Safe (non paper) bedding?

[Almiraswolf]

Lately my Chinese ham Sakura has been ignoring the paper based bedding I put into her enclosure and instead has been yanking off pieces of her rope toy and using that to build a bed instead!

Is there anything else that I could give her? Is material (like fleece) safe for Chinese hamsters? I know she isnt a chewer as all her toys/wooden decor is untouched.

Thank you

[cypher]

I really wouldn't recommend anything other than paper for bedding, I have yet to come across anything that isn't a potential hazard in one way or another.
I did find some hemp nesting material & I thought hemp was safe enough but even that looked as though it could trap their feet & get tangled so I binned & never use anything other than tissue.
Maybe she'll get bored with the rope thing & go back to the paper after a while or maybe you could put some ripped up cardboard tubes & see if she'll use those... probably not but might be worth a try!

[Almiraswolf]

Thanks I'll give it and go and see if she uses it. Its so random when she takes bits from the rope toy... she looks like a little dog pulling away at it!

[2LittlePuds]

Maybe she would like hay?

[Artisans_uk]

There are also different types of paper bedding. I use a mixture of shredded, single sheet paper bedding and then also wider strips made up of several layers, which the hammies like to separate. A change of the type of paper bedding might do the trick.

As 2LPs suggested, hay is another alternative, I've also tried that with a house guest hammie that I had a for a while.

[XRubyRoseX]

Hay works well, my two hams have a mix of both shredded tissue and hay (although I check to make sure there's no pointy bits) for their bedding and they love it

[Almiraswolf]

I'll try a few things to see if she takes to any of them thank you for the suggestions.