Absorbent bedding ideas for my goose

[littlegosling]

Hi guys,

I couldn't find good info on this so I thought I'd start a new thread.
As many of you know, I am caring for a disabled goose who cannot stand or walk. She started panting a lot recently so we tried to remove any potential causes. One thing we removed is her paper-based bedding thinking the dust from it might make things worse. Coincidentally she still pants but less than before, unclear if it is due to the bedding removal.

For now we have been using towels and sheets which do not absorb odour or water super well. She cannot move away from her poop so anything more absorbent would help out a lot. We try to remove the poop a few times per day but it is still uncomfortable for her. The paper based bedding was great for that as it covered the poop and she could push it away with her tail and paw, but it does have more dust.

Any ideas?

 

[silenthawk2x3]

Aspen might be a good alternative. It is less dusty than pine shavings, is still quite absorbant, and smells very nice in my opinion. It might be more expensive than pine, but it's worth it if it helps both you and your goose.

 

[EvenLater]

Since she's indoors, you could try what I do with Cas maybe? We bought these mats at Home Depot. Found them over by the door/floor mat section. Was about $10 for the big one that we cut into 2 mats so we can switch them out. The bottom is thick rubber and the top is soft almost felt like. They wick away water like you wouldn't belive and the top stays dry and the bottom doesn't allow it to soak through either. They're super easy to clean (I just hang them over my porch and spray down with the hose, and let them air dry) and cheap. No dust, no smell, cheap, and no little pieces for a curious gosling to eat!

 

[Carrosaur]

Hey Even I might have to try that since I have two indoor geese now. Plum the mentally unsound goose died ): but in my new batch one doesn't even have eyes, the mess in here is hard to keep up with! What were the original demonsions?

 

[EvenLater]

Originally the mat (the first one we bought) was 5' x 3' and cut in half it made 2 mats that perfectly fit in his house. The mats come in all different sizes at Home Depot. We went back and bought another larger one when we built his play pen addition and now cleaning is a breeze. I simply take the dirty one out, hang it, spray it and let it dry and put the clean dry one in. Cleaning both the house and his pen (and keep in mind he's a full size goose now, so are his poops!) takes me no more than 5 minutes. Once weekly, I wash down his whole house and pen with Dawn dish soapy water and let it air dry while he's out about the house. He's right in the center of our home and we never smell him! When he was on pine shavings, the barn-type smell was almost overwhelming. No issues with odor (not to mention so much easier to clean) since we switched to the rotating mat system.