Hi Mrogge,
I had a lot of the same kind of questions when I joined. I'll try and answer as best as I can. Hopefully people on here can complement my answers with some more insight.
1) Not really. The point of the bedding is to absorb the pee. So you will want something absorbent on the bottom of your cage. Fleece is usually great for this as it is not messy. If you don't have something absorbent you will find yourself with quite a mess/stinky bottom (plus chins are very clean animals and won't like it much either.)
2) Paper is usually OK. But I believe this brand uses recycled newspaper which would contain ink which probably isn't OK for chins in the long run. So I would avoid it if possible.
3) They are low mess and can be reused. I have three sets that I just rotate in and out a couple times a week. The chins LOVE sitting on it and it's super easy to clean and keep fresh. Once you go fleece you never go back, plus it's very easy to sew yourself.
4) Neither it's folded over. There is a how-to on making them on this forum if you want to know how.
5) Nope I wouldn't be concerned. They will chew on what they want when they want. As long as there is safe things for them to chew. I would remove the igloo right away though! We lost our first chin because of this, they were not chewing on the igloo but then overnight she ate a large chunk, which is fatal. So I wouldn't risk it. You can get grate wooden houses or if you are handy with a saw are easy to make.
6) There are a few threads on here about what woods are safe. But basically the rule is no fruit trees, sap trees or chemically treated wood. I used poplar to make the shelves in our cage. It's cheap and readily available at any hardware store.
7) Nope they are just pooping maniacs.
8) I'm not sure, but I would put it on the probably not good to eat list. If you wouldn't want to eat it, it's probably not great for them either.
Hope this info helps,
here is to the chins
