[OT][VERY OT] Woodshavings...

["Ian Lowe" <ian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bit of a strange request, hopefully someone on the list can help.

We keep Gerbils, and this time around we ended up with a breeding pair
rather than the two males we thought we had... the first litter was born
about a month ago, and unfortunately, every single one of the pups died
from a respiratory illness - a pretty horrible way to go, and they died
at only 21 days old - all seven of them.

It seems the problem is the bedding material - wood shavings that are
sold by Pet World (and almost everyone else) for small rodents are
incredibly toxic to gerbils, especially at the 3 week stage, when the
mother's milk no longer provides a boost to the pup's immune system, and
they are having to fend for themselves. Volatile oils released by the
wood cause a respiratory condition in which the pups make a horrible
clicking, rasping sound as they breath - and don't last longer than 2-3
days.

I am told by a couple of US breeders that either Aspen wood shavings, or
hardwood shavings are ideal - Straw, hay etc are fine for adult gerbils,
but not for pups..

The problem is, I'm finding it *extremely* difficult to find a source
for these shavings - the local wood yards just chuck all the turnings
into the same waste, so I would end up with pine in amongst the other
woods.. and possibly end up with cedarwood as well - which is almost
guaranteed to be fatal to pups, even worse than pine. :

If anyone knows where I can get a reliable supply of hardwood shavings,
or better aspen wood shavings, please let me know. It's now a matter of
life and death - our gerbils just birthed another litter - these pups
will be okay until about day 10, the 27th April - if I don't move them
to other bedding by this point, we may well lose the whole litter again
- and I really don't want to see these pups die.

Any help will be incredibly welcome!

Ian.