#skulln0va

[bostonchungschwa]

I was also at the rt rainbow panel and they're making an rt pride shirt!!!

:O

[catbreon-draws]

hello, I want to switch my mice over to aspen bedding, is there anything I should know before switching? Do I mix their old bedding with new gradually? Bake before use?

Hi, awesome plan if you’re switching from paper! Wood shavings do a MUCH better job of controlling ammonia levels. I noticed a huge positive difference in the odors in the cage and health of my animals when I switched from carefresh to pine (aspen’s odor control is similar to pine but I found it to be a bit dustier and slightly more expensive, plus a few of my mice had a slight reaction to it, so I ended up going with pine instead).

So! First thing’s first! While I don’t bake my bedding before use, it certainly can’t hurt for you to do so. There’s a small risk that your bedding could bring in mites; they sometimes get into it during packaging. If there are indeed any mites or other bugs in your bedding, they’ll be killed off after a short time in the oven. While my thoughts may change if I ever do get an infestation, my current view is “the chances are slim enough that I’m not concerned.”

Now, choosing your aspen! I much prefer light and fluffy shavings over coarse and potentially sharp wood chips. It’s super fun for mice to dig and rustle around in! I would look for a bag of aspen that has small but uniformly sized pieces. You should be able to stick your hand in the bag without fear of getting scratched by the chips. A bag that says the bedding has been “screened” is preferred (as that means it has been sifted to remove some of the dust). I would also purchase a mesh/slotted substrate scoop for sifting through the bedding as you put it into the cage to reduce the amount of dust even further. I have one of those, plus a solid scoop for the granular sweet pdz I use beneath the bedding in my cages to help with odor control even more.

In regards to mixing the bedding: you certainly can do this if you wish! If you have some of your old bedding left, on your next cage clean maybe do half old and half new, and see how your mice like it. But if you’re completely out of your bedding, go ahead and just buy the aspen, don’t worry about mixing; it’s definitely not necessary.

After switching, monitor your mice for the first few days to a week and see if you notice any changes such as sneezing, sniffling, or excessive scratching. If these symptoms perfectly coincide with the bedding change, it’s possible one or more may have an allergy to the aspen. In this case I would recommend trying pine, if you yourself aren’t allergic to it. Some mice do well on pine but not aspen, and vice versa. If you notice a few sneezes immediately after a bedding change but then they return to normal, the bedding might just be a bit dusty when you first put them back in. I suggest that you wait a minute or two before returning your mice to their cage after replacing bedding, to let any dust settle. After that you should be good to go!

Hope that helps! :3

[bostonchungschwa]

I was at the immersion panel and there's gonna be a battle buddies sponsor ep and... Jeremy in the promo pictures looks so good you will die

OH GOD

[bostonchungschwa]

skulln0va replied to your post “SO WHO’S GIFFING THAT MOMENT FROM THE OTS POST-SHOW BCOS IM DYING”

I SAW THAT MOMENT AND WENT "NICK IS GONNA D I E"

I MEAN IT THIS TIME WHEN I SAY IM BLOGGING FROM THE AFTERLIFE BCOS THAT EPISODE KILLED ME

[lucretiapologist]

skulln0va replied to your post “dealwarlock replied to your post “i turned on your post...”

LISTEN I WAS THE ANON THAT DAID TO TAKE A BREAK FROM TUMBLR..... honestly that part happened and I immediately thought of u and went "o no......"

honestly i want a handwritten note written personally by griffin mcelroy apologizing for making me listen to him describe the HEARTLESS undoing of my fave and actual self

[bostonchungschwa]

THE BEST PART OF THE ARM WRESTLING was after they cut to that angle michael looked and IMMEDIATELY said "LOOK AT YOUR BICEP you're gonna kick my ass in" (they actually held even for about 30s before michael gave in)

g o d

[bostonchungschwa]

skulln0va submitted:

michael and jeremy arm wrestled in last call and i need you to Look At This because Arms

J E S U S

[bostonchungschwa]

nick please help me day 4 of 7 days to die is killing me. jack and geoff are literally just building and maintaining the bunker together its so domestic ( "geoff when you get a moment can you run inside and turn off the forge for me? " )

it’s so great