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Bedding Pros and Cons.

 

I use fleece liners and plain white kitchen roll in litter trays.

 

Fleece is safe, washable, soft and cosy, looks nice, comes in multiple colours and patterns, lasts for many years and hedgehogs like it.

 

Kitchen Roll is cheap, easy to roll up and throw away and any abnormality in either urine or faeces is immediately obvious.

 

Wood-shavings

Pine shavings are cheap, available in bulk and convenient but sadly not at all suitable for hedgehogs. Pine wood shavings contain abietic acid which is a toxic irritant and phenols which are detrimental to your hedgehogs respiratory system causing fluid on the lungs, often has sharp pieces that cut feet and there are multiple reports of small pieces being caught up inside the penile shaft of male hedgehogs. They can also harbour mites.

 

Cedar shavings should NEVER be used for hedgehogs. They are cheap, available in bulk and convenient but they are even more toxic than pine wood-shavings because as well as phenols which can cause respiratory problems and allergic reactions they also they contain a toxin called plicatic acid which studies have shown can cause dramatic changes in liver enzymes which ccan then alter the effectiveness of any medications or anaesthetic your hedgehog may need and plicatic acid can even cause some types of cancer.

 

Aspen Shavings are a finer wood shaving than pine and cedar but very dusty. Also the texture is often course and rough and is therefore very uncomfortable.

Some aspen is actually so rough that the wood has sharp splinters which can injure their feet, their eyes when they are curling into a ball or even scrape their underbelly when walking on it.


 

All shavings and litter can cause bowel impactions if they eat it.

Bedding Pros and Cons.

 

I use fleece liners and plain white kitchen roll in litter trays.

 

Fleece is safe, washable, soft and cosy, looks nice, comes in multiple colours and patterns, lasts for many years and hedgehogs like it.

 

Kitchen Roll is cheap, easy to roll up and throw away and any abnormality in either urine or faeces is immediately obvious.

 

Wood-shavings

Pine shavings are cheap, available in bulk and convenient but sadly not at all suitable for hedgehogs. Pine wood shavings contain abietic acid which is a toxic irritant and phenols which are detrimental to your hedgehogs respiratory system causing fluid on the lungs, often has sharp pieces that cut feet and there are multiple reports of small pieces being caught up inside the penile shaft of male hedgehogs. They can also harbour mites.

 

Cedar shavings should NEVER be used for hedgehogs. They are cheap, available in bulk and convenient but they are even more toxic than pine wood-shavings because as well as phenols which can cause respiratory problems and allergic reactions they also they contain a toxin called plicatic acid which studies have shown can cause dramatic changes in liver enzymes which ccan then alter the effectiveness of any medications or anaesthetic your hedgehog may need and plicatic acid can even cause some types of cancer.

 

Aspen Shavings are a finer wood shaving than pine and cedar but very dusty. Also the texture is often course and rough and is therefore very uncomfortable.

Some aspen is actually so rough that the wood has sharp splinters which can injure their feet, their eyes when they are curling into a ball or even scrape their underbelly when walking on it.


 

All shavings and litter can cause bowel impactions if they eat it.

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