Bedding depth? Please help ASAP

[chesca_27]

Hi everyone

I'm having some trouble with finding the perfect depth for bedding. Jasper seems to enjoy digging and burrowing but I'm not too sure. I've heard about hamsters that are very stressed digging large burrows when they have deep bedding and rarely coming out (ErinsAnimals Amylase did this when in a German style cage) and I think this is happening with Jasper. When I've given him deeper bedding 4-5 inches, I barely see him come out at night and if so it's very late (11:30-1:00) which is not ideal. Whenever he has only 2-3 inches of bedding, he's a lot happier to come out, plays more and seems friendlier. My dad, who isn't even around much, told me he was so much more active when I was on holiday because his bedding was shallower.

So what should I do? I want him to be able to dig and play and be active and playful. Any suggestions of which option I should choose? Btw I'm cleaning him out now so ASAP would be great!

Thanks 😊

[souffle]

It is like cages chesca - there is no hard and fast rules about how much you should have and what size cage you have. As an owner you have judged that he seems more content on less bedding so that is what you should use for him. That is most important thing and listening to your hamster and not the public is the best way. They only sleep in burrows during the day in the wild. At night they are out running around in the open. There is no real comparison between wild and pet hamsters. Wild hamsters have to find their own food, dig their own burrows etc to stay alive where as pet animals have these provided for them.
Do what you feel is best for him

[cypher]

I agree there's no hard & fast rule & have found that if you make the substrate really deep they can go a bit feral & you rarely see them, they may be happy enough but you don't get the chance to interact with & bond with them so if just a few inches is working for you & your ham that's fine.

[chesca_27]

Ok thank you so much guys! I have only put a a couple of inches (I'm running low on bedding) in his cage and a large sand area. He seems quite happy with that and he's digging all the sand out his toys lol. I think I'm future I'm going to make a deep sand area and a shallow bedding area. That way he can dig to his heart's content but can't nest/burrow in the sand area.

[CMB]

A deep sand digging area is a good idea. With less substrate everywhere else. The best of both for you to be able to interact with your hamster and for the hamster to still be able to enjoy digging.