Hey rat people!

I was wondering if there are any natural alternatives to rat bedding? I am completely broke and cannot currently go out and buy anything. I have a half of a small bag of pine pieces I can use up but I have two large rat cages. Options I have are grass, sand (from a sandbox), dirt (too messy I would think), newspaper, shredded Kleenix or tissue. Is there anything else I can use? Can anyone advize for or against these things?

I just read grass causes diarrhea so nevermind there.

Plain newsprint is safe, just be prepared to have dirty little paws

my rat used to love newspaper..i would lay it nice and neat and within 10 mins he would of pulled it up and made a tent like bed with it..i found other things like sand of sawdust would hurt his eyes..and we used newspaper for a long time and he was fine with it

I was goingto suggest newspaper also- my bunny used to love it too- shredder extraordinaire!

shredd the newspaper if possible, they will loving burrowing in it.
I use it mostly for my snakes and occasionaly for my rats if I am transporting then around. It is easy to clean up and change as well.

Definately do not use the pine, as the phenols given off by the wood are very dangerous to rat lungs.

Shredded newspaper is fine, I use this everyday for my rats and they love it.

Ok thanks guys, in one cage I used newspaper. The other I used the rest of the pine pieces (I really don't like those but it's all I have at the moment) and a little bit of newspaper in the other cage. Usually I use a corn cob type bedding but it's not corn its just little pieces of...something I can't remember heh. Or else I use Care Fresh.

Some people use towels, and just wash them... This is especially good if you have rats with breathing problems...

Newspaper is not that good because the print can rub off and also cause dust in the air which is not good for them.

I've never had a problem with newspaper print rubbing off on my rats, and I've had white rats!

You'll get dust with just about all bedding, but if you clean it out regularly it shouldn't be too much of a problem!

Have fun!

If you must use newspaper, make sure your paper uses non-toxic ink... Some types of ink are not safe for the pets to breath in and ingest 24/7...