Tunnel support

[Kyrkogrimr]

Hi

So I've decided to switch back to the natural/brown colour kaytee clean and cosy because I was worried that the white seemed to be leaving a bit of a dust, but this the brown doesn't seem to hold tunnels as well as the white did (the brown has a more papery texture whereas the white reminded me of what you get when you accidentally put tissues through the washing machine).

I know that people sometimes mix hay with the substrate to help it hold tunnels better, but Cadmium hated the hay, to the point where I had to throw out most of her substrate almost immediately because she was avoiding most of her cage and really quite grumpy (I think it might have been the smell, the hay has a very distinctive scent). I don't know how Carbon will react to hay, but I was wondering if the aspen substrate I have would work as an alternative to hay as he doesn't seem to have any objection to the aspen I've used as a foraging/digging spot in the cage.

The only other thing I can think of is to leave some hay out to air in my room until the smell isn't so strong?

If anyone has any thoughts, I'd appreciate them - I'd prefer to keep Carbon on the natural substrate because of the whole dusty thing, especially since it was a respiratory infection that got Cadmium in the end. I may be being slightly paranoid, but I'd prefer to exercise an abundance of caution than end up with yet another fur baby at the bridge.