Reusable Litter?

[Deleted]

Wasn't sure where to put this, but hopefully someone can offer some suggestions.

We'd really like to be more environmentally friendly and reduce our carbon footprint. For litter, we're using a single paper towel in the bottom of a tupperware-like bin for Ezra. Ideally, we'd like to have no waste at all. I've heard a couple of suggestions, and have concerns with each:

Washable fabric (like a sheet of fleece or terry cloth). My concern here is that there would be very little difference between this and the fleece that his floor is covered with, which would confuse him.

Pea gravel. My concern with this is that he'd eat it on accident and it would cause a blockage. Sam said I should not worry about that because Ezra wouldn't eat something that didn't smell like food that we place in his litter pan, particularly if we place some of his stool in there and cover it with a paper towel initially. I am inclined to agree with this, but I'm not taking any chances.

Thoughts? Other suggestions? Thanks, guys.

[bitbyter]

I use the blue buffalo walnut litter (made from walnut husks that would otherwise go to waste) and find that I can scoop the poop / pee out of it for a loooong time before I need to the toss the rest and wash the box. It is expensive but I have been very happy with how long it lasts.

[Deleted]

bitbyter Do you scoop it out twice a day? Do you know about how many days it lasts? Between how many ferrets? While we'd prefer a waste-free option, it might be viable to do something that would simply reduce waste, and I'd feel better about walnut husks, too. For that matter, do you see any issue with using river rocks? I imagine it'd be a blockage hazard if they ate walnut husks, too...

[bitbyter]

The walnut husks are ground to a fine texture. About the same size as Worlds best cat litter. At that size I don't think it would harm them. I have two female ferrets. I scoop every three days (I live alone so I have no pressure to scoop more often) and a bag easily lasts me two months or more. It is also biodegradable and therefore flushable so no garbage.

It is honestly the best litter I have used. Does a decent job of controlling odour, clumps, scoops well and is biodegradable / flushable. I really couldn't ask for more. It might be a bit more of a pain with lots of ferrets but with two ferrets and three litterboxes I love it.

This is what it looks like: Image search results

I use the Multi-Cat Clumping

[Deleted]

I went ahead and got the Blue Buffalo walnut husks litter. It's so fresh-smelling coming out of the bag! We ended up getting a cat yesterday and needed litter... they happened to have this kind. So we'll see if the cat likes it... if so, Ezra will get some as well.

[unclejoe]

If you get a newspaper, you could use that, or maybe get it from your neighbors. At least it's biodegradable, and much of it has already been recycled.