are some other shavings that have a good reputation too if you do end up getting on well with it. Things like mega spread, snowflake and such, worth asking for recommendations on rat care U.K. Facebook group as they tend to be a nice wide population and some do live in NI
I am planning on ordering some cardboard substrate to trial mix into my aubiose base on my next rat rations order. When you've mixed substrates, what proportions would you recommend? Thank you!
I wish this substrate was available in the united states. I find my country has so many limits on the products we have. Would crinkle cut packaging paper do the trick?
Would you recommend shredded or torn egg cartons? My mum works in a cafe and can get me multiple large trays a day, I thought it’d be a great way to recycle when I get my rats!
Yes egg carton bedding is a good alternative, it’s similar in principle to card though some people find it more absorbent, it’s definitely good for enrichment. I use full egg cartons as a means of hiding food too, check out the 12 days of enrichment feeding videos from last Christmas, one of them is egg box piniatas
You mention briefly that red cardboard is bad - can you explain why? Thanks for another great video! I have been trying to convince folks not to use fleece for a while now. My rats had respiratory issues on fleece.
Purely when your using it in a birthing cage and trying to decide if your doe has started spotting yet or has a heavy birth. It can look like blood until you get close. A bit like how red food can be bad
Isamu Rat Care thanks I think I pay £15 per 15kg bale I though this was cheap what other brand in the uk are great as I am also an equestrian owner so spend a lot of time in equestrian shops!
I can get chopped card (same sized bale) for around £8-10 here on occasions (they only stock it in summer annoyingly lol), to be fair I don’t use it really now I’ve switched to soil and when I do I get Greenmile because it’s my fave (lovely and springy) and I’m prepared to pay extra for it, but if you are using card regularly it’s well worth asking around, Mary not help but may save money. It tends to be brands like wamlsley premier bed, eco bale or similar (if you can find Greenmile locally you’ve hit gold lol) so more card squares than strips but they are good
I am doing my research into getting rats, loving your videos.
I was so so excited to see a new video up! Love this series about substrates for rats
Thank you, it’s proved surprisingly popular, I worried it would be a little boring for people
I just learned from another animal keeper on CZcams that a heavy duty home paper shredder should be able to cope with cardboard as long as I don’t push it too hard, so that could be a fantastic thing to use for bulking up a substrate! (whichever one I end up choosing after watching this whole series 😁)
I would make sure you sieve off the dust afterwards as shredding can generate a lot of dust but that sounds a really good solution
Thanks for your great work. Your substrate series is really helpful and clears up a lot of misconceptions as do your videos in general. Your video on tumours really helped me make a decision back im july when one of my 8 girls got one and I was really unsure if I should risk it but I am glad I did.
I have a pretty large cage and I normally use fleece with newspaper under it and in the lowest level I got like 15 cm of hemp and hay and a big dig box with coconut fiber soil for enrichment besides another digbox with fleece scraps, toilet paper and cardboard. I know that fleece isnt the best at absorbing or in general 😅 but the further up my cage platforms are the more bedding would fall everywhere and they just really enjoy their platforms so I kinda just deal with having to clean the fleece every 4-5 days.
I once thought about switching over to those small animal carpets (hemp mats?) but they are hecking expensive and I dont really know how well they work. Would you happen to have experience with them?
Hemp Mats do become smelly quickly I’m afraid and don’t wash so it’s a real expense.
Why not consider replacing your shelves higher up with hanging cat litter trays. These can then hold substrate or litter (I use litter in my shelf/trays) and are much kinder on the nose lol, plus more space to scatter feed on.
I’m very excited to see the one with soil! I might try some cardboard just for them to use as bedding, I don’t know how common it is in Australia though.
It is annoyingly not a global substrate yet which is a shame as it’s a good one. You could always chop some cardboard boxes up and throw it in with them for enrichment
Isamu Rat Care yeah I’m quite surprised, I expected this one to be the same tone as fleece, I’ll have to keep my eye out for it. Though we do have a lot of cardboard boxes, so it could be an idea to rip some up too.
Hello fellow Australian :-) I know this was four months ago but I thought I'd share where I get my cardboard substrate from: critterlitter.com.au/store/viewItem.asp?idProduct=899
Shipping is expensive though 🙈
I use bed safe cardboard substrate. It's £7 for 20kg from a horse supplies yard. Lasts around 4 months before I need to re stock. It has been a game changer for one of them sneezing. One had a uri in the past before I had him.
I’ve used cut up cardboard in a foraging box and my boys LOVED it. Like you mentioned, they trailed bigger pieces up to their hammocks which is really adorable to watch. About six months ago, i switched from fleece to using fleece and/or aubiose. However, I find the aubiose quite dusty and it even makes me sneeze for a day or two after putting it in the cage. I’ve got two older boys who have RI issues off and on, so I’ve decided I need to change their substrate to see if that helps them at all. After watching all your videos on substrates, I’ve decided to use a mixture of bedmax and shredded cardboard. Really hoping it helps with their sneezing...and mine! Thanks for all the advice you’ve offered in this series, it has been so helpful! And also means if this new substrate mixture doesn’t work out, I’ve got plenty of notes written down to fall back on.
Could you please confirm that this is the bedmax bedding you use? (Saw pine in the description and got worried!)
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00J9T0T9K/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?smid=A1KM72FJ6L90IP&psc=1
Yep that’s the bedmax I use. Worth ringing around any horse suppliers meat though though as you can save a lot. The key thing with the bedmax is it’s heat treated pine which means the phenols have been “cooked” away so not the same risk as many shavings
I’m in Northern Ireland and when I checked their website, they had no stockists over here. Spoke to my friend who runs a stables and she hasn’t even heard of bedmax. I’m just glad amazon ships it over here with a decent enough price tag (other places were saying it’d be £13 for shipping alone 😫). Thanks for your help!
It is a lot harder in Northern Ireland. There are some other shavings that have a good reputation too if you do end up getting on well with it. Things like mega spread, snowflake and such, worth asking for recommendations on rat care U.K. Facebook group as they tend to be a nice wide population and some do live in NI
I got three 3.2kg bags of Eco-Nest on Amazon for less than £20 which is working out well for us :)
I’ve used that before, it’s very much like green mile but sold on smaller amounts so is handy
I am planning on ordering some cardboard substrate to trial mix into my aubiose base on my next rat rations order. When you've mixed substrates, what proportions would you recommend? Thank you!
I tend to try around 50:50 and see what I think
@@IsamuRatCare Thank you! I'll give it a go!
I wish this substrate was available in the united states. I find my country has so many limits on the products we have. Would crinkle cut packaging paper do the trick?
It’s not so good sadly, card just seems more absorbent to anything paper based. It is a pain it’s not caught on over there as it’s good recycling too
If you did the mixed substrate, how long would it go between changes?
It depends a lot on your rat’s, your cage set up and how densely occupied your cage is
Would you recommend shredded or torn egg cartons? My mum works in a cafe and can get me multiple large trays a day, I thought it’d be a great way to recycle when I get my rats!
Yes egg carton bedding is a good alternative, it’s similar in principle to card though some people find it more absorbent, it’s definitely good for enrichment. I use full egg cartons as a means of hiding food too, check out the 12 days of enrichment feeding videos from last Christmas, one of them is egg box piniatas
Isamu Rat Care I will! Thank you
You mention briefly that red cardboard is bad - can you explain why? Thanks for another great video! I have been trying to convince folks not to use fleece for a while now. My rats had respiratory issues on fleece.
Purely when your using it in a birthing cage and trying to decide if your doe has started spotting yet or has a heavy birth. It can look like blood until you get close. A bit like how red food can be bad
@@IsamuRatCare Thank you! That makes sense. I have had mini heart attacks after my rats had raspberries, for this reason, haha.
Finacard has free uk delivery
Yep though it is captured in the price of the bale. If you can find chopped card locally it will be a lot cheaper than finacard
Isamu Rat Care thanks I think I pay £15 per 15kg bale I though this was cheap what other brand in the uk are great as I am also an equestrian owner so spend a lot of time in equestrian shops!
I can get chopped card (same sized bale) for around £8-10 here on occasions (they only stock it in summer annoyingly lol), to be fair I don’t use it really now I’ve switched to soil and when I do I get Greenmile because it’s my fave (lovely and springy) and I’m prepared to pay extra for it, but if you are using card regularly it’s well worth asking around, Mary not help but may save money. It tends to be brands like wamlsley premier bed, eco bale or similar (if you can find Greenmile locally you’ve hit gold lol) so more card squares than strips but they are good