Hamster Bedding: The Best Options

Why find the best hamster bedding?

In the wild, hamsters like to burrow into the ground and develop nests.

The variety of nests they develop – and the components they use to develop them – depends on the variety of hamster and their all-natural atmosphere.

For instance, Syrian hamsters reside in a hot dry atmosphere, so they dig deep underground burrows in the sandy soil, whereas Campbell Russian hamsters reside on dry grass plains and line their nests with grass and sheep’s wool.

Of course, when maintaining any animal as a pet, you ought to usually think about its all-natural atmosphere, and the additional closely you can replicate a hamster’s all-natural atmosphere, the healthier and happier your hamster will be.

This means it is extremely essential to locate the best bedding for hamsters. You require to locate bedding that your hamster can dig about in and make into a bed – as if they have been in the wild – but the exact same bedding also wants to be absorbent, comfy and protected.

In this post, we appear at some of the finest hamster bedding components, as properly as some materials that are finest avoided.

Firstly, what components ought to NOT be made use of as hamster bedding?

Not all bedding components sold in pet shops are appropriate for your hamster. Sadly, quite a few unsuitable components are available and employees generally lack the vital know-how to advise buyers effectively.

For instance, some shops will sell pine and cedar wood shavings as hamster bedding. We DO NOT advocate working with these components in your hamster cage!

Pine and cedar wood can be abrasive and can splinter into sharp pieces. These sharp splinters can then reduce your hamster, causing injuries and potentially top to infection. These woods can also react to your hamster’s urine and give off toxic fumes that harm your hamster’s breathing.

Pet shops also stock “fluffy bedding”. People are generally tempted to invest in fluffy bedding as it is very soft and, understandably, they want their hamsters to be as comfortable as attainable. Even so, fluffy bedding is created from artificial fibers that are difficult for hamsters to digest if they attempt to eat them. Also, hamsters have smaller, fragile legs, which can get injured when they come to be tangled in fluffy bedding.

We also recommend you prevent:

• cat litter – hamsters will struggle to digest the pieces they eat
• corn cob  – not great for hamsters to eat and can get mouldy
• newspaper – inks made use of to print the web page can be toxic
• any scented bedding – includes chemical compounds and, though it could smell nice to you, could lead to breathing challenges for your hamster

You ought to usually very carefully verify the label of any hamster bedding to be certainly certain what material you are finding.

What is the finest hamster bedding material?

So, we’ve listed a lot of components that you ought to NOT use as hamster bedding. We’ve listed so many in reality, that you could be asking yourself no matter if any materials do make good bedding for hamsters!

Do not be concerned even though, there could not be one particular single finest bedding, but there are certainly lots of excellent alternatives to pick from…

Carefresh Ultra

Carefresh Ultra is a premium hamster bedding created from cellulose fiber. It does not include any inks, dyes or scented chemical compounds and is exceptionally soft. It is also extremely absorbent – Carefresh Ultra is created to soak up as considerably as 3 occasions its personal weight in liquid. This tends to make it simpler to retain your hamster cage clean and prevent any nasty smells.

Carefresh Ultra is an outstanding bedding for hamsters. Even so, you do spend for that good quality. It is drastically additional high-priced than other alternatives, such as aspen shavings, even though the makers claim that it will final twice as extended as shavings.

Acquire Carefresh Ultra now

Carefresh Colors

Carefresh Colors is extremely comparable to Carefresh Ultra.

Like Carefresh Ultra, Carefresh Colors is non-toxic and absorbs up to 3 occasions its personal weight in liquid. The key distinction among the two items is that Carefresh Colors is accessible in a selection of colors! These incorporate blue, pink and multicolored confetti.

Although we’ve currently warned against working with inked and dyed components in your hamster cage, Carefresh Colors has been made working with a pet-protected dye that will not run or harm your hamster. This indicates you can brighten up your hamster cage without having worrying about damaging your hamster’s overall health.

Acquire Carefresh Colors now

Kaytee Clean and Cozy

Kaytee Clean &amp Cozy is a hamster bedding created from plant-primarily based paper fibers. It is extremely absorbent, 99.9% dust no cost, exceptionally soft and delivers outstanding odour handle.

Kaytee Clean &amp Cozy is a excellent option to Carefresh Ultra and Carefresh Colors. Even so, please do be cautious to prevent the scented version. As we’ve currently mentioned, scented forms of bedding can be undesirable for your hamster’s breathing.

Acquire Kaytee Clean &amp Cozy now

Aspen Shavings

A single of the couple of forms of wood protected for use as hamster bedding is Aspen. Aspen shavings are low cost and will give your hamster cage a all-natural appear. Even so, aspen shavings are not as soft or absorbent as Carefresh or Kaytee Clean &amp Cozy. This could imply that your hamster is a bit much less comfy and your cage is a bit additional smelly if you pick aspen shavings as a hamster bedding material.

Also, even though you could be capable to invest in aspen in places other than pet shops (carpenters and lumber yards, for instance) you ought to only ever use aspen shavings bought from a pet retailer. This is due to the fact aspen shavings intended for use in hamster cages will have been specially treated to get rid of mites and other insects.

Acquire Aspen shavings now 

Paper

Lastly, if you are hunting for a low cost and effortless answer – or a short-term material to use even though you wait for your permanent hamster bedding to arrive – then it is ok to use paper in your hamster cage. You just require to assure that the paper is non-toxic and not covered in ink. That mentioned, it is worth noting that paper will not do a great job of disguising odours. Your hamster cage will most likely get extremely smelly if you use paper as a bedding!

How to prepare hamster bedding

Ahead of adding any bedding to your hamster cage, you ought to make certain that the bedding is no cost of mites and other insects that could harm your hamster.

To do this, you ought to location any new bedding in a bag and place it the freezer for at least 48 hours. After 48 hours have passed, you can get rid of the bedding from the freezer and enable it to defrost and return to area temperature naturally.

This method will kill any mites and insects that could be hiding in the bedding and assure that it is protected to add to your hamster cage.

You can study “How to Choose Hamster Bedding” or other suggestions about “hamster cage“.