Pine Wood Shavings And Rabbits

It amazes me in the day and age of information that people can still write something amazingly incorrect and get away with it. Even after their premise is proven wrong, often repeatedly, the inaccurate information contiues to be spread far and wide. People also tend to believe information that is written by a non profit organization as truth; even when there is zero evidence or factual information in the article to back up their claim.

A perfect example of this exists here:

"Some people use pine shavings, but even though pine has less aromatic oils than cedar, a guinea pig’s sense of smell is very sensitive. What doesn’t smell to you can have quite an aroma to him. One study suggested that rabbits kept on pine bedding had elevated liver enzymes, so there is some doubt as to the safety of pine bedding for small animals."

Now for the sake of clarity, I have attached the link to the entire article so that you can see where this has been written as a fact for the world to see. The author of the original article did not provide a link to the supposed "study" however. The reason why? Probably because there are 2 different studies, and it contains flawed science.

The proper article, that should be read (available here), talks about both studies done on rabbits and their elevated liver enzymes. The article summarizes the findings, and contains links to both articles/publications so that you can make your own decison about your animal bedding. Long story made short; pine shavings are still the most economical and safest bedding to use with your rabbits.