Bedding- YN vs Carefresh

Tue Feb 07, 2006 12:51 am

Well, I got a bag of carefresh to try out. I have previoously used YN. (I froze the bag of carefresh for 24 hours, especailly after my lice adventure)
ANYWAYS,
I love the carefresh. I got the white one, for extra oder control. The thing I love about it is that its quiet. The boys are in my room, so when the scuffle around at night, the YN is noisy. The carefresh is silent.
Problem, it costs more (plus I can't get it though mom's work the way I can get YN...so i can't get it at cost, plus it's generally more expensive here). and Ty seems to have taken a liking to eating it.
Who uses what, and likes what, for what reason?

_________________
Loving Mum to my rattie boys, Zipper and Ty
Bestest Bud to Milly, the greatest horse ever

Tue Feb 07, 2006 1:19 am

I use a paper cat litter (called Biocatolet - possibly a UK only brand) - from what I hear, YN is harder pellets, whereas Biocatolet is much softer and less compressed, and not really noisy. It's less dusty than Carefresh (which irritated my sneezy and wheezy rats) and I've not ever managed to get hold of the white version (which I believe is softer than the normal grey stuff). The Biocatolet is cheaper, more absorbant, better at odour control, less irritating to my rats, comes in big bags (so I don't end up using most of a packet per cage change). It's not particularly hard (though they don't usually sleep on it anyway - they have blankets, fleece, hammocks and an igloo they prefer) or noisy when they run on it (Darwin is noisy - he is a chunky oaf and makes a racket jumping on and off things).

It's swings and roundabouts though - some prefer YN, others prefer Carefresh or Tekfresh (I think that's the white Carefresh?) or something completely different, like hemp bedding, corn cob litter, newspaper, cloth, tissue etc.

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Tue Feb 07, 2006 2:12 am

I have never used either kind of Carefresh, but I do use YN. YN is harder, but it is also great at controlling odor, and the rats don't seem to mind. It is also pretty cheap (about $11 for a 30lb bag of the cat litter).

What is the noise coming from? Are they throughing it out of there cage, or what?

The main issue with Carefresh Ultra is the price. White Tekfresh is something you might want to look into though. You have to buy it through Kims Ark ( kimsarkrescue.org under store), but it is just like Carefresh Ultra, except cheaper.

_________________
Rosie

* * *

I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Tue Feb 07, 2006 2:16 am

Well I would vote YN every time over everything else I've tried - hands down without competition.

This is just personal experience, and my personal expeirence dictates I stick with what works. After trying out so many beddings, I have always come out wishing 'This or that bedding' was YN and I hadn't wasted the money on the dusty bedding, the bedding that doesnt absorb the wet or the smell, or the bedding that was silly and overpriced. (Who on earth needs pink Carefresh By the way? >_> )

Tue Feb 07, 2006 3:02 am

I am not finding the white carefreah to be dusty at all. I was really surprised by that.
The noise comes from them running around on it. It bumping itself, and against the plastic. Drives me nuts at 2am. Plus they fling the odd pelet out, which also is noisy on the hardwood floor.
(it is pricy tho grrrrrrr)

_________________
Loving Mum to my rattie boys, Zipper and Ty
Bestest Bud to Milly, the greatest horse ever

Tue Feb 07, 2006 3:04 am

Defintley YN!!!!!!!

I used to use carefresh, but it made my rats sneeze so I made the switch a few months back, and I am sooooo happy I did. Even though it it is not as soft, it doesn't make my rats sneeze, and now my room smells better!! My rats don't go to the bottom of the cage where the YN is anyways (only to go to the bathroom), so it's not noisy for me, they mostly stay in the upper levels.

_________________
EMILY-------------------------------------------------

Rest in peace, Violet and Isadora. <3

Tue Feb 07, 2006 3:11 am

thats the only problem with my cage. Even the levels are plastic. There is no escape!

_________________
Loving Mum to my rattie boys, Zipper and Ty
Bestest Bud to Milly, the greatest horse ever

Tue Feb 07, 2006 3:51 am

Aye - as explained though, it's swings and roundabouts - Carefresh/Carefresh Ultra/Tekfresh might prove to be the perfect litter for you (perhaps mixed in to something else to ease the cost?) whereas YN or similar products are more suited for other people. There is no right or wrong answer when differentiating between both of these - for some people it's YN, for others it's Carefresh.

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Tue Feb 07, 2006 4:17 am

I used to use CareFresh but it was expensive and dusty so I just switched to Aspen because it's comfy looking and you can get it pretty cheap through Kims Ark. Cinder seems to like it, she likes making warm fuzzy nests in it, very cute

Never tried YN though, but I've heard some good stuff about it.

_________________
~Mikaela and the RitterRatten~

Blaze~Shadow~Luna~Chinchilla~Malt~Merry~Pippin~Nim~Tiri~Cinder

Tue Feb 07, 2006 5:23 am

YN all the way.

I once had a rat named Nutmeg,
She was sick her entire rat-life
she wheesed and she sneezed
So The carefresh was gone, got yesterdays news
and she sneezed no more.
It gave her another year of life,
Though short it was,
Much less Strife.
The ratties love it and so do I
I helped my Nutters
and thta is why.

Though nutmeg isnt with me anymore
She rmeains my heart rat who healed my scars
The YN helped her breathe, so I'll stick with that
My other Rats dont sneeze at all,
YN is the cause
Dust free, soft and smells so good
My nutmeg Loved it and you should Too!