AT HOME PETS - AT Home Pets Blog

Bunnies into New Homes

6/16/2025

Kacey's daughter by Hunter, born on April 5 has moved off to a breeding home. I traded her for a frostie/poorly marked magpie. She's very white with a splash of colour. Part of a litter of three.

This little girl I was a bit afraid would turn into a fuzzy, but she decided she'd rather have a longer, somewhat softer coat. She's a pretty girl who'll be joining another holland lop in her new home.

She was born on April 14 to Shake and Mason. Part of a litter of four.

Dewey x Mason - June 14, 2025

6/14/2025

Dewey came up with five kits today from Mason. She built a lovely nest and seems to have fed them already. This is a vast improvement over her first litter.

A litter of harlequin and tricolour. Two of them are small, I'll have to see how they grow. Sometimes the little ones struggle but it's not an overly large litter, so hopefully they will do well.

Watch Me Grow

Drone x Wasp - June 13, 2025

6/13/2025

Six kits born born to Drone (originally I was going to call her Andy) and Wasp. It was WAY too long in coming, I've been very patient with this girlie.

Wren x Tops - June 12, 2025

6/12/2025

Wren has a bunch of kits via Tops, she built a lovely nest. Eight kits in total, a mix of chocolate and black. She did a great job with her first litter, I expect she'll do the same with this one. :)

Watch Me Grow

Tricolour Lop Off to a Breeding Home

6/2/2025

This handsome holland lop lad is a son of Kacey and Hunter. He was born as part of a litter of three on April 5, 2025.

He's a sweet natured lad who adores food of all sorts, kale and dandelion being among his favourites.

He's a black/orange tricolour. His sisters are broken black otters in colour. The biggest kit of the litter he is nothing like his dad at this age. His dad is a very busy lad, so I'd have to say he's more like his momma, a sweet-going gal brought in from outside my rabbitry.

In time he's going to be used as a breeder buck in his new home to produce new holland lops.

Circle x Tops - May 25, 2025

5/25/2025

This is just Circle's baby pic, I need to get an up-to-date pic done up. Anyways, Circle had four kits, one DOA. I had hoped she would be a back up for Sasha, but Circle didn't want to be a momma. Her kits were found cold. I needed to warm them up and make a nest, but by the next morning she had killed them all. I was a tad bit unimpressed. We'll try her again... we had a blue in the litter!!! That would be nice to have our first home-raised blue eh?

Sasha x Cantle - May 24, 2025

5/24/2025

Nine kits born to Sasha via Cantle. Don't have high hopes, the two does I bred to go with her failed in their duties, so hopefully she'll feed them! Seems to be some colour variation in the litter which is nice.

SHE"S FEEDING THEM!!!! YEAH!!!!

Watch Me Grow

Someone x Einstein - May 22, 2025

5/22/2025

So I'm getting tired, so I took some time tonight to try to figure out who this new momma is..... But I can't recall her name. I'll take more pics of her tomorrow and see if I can figure it out.

Anyways, she produced two pups with Einstein and one of them in a mini-Einstein! Both are girls.

Watch Me Grow

Activation Products, bedding review

5/19/2025

So a while back I was contacted by a rep from Activation Products. They make horse feed and what not. They wanted to see if a product they make would make a good small animal bedding. I said I'd try it out and send them a review. I was sent a bag of black cumin seed cake, amaranth seed cake and coriander seed cake.

Putting it to work

I didn't really received enough of the Amaranth seed cake to give it a good review. I did add it to my mouse bedding, and the mice didn't react badly to it and it mixed well with the bedding they had. I liked how it soaked up urine. But I couldn't really review it well.

The coriander and the black cumin seed cake I tested with the guinea pigs. These pictures taken just after I put the piggies on it. I loved the look of the black cumin, but found the coriander more of a familiar bedding colour.

The same number of guinea pigs were run on each sample. Four Guinea Pigs per cage, on a solid metal floor. 2 x 2 foot cage. A smaller cage than normal since this was winter time housing. The amount of bedding provided was a perfect amount for this size of cage, you would have needed a double size bag to fill a standard plastic bottomed cage (40 x 36 in.).

What did the guinea pigs think?

Unlike with most new bedding, the guinea pigs didn't try to eat this bedding. They ran around and sniffed it, but overall didn't really bother with it. That eased a fear for me. It's nice to have them on a bedding that they won't sample.

I didn't receive enough to do a long-term study to see how they run on it long-term to prevent things like bumblefoot, but the bedding is soft and remained fairly pliable throughout the 10 day review period.

The Guinea pigs had no problem with seed cake falling off food they were eating. They nibbled away at their fresh veggies and I never saw them eat any of the seed cake with it, it seemed to naturally fall away.

I loved how their poop blended in so well with the black cumin seed. It seemed to make them seem much cleaner for a longer period of time.

Results

After 10 days of running on the seed cake I cleaned them out. I expected them to be very much the same but was surprised.

The Black cumin seed was much harder to clean out. It formed this large mass which needed a bit of muscle to break through. I was happy than I could press onto the smooth steel cage to remove it.

The coriander seed cake on the other hand came out much easier. The seed cake acted much like I expected it to, kinda breaking down into a dust. It did mass up a bit like the cumin seed did, but was much more ... dry? I think that's the difference. It didn't hold it's shape so much, so I think it retains less moisture.

As you can see, it looks a bit solid here, but was cleaning up very nicely from the steel tray.

My Thoughts

Would I use this again?
I would most definitely use both products again.

I love the soft flexibility that the black cumin seed left after 10 days use. It felt like a nicely soft bedding. The guinea pigs were NOT wet, they were very clean on this bedding. Even though it was MUCH harder to clean out, I liked how the guinea pigs responded to it. Kinda like having them on dirt bedding without the dirtiness of being on dirt. They kicked this bedding out much less than with the coriander seed cake. I think this will be slower in breaking down in the compost due the how it caked so hard together. Very solid lumps. But perhaps with lots of moisture in the compost it will break down really quickly.

I loved how the coriander was so easy to clean out. It scraped out so easily and I think it will break down really easy in a compost heap, it will basically just blend in. I disliked how the guinea pigs were constantly kicking it out of the cage and into their water bowls. The guinea pigs stayed clean and dry on this bedding. It's not as clean looking, but it's a very familiar look in the cage when compared with their normal bedding.

Both are definitely softer than using pine or aspen shavings and do not throw up fine dust into the air. This makes it much easier on respiratory systems for piggies and their humans.

About The Product

Comes from Coburg, Ontario

Black cumin seed cake is a byproduct of making black cumin oil. Useful in treating respiratory systems, strengthens the immune system, and aids in detoxing horses. Some people also use it for their dogs, and it's been found to have antiviral and anti cancer properties.

Corinander seed cake is also a byproduct, but for making coriander seed oil. It is frequently used as an animal bedding. It has antibacterial and antifungal products which prevent mold and other issues in your bedding. It helps to deter flies and neutralizes the smell of ammonia which helps to keep everything smelling fresher.

Activation Product Links

Mice Rehomed

5/18/2025

So Sunday I think it was.... I rehomed some fancy mice. I met this lovely lady in the Costco parking lot and six youngsters went for a longer car ride.

She sent me some pics. You have got to check out this fantastic set up for them.

Looking in from the top. Lots of thing strewn around for them to explore.

And then of course the mice getting used to their expanded world.