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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum DIET & CARE Home made carefresh

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    • Bougatsa
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        I ran into this today about how to make carefresh-like litter on your own:

        1. Shred newspaper in a paper shredder. I collect the shredded paper in an unused litter box.
        2. Soak the paper in warm water mixed with a few squirts gentle, biodegradable dish soap (like Ecover). The shredded paper takes on a cooked oatmeal consistency. The paper won’t come completely clean, but the water will turn grey.
        3. Drain the water (an old colander works wonders) and repeat the soaking process minus the soap.
        4. Sprinkle baking soda liberally on the wet paper. Knead it in to the mixture (you might want to wear gloves to avoid getting ink on your hands).
        5. Squeeze the remaining moisture out until it’s as dry as you can get it.
        6. Crumble over a screen and leave to dry (it takes a few days).

        What do you guys think? Do you think it’s going to be dangerous?It does save a lot of money.

         


      • Andi
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          Sounds like a lot of work LOL… If I had 1 bunny and the time, i may try that out. But I have 8 pooping machines and little time (plus i’m lazy LOL).

          I think it’s a really neat idea and wonder how well it would work? I woudl think it woudl be harder then regular carefresh ocne it was fully dried?
          I once read about people useing sand in their gerbils cages, they would soak and wash it, drain, then bake it in the oven and re-use it.


        • Bougatsa
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            I’m thinking about trying to make some but I dont know if I can find dish soap that’s biodegradable here. What should be written in the bottle?? Any other suggestions about what soap I can use?


          • Deleted User
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              Why do you have to use soap in it? Even biodegradable soap is soap. Even though you rinse the paper mash there may be residues from baking soda and soap in it that can attach to your rabbit’s feet, especially once her urine moistens the litter again. When she grooms herself she could ingest small amounts of it and over time this could make her sick. Where did you find this recipe?


            • Beka27
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                Wow, I really appreciate you posting the recipe, that’s interesting. It does sound like a big process… and I’d also be concerned with the soap and baking soda.

                Really, woodstove pellets or horse stall litter is sooo much easier and very cheap. And honestly, newspaper prices keep going up, so I’m not sure that this is any cheaper than woodstove pellets… especially for the amount you’d have to make.

                I would just as soon use WSP as the primary litter and then if I had a picky bun, a think sprinkle of carefresh over top would work… or just a handful of the newspaper shredded and “unwashed”…


              • Andi
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                  What is the concern on baking Soda?
                  Not that i use it in my pet litter (though i do UNDER one box, bunny pees down the side it get under and well YUCK!).

                  I ask b/c I went to buy some carefresh for my Degu & Gerbil bedding, after useing corncob for years, and noticed products just like carefresh all said “with baking soda”, as I continues my looking, I noticed many of the cat litter brands also advertised this. I refused to purchace anything with a ‘dust’ on it that will be housing my small critters. Back to corn cob i guess.

                  So other then breathing in the dust, what other harm does it do?


                • lwayne
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                    I was actually wondering what the used to make Carefresh. I am considering using it only because of Arduina’s sore hocks, and just putting a little on top of the newspaper pellets I use.

                    My question is: Is Carefresh compostable? I would still like to be able to compost all of the litterbox materials together.


                  • Monkeybun
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                      Hmm interesting. My carefresh says nothing about baking soda on it, i wouldn’t use it if it did. Corn cob isnt any good either, it isnt nearly absorbent enough, and does nothing for odor control. Not to mention little critters like to nibble, and corn cob isnt good for the buns.


                    • Andi
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                        Corncob is GREAT bedding for small animals… terrible litter for other animals LOL
                        I’ve used it going on 7 years now, and swear by it. No allergies, no smell (as long as it’s changed regularly), no mold, and no ones ever been interested in eating it, and it’s not dusty. I would never use it in a litter box though, for many reasons including it being messy.

                        From what i understand carrefresh is just paper pulp… ahh here from their website …..
                        “CareFRESH Pet Bedding is manufactured from pulp waste material that has had harmful tree oils removed. It is then further heated to almost 400 degrees to get rid of any lingering bacteria or undesirable molds. The result of these treatments is a soft, non-dusty, extremely absorbent material that provides an excellent habitat for your pet. Odors, especially urine smells, are well-controlled, and CareFRESH lasts longer than other types of animal litter or bedding”

                        I dunno about the oder thing, as I just started useing carefresh again (for small critters) and found my Degu who is on it had to be changed MUCH sooner then he had on a corncob/pine pellet mix he was on before. They ‘pink’ was kinda cute though :p


                      • Monkeybun
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                          Your degu must pee alot then I dont have to change my bunnies boxes very often, every 3 or 4 days really. I used to change it every day but wasted alot that way. And Monkey loves it. She likes to help me change her box and smooth the carefresh into the corners for me


                        • Andi
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                            aawww too cute. I had a kitty who did that, and would pretend to pee in the box as soon as it was clean. I have certain Rabbits that get mad at me for cleaing their litter or house LOL

                            Maybe Degu pee is just stinkier?
                            It’s funny b/c I hate stinky animals and though a dirty bunny box can smell, I really don’t find their urine very potent. Now if rabbits could just poop little squares instead of little balls my house would be so much tidier, no rolling poops everywhere. :p


                          • jerseygirl
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                              I have come across that recipe too. ( thegreenists.com/tip-of-the-day/tip…itter/1044 it is posted elsewhere too)  I also looked at it’s safety for rabbits. It was advised to skip the bicarb soda. Only because a rabbits might like the saltiness and ingest to much. I’m not real sure bicarb has much of an impact with rabbit urine smell anyway.  You’d want to make sure you rinse the pulp really well, and dry really, really well! I think the soap os to help break down the paper and strip some of the ink – though not real sure.

                              I considered making it for a day or two. Since I still haven’t, I’m not likely ever to!   Too lazy.


                            • Bougatsa
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                                The thing is that wood stove pellets here (greece) are very expensive, like 10 euros(almost 14 US dollars) for 1 kilo. And it is gone in less than a month. A newspaper’s price is about 1 euro. So yeah it saves me 9 euros.
                                So I might try it out… 
                                I’ll skip the soda. Still dont know about the soap. Maybe skip that too? But without the soap it will have a bigger amount of ink. Just make sure that my bunny isnt eating any of that litter so that she wont digest any ink..hm?


                              • Monkeybun
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                                  You could check with your newspaper to see what kind of ink they use, many use soy based instead of petroleum based these days, which is safe for buns to eat. But call and check to make sure.


                                • Deleted User
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                                    What do people use for their horses where you live, Bougatsa? There must be a product available that you can buy in bulk. I just don’t think it will be feasible for you to make your own carefresh style litter for your rabbit who can live 6 to 13 years. I make my own litter but it isn’t as labor intensive. I shred cardboard boxes.


                                  • Bougatsa
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                                      I have no idea what people use for their horses. I do not have an access to any farms anyway so it’s not easy for me to find out.
                                      Does cardboard work well? Doesnt your bunny eat it?


                                    • Deleted User
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                                        Yes, the cardboard works very well. It soaks up urine completely. I use plain corrugated cardboard without any tape or labels or dye on it. The rabbits are allowed to eat it but mine don’t. You do need a good shredder for this though, one that can take 8 or more sheets of paper.


                                      • Bougatsa
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                                          Hm I cant afford a shredder but there’s always scissors. Maybe I’ll give it a try! thanks


                                        • Deleted User
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                                            oh, it won’t work with scissors. It has to be cut finely to expose the inside of the cardboard layers which is the absorbing portion. .
                                            If you want low-cost litter material, and are not near any feed store, you could just go with torn up newsprint and top off with hay. For one rabbit this will do if you change the paper often, every other day for example.
                                             


                                          • Andi
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                                              I had a friend who put those “puppy pads” in her litter boxes to absorb urine, her rabbits didn’t tear them either.
                                              I used these for a handicap bunny over a year ago, it’s great absorption, but not cheap.


                                            • TARM
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                                                Yes, Carefresh is compostable. :0)


                                              • Deleted User
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                                                  Posted By Bougatsa on 04/28/2010 01:22 PM
                                                  Hm I cant afford a shredder but there’s always scissors. Maybe I’ll give it a try! thanks

                                                  I thought about this some more, and decided to test it out for you. Scissors don’t work, just tear up plain cardboard (from brown boxes) by hand to make small pieces, the smaller — the better. For just one bunny you can do it easily and it holds liquid better than newsprint. You still have to top off with hay and change that hay daily to freshen up. I will attach some photos for you to see and a little clip to illustrate absorbency. If I didn’t have a shredder and not as many bunnies I would totally use hand-torn cardboard if I wanted to save money.

                                                  you want to expose the inner rough-surfaced grooves of the cardboard, so I like to tear off some of the top paper layer before I rip the cardboard into small shreds

                                                  this is what I mean: these paper grooves are what sucks up liquid.

                                                  left is my cardboard that I made using an electric shredder; on the right is the hand-torn one.

                                                  you don’t need very much in the box for one rabbit, this is plenty in my photo. These pieces could be torn even smaller for a softer feel, but I was in a hurry .

                                                   

                                                  Another member on here, Jerseygirl, noticed that there is a distinct ‘wet cardboard’ smell with this litter and it may bother you. I personally don’t care about that.

                                                  edit to add: you can buy cardboard squares like I made in this test, at least in some countries they are sold as “EcoBale”. It is more for horses because the large size makes lt less comfortable for rabbits, but it is an acceptable litter material.

                                                  EcoBale (courtesy of Jerseygirl )


                                                • allosamosaurus
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                                                    Hi guys!  I tried making my own Carefresh a couple of months ago and have been using it since– I took pictures of the process and added some of my own hints and wrote an article for my blog.  The link is in my profile if you are interested! 


                                                  • jerseygirl
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                                                      Sammy, I saw the pics. That is quite a smoothie you made there…lol How often are you making it? Do you make a big batch or small batches more regularly?
                                                      I’ll have to look around your blog some more. I like DIY !


                                                    • allosamosaurus
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                                                        I try to make one large batch a month- about a grocery bag full. I just use it to cover the grate on their litter box though- my primary litter is still wood stove pellets. However, the combination (wood stove pellets with a grate– like the one sold on the site here– and a layer of fake Carefresh) has been working fantastically and I can’t get over how easy litter box cleaning have become.
                                                        And my compost box is rocking, which will mean some rocking home grown veggies for the buns and me later this summer.


                                                      • Bougatsa
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                                                          Wow petzy thanks you for all the effort you made
                                                          I’ll definetely try it when I run out of the wood stove pellets…!!

                                                          Sammy your carefresh looks good! How many newspapers will I need in order to fill one litterbox?


                                                        • allosamosaurus
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                                                            Hmmm… I think one major newspaper (such as the Inquirer, Times, etc.) would probably fill a litter box- but it really depends on how much you use. I only use enough to cover the grate on my litter box, so in many ways, this process is much less labor intensive, because a newspaper’s worth lasts for three or four weeks.

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                                                        Forum DIET & CARE Home made carefresh