from the ratlist.... message 85704

From: "Dr. Ron Hines"
To: "lani bug"
Subject: Re: [Pet Rats] Keeping Rats Healthy
Date: Thu, 9 May 2002 10:04:46 -0400

Dear Lani Bug. I am afraid that the National Institutes of Health did
use pine shavings under thousands of rats. There were two factors I
didn't mention. The rats were on stainless steel grid floors above the
shavings and we had an minimum of 14 air changes per hour in the rooms.
Some were actually laminar flow rooms which means the whole ceiling and
floor were HEPA-filters. Also, the amount of aromatic compounds in pine
differs enormously. Our shavings were a dry, non-sappy, odorless
product. I bought it by the railroad car full and passed it through a
gigantic walk-in autoclave set at 15 lbs pressure, and approximately
270 degrees Fahrenheit before it was used behind the rodent barrier.
Today, forestry product companies are harvesting sappy, resinous
southern pine which is rich in turpentine and other volatile chemicals
these, of course, are toxic. Thanks for pointing out this error - I
wrote the article you refer to mostly from memory and unfortunately I
was thinking back to the 1960 and 70s. I will modify that since to say
non-resinous pine (if such a thing still exists)

Best wishes, Ron
Ron Hines DVM PhD
http://www.2ndchance.info

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "lani bug" <lani_bug@y...>
> To: <second.chance2@v...>
> Sent: Sunday, May 05, 2002 5:25 PM
> Subject: Re: [Pet Rats] Keeping Rats Healthy
>
>
> I found your guide extremely interesting, and wanted to pass it on
> to another rat group i'm in. BUT, this part of the article made my
> head spin:
>
> "The bedding material
> you use is extremely important. I like hard wood chips, next best
> is dust-free pine shavings"
>
> I'm afraid you could lose all credablility among the rat world if
> you endorse the use of pine shavings. According to 4 of the major
> rat fancy organizations, pine, like cedar, contains phenols that can be
> irritating and even deadly to rats. I would love to hear your
> comments on this.
>
> Thanks!
> Delanie