Aubiose - Is It Good?

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Dilly's Piggies

Dilly's Piggies

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I have zero experience with this bedding, so if you've used it before for your Guinea Pigs, please can you answer these questions, as I'm considering using this as a bedding for my girls. Thanks!

Is it safe for Guinea Pigs?
Is it comfortable?
Is it dusty?
Does it absorb well?
Does it control odour?
 
I used it when we first bought our piggies home and would answer 'yes' to all of the above, except for being dusty - it isn't.
I was a huge fan, and it worked well for odor control, was easy to spot clean, and seemed to leave the top layer of the cage nice and dry.
 
I used it for rabbits to cover and would say it is a good choice. Aubiose is fine but watch out for some other brands as they have a citronella scent.

I found it easy to spot clean, pretty much dust-free, cheap and didn't cause any problem with sore hocks. However, I've not used for piggies and would be a little more careful that it wasn't a bit rough underfoot.

I didn't actually find absorbancy as good as Megazorb. It's designed to allow it to clump together and the urine seeps through to the underneath. So the base area got really wet (which is what it should do), keeping the top reasonably dry. However, this did mean it got stinky as there was a lit of liquid floating around. My bunnies were outside and I had a disabled boy so I used to cover the whole run and shed with it so it didn't matter where he pee'd. The smell would dissipate somewhat outside but I'd imagine it would need frequent spot cleaning if used indoors.
 
I have used aubiose and been very happy with it. It definitely does keep the top layer dry,drawing the moisture down. If you put something underneath it, you can have problems with the wet like mentioned above but, as I don't put anything under when I use it, I can't remember whether the top tip is to put something waterproof underneath or something wet will go through and tagging @PiggyOwner in the hope she will remember the thread I'm thinking of where this was discussed maybe a year or so ago.

Some people find aubiose bits are a little too small and they get stuck in their piggies bits. I've not personally had any problems with that.

It definitely absorbs well and is not dusty.

So it gets a thumbs up from me. However, I now prefer to use easibed because it is cheaper, the bits are bigger and because I don't use anything underneath it, I find it easier to clean out, it does seem to stick to the hutch floor in the same way aubiose did.
 
Aubiose gets the thumbs up from me ! I sometimes use it in the main hutch ( I use other beddings sometimes) . If I use Aubiose in the hutch, I don't put anything under it and spot clean daily (remove wet patches) - which stops a build up of urine. I always use it in hay trays and a 1" layer lasts a week.
 
I have just set up my cage with it. I was really surprised by how soft it is even though it doesn't look it and how dust free it was. No smell either which is good for an indoor cage. Haven't got piggies yet but am hoping it works well going by what others have said.
 
I use it for my litter trays and love it.The top is always dry so I don't mind the soggy bottom
 
I have used it with hamster cages, but as they burrow, the Aubiose did not hold tunnels very well. And the base of the cage got soggy through urine, so if I was using with the piggies, would puppy pads on the base be beneficial?
 
Flamestriker said:
I have used it with hamster cages, but as they burrow, the Aubiose did not hold tunnels very well. And the base of the cage got soggy through urine, so if I was using with the piggies, would puppy pads on the base be beneficial?
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That might work, yes. In our commercial cage set up I have an old shower curtain under it but mainly so I can lift the whole lot out and shake it off into the bin with more ease.
 
I love it. I use it in my shed and when they're in their summer C&C. It's pretty soft and hasn't caused any issues with their feet. It's not dusty and it absorbs really well, the more wee the better it does!
I find pee'd on hay smells yuck, but the aubiose doesn't. I have used a cheeper miscanthus alternative once and I really didn't like it. The bits were too big and spikey and the damp bits didn't clump properly
 
An old shower curtain? PiggySmitten that is a brilliant idea, no matter what substrate is used!

I was thinking of getting some Aubiose, but I love Fitch...its just a pain to poo clean every day as the poos can sink in the Fitch when trying to pick them out. Then I pondered Megazorb, as I can get it cheaper than Fitch, but Fitch is so soft...
 
Flamestriker said:
An old shower curtain? PiggySmitten that is a brilliant idea, no matter what substrate is used!

I was thinking of getting some Aubiose, but I love Fitch...its just a pain to poo clean every day as the poos can sink in the Fitch when trying to pick them out. Then I pondered Megazorb, as I can get it cheaper than Fitch, but Fitch is so soft...
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I can't take credit for the idea - got it off someone on here a year or so ago!

I have used Fitch in the past and only really stopped as it was getting so expensive and to get it cheaper meant buying in bulk which was ok but not ideal. Aubiose will be a lot easier to pick poops off than Fitch but still not easy. If you are worried about softness, it would be a big difference but you could put a thin layer of hay over the top. I've noticed that the aubiose seems able to draw the moisture out of a thin layer of hay so it doesn't stay wet even when weed on (obviously I still wouldn't like to eat that hay after it has been weed on if I was a piggy!).

You could clear that hay layer out each day and should get a fair amount of the poops with it.

Often with bedding it's a case of getting a bag and trying it for yourself. Everyone's preferences are different.
 
I have hay in all of the hides and kinda roll it up and most of the poop's get caught in it, if there's more left on the aubiose, I'll scoop them together with my hands and just pick it out in a handful of bedding and then top up with clean.
 
True, but what about puppy pads, a layer of Fitch to help with absorbency, and then the Aubiose layer on top? I'm not sure about adding hay as my girls drag hay with them everywhere in the cage

TheFitch would last ages and the Aubiose is about £10 from a petshop not far from where I work.
 
I don't think you'll need the Fitch layer as well as the puppy pads to be honest. It's hard to really describe and better to see it for yourself with the aubiose but if you use puppy pads underneath, the wee will go all the way through the aubiose and soak into them and you will have to change them regularly but you could do that by moving he aubiose from side to side so you don't have to throw it all away each time.

If you don't use puppy pads and just out the aubiose straight into the bottom of your hutch or cage (or if you use a totally waterproof plastic shower curtain for example) underneath, the wee will stay in the bottom of the aubiose layer and it clumps together. My hutch that I used it in has a coating on the wooden floor so it is "naturally" waterproof. If it was just "normal"
Wood then I think the wood would end up having wee soak into it.
 
I used Aubiose with hamster cages years ago, and it did not clump together at the bottom of the base. I just had a wet layer of wee on the bottom (not that hamsters wee much). That was why I mentioned using Fitch between the puppy pads and the Aubiose.

I'm trying to find a substrate (or two) that is economical and absorbent and easy to clean out.

I'm still looking.
 
Flamestriker said:
I used Aubiose with hamster cages years ago, and it did not clump together at the bottom of the base. I just had a wet layer of wee on the bottom (not that hamsters wee much). That was why I mentioned using Fitch between the puppy pads and the Aubiose.

I'm trying to find a substrate (or two) that is economical and absorbent and easy to clean out.

I'm still looking.
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Aah the never ending search of a piggy owner - I'm sure it's just that we love to be thinking of new things for them half of the time (even if it's something as uninteresting to the piggies themselves as the bedding) :D
 
I'm either complaining about the substrate or about the hay! The last pack I had was brown and looked not very nice, so I spent a fortune on green hay packs, only to find my girls eating the brown stuff!

And they wee everywhere, which makes spot cleaning more difficult. I'm sure they are doing it on purpose...
 
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