Cedar shavings have *not* been proven to be detrimental to ferrets as a whole,
on the contrary, cedar shavings actually help repel fleas and other pests,
*BUT* this is when it's 100% cedar shavings.  There are several brands of
Cedar shavings that have "deodarant" or "pleasant scent" oils added.  If you
make sure that the cedar shavings you use are nothing but Cedar shavings, you
have no worries.  The problem is, most brands of cedar shavings that are
packaged are treated with oils of types that are not good for animals at all.
 
Cedar shavings should *NOT* be used for rodent type animals.  I've seen 4 such
cases where a guinea pig got deathly sick and lost his hair, a guinea pig died,
a Hamster that "sneezed", and a gerbil that lost it's hair and died because
they were all in cedar shaving environments.  The Hamster and guinea pig that
had there pens rid of Cedar, cleaned, and then replaced with Pine shavings, all
were cured in less than 2 days.  Rodent type animals tend to be real sensitive
to cedar, and those that aren't affected by the cedar from it's mere presence,
will be affected when they chew on the shavings, which all rodents will do with
shavings of anytype.
 
 
I use all pine shavings for my ferret now, but I used cedar shavings for 5 yrs
with no troubles what-so-ever, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
 
 
I don't know of any studies on Cedar shavings and it's effects on animals, but
realizing that cedar chests were intially made to repel insects *and* small
animal pests, and the fact that some brands of cedar are treated, I choose to
use pine shavings for my ferret, and *definitely* for any small rodent type
animal bedding.
 
I've talked with Veterinarians, Animal shelters, and many other pet owners, and
it's agreed that the only animals that should have bedding of cedar chips are
dogs and cats, and even then, a blanket should be provided so the animal lays
on the blanket and not directly on the cedar chips.
 
 
Hope this helps.
 --------------------------------------
Joseph K. Carlson                       Bitnet: JKC3@psuvm
Micro Systems Consulting/Programming    Internet: [log in to unmask]
Center for Academic Computing
P.S.U.
[Posted in FML issue 1000]