Wood shaving brands

[SmolHam]

I'm already aware of fitch and I use that regularly, but I've been looking into wood shavings again, particularly if there are any in bulk sizes like fitch.

I've used pets at home shavings which contained large sharp wood chips that would hurt my hand as I break it up and wilko shavings which are cheap but very wood smelling. I also found both them to be a bit dusty and full of smaller wood bits. I went into my local pet store and saw that their small animals had much larger pieces of wood shavings and looked softer so I asked what they use and they recommended allspan (I think that's what the brand is called) which is what they had in the store. I opened the packet last night and it didn't have much of a heavy wood smell like wilko's shavings and it's much softer than other brands I know.

Does anyone use wood shavings and have a brand that they would recommend?

[Drago]

You mentioned pets at home so I'm going to assume you're in the UK, and though I'm not completely sure if the brands here are the same as there, I can suggest some I've used. I've used a brand called "grreat choice" and I find these to be very good and not too sharp. Another idea is snake aspen (which is shredded aspen) its way overpriced, but if you want something super soft, it's worth looking into

[Fluffagrams]

I have used Snowflake before with my Guinea Pigs which comes in a variety of sizes. Home Bargains sell a 2.8kg bag for £1.79 or if you're looking for a larger size some branches of Pets Corner sell it too but I'm not sure on a price. I've currently got a small bale of Smart Pet shavings for use in my show pens and I've not found that too bad. It is available on Wilko's website for 10kg at £3.50 each. I've only ever seen their own brand on the shelves though so it may be something that is only available to order online (although store delivery is an option)

If you've got a Countrywide store nearby then they sell a 120L bale of their own brand of shavings for £7.50 or a 20kg bale of Bedmax shavings for £8.29. I personally have not used them but someone I know buys their shavings from Countrywide.

[Pebbles82]

Snowflake is supposed to be one of the better brands. Zooplus sell Chipsi which is one the Germans use and is part Spruce (equivalent to hardwood) and part pine - but it doesn't say which percentage of each.

If you're thinking of something to mix in with the Fitch, Aspen and Finacard could be a good mix with it. You can buy both in bulk I think. You can definitely by Finacard in bulk. Plus Rat Rations sell it in various size bags from small up to a bale.