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texbotany
Lurker


Registered: 12/17/10
Posts: 47
Loc: East Texas
Last seen: 11 years, 6 months
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Odd question...
#14401937 - 05/04/11 08:33 PM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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So my roommate has two guinea pigs and throws out a big trash bag full of shavings almost every week, and I was wondering if there was anything I could do with all that woody material. I was thinking I might be able to grow winecaps or shaggy mane or something like that in buckets outside. Would that be possible? The shavings are aspen with just a little cedar thrown in. There is guinea pig poop in it of course, and some of it is soaked in urine, but I could keep most of the that separate because they pee in the corners. Anyway, what do ya'll think?
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guywiththegun
Shroom Chewer/Beer Brewer



Registered: 03/31/09
Posts: 613
Last seen: 1 month, 28 days
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Re: Odd question... [Re: texbotany]
#14401976 - 05/04/11 08:39 PM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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Shaggy manes are supposed to grow good on horse stable sweepings, which are typically a mix of sawdust, straw and manure that has been urinated on frequently by the horse. GGMM states that this is actually an ideal substrate for shaggy manes, so what you might do is try it straight and then if it doesn't work, try cutting it more and more with horse manure until you get a nice, fruitable substrate.
Keep us updated on this, it sounds interesting. It'd be a good way to recycle all the waste that probably gets thrown out of petstores. I would just be really clean about pasteurizing and stuff, rodent feces carries some nasty stuff.
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LuckOfTheFryish
Hi! I'm Fry!



Registered: 10/04/07
Posts: 2,362
Loc: PNW Canada
Last seen: 6 years, 7 months
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i wouldnt. you can get clean wood shavings. guinea pig grossness wood shavings doesnt sound good to me.
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Mycelio
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Registered: 06/24/08
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Loc: Berlin
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Re: Odd question... [Re: texbotany]
#14402291 - 05/04/11 09:32 PM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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I would make a pile of that stuff including the urine, add some gypsum and chicken manure, if available, let it compost for a few weeks and try Coprinus and Agaricus species.
Carsten
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MonkeyKnifeFight
Stranger


Registered: 06/08/10
Posts: 772
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Re: Odd question... [Re: Mycelio]
#14402518 - 05/04/11 10:12 PM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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Yeah if you want to do shaggy mane then make a compost heap out of it. In my experience shaggy mane goes crazy on compost.
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texbotany
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Registered: 12/17/10
Posts: 47
Loc: East Texas
Last seen: 11 years, 6 months
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OK, I was wondering if I would have to compost it a little while first. The point of using the dirty shavings, if I can, is it's free. They are domestic guinea pigs, not wild rats, and all they eat is grass/vegetables like rabbits and horses, no trash. I actually have access to fresh horse manure too so that's cool.
I just found out that he has switched to pine shavings, would that make a difference?
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MonkeyKnifeFight
Stranger


Registered: 06/08/10
Posts: 772
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Re: Odd question... [Re: texbotany]
#14409582 - 05/06/11 10:53 AM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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Well if you compost it then you'll need to provide a fairly even balance of greens and browns. Obviously the wood shavings are all 'brown' so you will need to provide roughly an equal mix of something rich in nitrogen. Horse manure would work well along with weeds or other plant scraps if you have a garden. Coffee grounds also work well.
If you get it properly composted I think the pine shavings wouldn't be too much of a problem. If you try to use them alone I suspect they won't perform too well. This is just my theory though I've never used the stuff.
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