[Ellen Pitts]

I am trying some new bedding to save costs. I am appalled that it costs more to keep a guinea pig than my milk cow. We've been paying $10 a bag for bedding that needs to be changed weekly. So after a little research, I'm going to try crushed corn cob mixed with wood stove pellets (made of untreated hardwood) and a little bit of peat moss (for absorbancy) on top of a lining of paper shopping bags. This mixture should be awesome to add to my garden when I clean it out and should provide an almost perfect mix of fertilizer for it. I'm assuming the pigs will love it. Any thoughts? Anyone tried this before?

[dreamhunter65]

I never tried that have used shredded paper or the shavings. I should just go to saw mill and grab of the pile but then not dry. Any straw bales could use that just like cow bedding or chopped straw be even better.

[andthentherewere3]

I have not heard of the crushed corn cob, it might work. I was going to suggest the same thing as dreamhunter, though. My daughter used to have a "house bunny" in her room, and the aspen shavings I bought were very expensive. (pine etc. shavings can apparently lead to respiratory problems in small animals) Instead I bought chopped straw by the bag for years, it was much cheaper. But if you have allergies, or "hay fever" that might not work---my daughter eventually began to have an allergic reaction from it, as well as an allergy to hay. We rode horses and every time we'd step in the barn she'd start sneezing.

[AnywhereElse]

According to the book I bought, sawdust can irritate the lungs, can plug the nostrils and dry and damage the eyes. Really, can you imagine being kept in a cage like that and being surrounded by sawdust? We use the aspen. They say that corncob bedding can be very drying to the skin. It is worth it to shop around for the bedding material. The bigger bags generally cost less per change. We get ours at the Tractor Supply store and try to catch a sale, a store coupon for % off.