What do you do with your used Aspen Shavings?

[Pixie66]

Every time I clean the cage and get scoops of poop, uneaten hey and used Aspen Shavings I wonder: Can I use it as fertilizer / cover material for the garden? Should I trash it or put in the compost? What do you do?

 

[Amethyst]

I only have aspen shavings in a pan as the potty, so I mostly just toss it out in the trash, but I don't see any reason (assuming your chin is not sick) to use it in the garden or even compost it. I do however use poops as fertilizer in my garden, the plants seem to love it and it keeps them safe for use for treats for my chinchilla. In the summer I also shake my fleece liners outside, and the hay and poops just decompose into the ground fertilizing the area.

 

[Saffron]

I use the aspen shavings & discarded hay as ground cover in a small planter bed but mostly I put it in the trash. The poops work great as fertilizer for house plants and in the outside planter boxes.
It's all organic so I don't see why you couldn't add it to compost.

 

[Pixie66]

Thank you Amethyst & Saffron!
Are you just spreading the poops on the ground or do you have to work it into the ground?

 

[Amethyst]

Thank you Amethyst & Saffron!
Are you just spreading the poops on the ground or do you have to work it into the ground?

When I put new plants in the ground I mix the poos with the soil before I put it in. Otherwise I just spread it over top before watering or before it rains so it kind of works itself into the soil.

 

[Jawramik]

In the summer I also shake my fleece liners outside, and the hay and poops just decompose into the ground fertilizing the area

I do this too! I shake out my fleece liners over my front flower bed before tossing them in the wash. But that's all I do. I just toss the used aspen shavings from the litterbox in the trash.

Though now that I'm thinking about it.... there's a compost bin at my work that we use for the garden there. Maybe I can collect the week's used shavings in a bag and bring it to work for the compost bin. I do like the idea of putting it to good use rather than just throwing it away. And my work already knows me as the crazy animal lady, so bringing in bags of shavings soaked in chinchilla pee would be very on-brand for me, as far as my coworkers are concerned.