Chipsi

Chipsi is the small-animal bedding brand of JRS, the German wood-fibre company J. Rettenmaier & Sohne. The range is mostly kiln-dried softwood shavings, plus corn granulate, paper bedding, a fine-granule base layer and meadow hay.

Choosing a Bedding

• Chipsi Classic - unscented softwood shavings. The default, and the right choice for any animal that has ever had breathing trouble.
• Chipsi Classic Citrus and Chipsi Classic Apple - the same shavings with a natural lemon or apple fragrance. JRS states there are no chemical additives.
• Chipsi Super - fine softwood granules. This one is an under-litter: it goes down first, underneath your normal bedding, to pull moisture and odour away from the surface.
• Chipsi Mais - corn granulate rather than wood. Heavier, so it stays in the cage instead of clinging to fur, and a good option for animals sensitive to wood dust.
• Chipsi Carefresh - soft paper bedding, in plain Original or coloured Confetti. The easiest to burrow and nest in, and the one to pick when wood does not suit.
• Chipsi Sunshine - naturally dried meadow hay. Food, not bedding.

Good To Know

• Bedding is not hay, and hay is not bedding. Rabbits and guinea pigs need unlimited grass hay in front of them all day - it is the bulk of what they should eat and it is what wears down teeth that never stop growing.
• Lay bedding 5 to 10 cm deep. Hamsters, gerbils and mice burrow, and a thin scattering does not let them behave normally.
• Urine becomes ammonia, and ammonia is the main cause of respiratory disease in caged small animals. Scoop wet patches daily and strip the enclosure at least weekly.
• Scented bedding does not suit every animal. If yours sneezes, wheezes or gets runny eyes, move to unscented Chipsi Classic - and start there if your pet has any history of respiratory trouble.
• These are kiln-dried, dust-reduced softwood shavings, not the raw pine and cedar shavings exotic vets warn about. If your own vet has advised against wood, use the paper or corn options.
• No bedding is genuinely dust-free. JRS describes Chipsi as dust-reduced.
• Change brands gradually. Small animals recognise home by smell, so keep a handful of the old clean bedding when you strip the cage.
• Keep bags sealed, off the floor and dry. Store hay somewhere cool and airy rather than sealed in plastic - hay sweats, and sweating hay goes mouldy.
• A rabbit or guinea pig that stops eating or stops passing droppings for 12 hours is an emergency, not a wait-and-see. Gut stasis can kill within a day, and small animals hide illness until they are very unwell.