Bedding and allergies

by MeanMurine Sat 29 Aug 2020, 9:21 am

My sweet new girl has unfortunately come down with an allergy to my current hardwood bedding (beechwood chips). She sneezes and sniffles and the symptoms went away when I changed the bedding over to shredded toilet paper.
The issue is, in my area, paper bedding is extremely expensive and so is paying to have it shipped from other places.
My other options are flax bedding, which is quite pricey and awful for burrowing, as well as hemp.
For now I have ordered flax, but there are also bulk bags of hemp available at a much better price.
My question is, would a mouse with an allergy to wood be alright on hemp? I don't want to buy a huge bale of it and find that I cannot use it.
Any opinions on this matter would be greatly appreciated Smile

by chiroptera Mon 31 Aug 2020, 3:03 am

Hemp and beech are very different plants, so I don't see it being likely that an allergy to one would lead to an allergy to the other. I would think that, if she did end up being allergic to hemp as well, it would be much more likely that she's simply more prone to multiple allergies than it being the same allergy, if that makes sense? So, I would bet that hemp should be fine! Smile

Though, if you'd like a cheaper alternative to traditional paper bedding, I would suggest investing in a cheap paper shredder and just shredding paper towels! It holds up quite nicely, and it's much cheaper than Carefresh/Klean n' Kozy/similar beddings! I use home-shredded paper towel + tissue paper almost exclusively and haven't come across any problems with it.

by MeanMurine Mon 31 Aug 2020, 12:51 pm

I have since tried the flax, it did not work. Neither did hay. So I suppose it's a general reaction...
The doe in question has a pet store oops litter. Prior to the birth she had no issues but suddenly developed respiratory problems (sneezing, wheezing, rubbing her tiny face) on any bedding after the pups turned a few days old.
I thought the paper solution was going great and was already browsing paper shredders when my little angel must've decided paper shreds = world's biggest nest, because I returned to her having chucked her week old offspring all over the place. I've since moved them back to her nest box (she has resumed tending to them as usual) and changed the bedding to a sheet of fleece with some paper underneath. The issue has not popped up again.
I am truly at a loss with this madam.

by chiroptera Mon 31 Aug 2020, 4:26 pm

Hmm, fleece isn't really recommended for mice since it doesn't allow room to burrow, but if the paper bedding is causing her to leave her babies in the open, it might be a good idea to keep it until they're weaned.

I'd still definitely recommend switching to shredded paper towels / tissue paper once the litter is weaned, rather than remain on just fleece.

by MeanMurine Mon 31 Aug 2020, 4:31 pm

Yes, I definitely don't want to have her on fleece long term. It is also a hassle to wash. I will wait for the pups to reach independence and then I'll switch to paper and see if the sneezes continue. Fingers crossed!

by chiroptera Mon 31 Aug 2020, 5:48 pm

Good luck!! Hopefully the paper won't bother her.

I specifically recommend paper towels over toilet paper or other types, because it's more absorbent, and seems to hold together nicely for digging and burrowing. I usually do a base of paper towels, mixed with some tissue paper to add color (for my benefit, of course, the mice don't really care lol).

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