Pets at Home woodchip/woodflakes....anyone else finding it very dusty?

[whispywhisp]

I usually buy the big bales of woodchip/flakes from PAH - cost about £11 a bale - I have 5 guinea pigs and use it as their bedding. However when I used some last week I found it really dusty.....thought it'd be ok cos never had a problem with it before...then noticed the following day one of the girls had a slightly runny eye so completely scrubbed their cage clean and just put shredded newspaper down and loads of fresh hay - eye took a couple of days to clear up and now fine. I'm sure it was down to the dusty flakes. Anyone else find this? I've stopped using their hay because it was soooo dusty it was like a cloud when I opened a bale - and was forever causing eye trouble with the pigs. What do you other pet owners use? Fortunately I usually have plenty of newspaper and always stacks of hay but using woodchip/flakes does help soak up the wee but not at the cost of a poorly pig/vets bills!

Could have just been that batch. I also use similar stuff for my rabbit's toilets. I was tempted by some rabbit litter last time I was at the pet store but this back-fired as she hated it and refused to go in her toilet and did her business on the floor next to it instead. I get branded not own brand hay, although when in the UK we use hay from a local farm. I find a lot of the own brand stuff to be poorer quality.

I have found it increasingly dusty for a while tho....I also find shards of wood in it that could so easily pierce and eye - large splinter pieces. I think I'm going to stay clear of it and just resort to using lots of newspaper, shredded newspapers and plenty of hay - only problem there is having to clean them out every other day whereas with woodchip I could get away with every 3rd day!

I buy my hay from a mate of mine who buys it in bulk for her horses - its lovely soft lush green hay - and the pigs love it - its a huge bale that I pay a tenner for and one bale lasts a good 2 months. Definitely a cheaper way than buying dusty bags of grotty damp musty hay from PAH for a fiver!