Where to start?

[AmityvilleHams]

I wouldn't bother with Johnson's products.They never even bother posting an ingredient list anywhere where it would be easy to access,and that in itself is sketchy As for the Yippees,that sort of thing tends to be fine as long as you take the same considerations for safety into account with ingredients and such.I do know that Vitakraft products also tend not to be good with some rare exceptions(also avoid any yogurt drops or treats with dairy,as this is not good for hamsters).The majority of Vitakraft products do add artificial dyes and other unnecessary ingredients,especially with their sugar loaded treat sticks(treat sticks in general tend to be a poor choice as well,with some Rosewood ones being decent for a special occasion treat if you only give a small amount broken off the stick at a time but never placing the whole stick in at once).

I can say that the AminaLovens products by Vitakraft can sometimes be okay for a special treat(but not fed frequently,once or twice a week at most).

Mineral chews and salt licks are both unsuitable to any animal that is getting their necessary vitamin/mineral/salt supply from their daily diet.These things in excess can cause serious health problems,so it's much better to just not use them rather than take chance and instead stick with things like dandelion root,Whimzees,wood(not all hamsters like wood but it doesn't hurt to try,you can also drill holes into wood toys and add seeds to make them better for foraging if nothing else!),loofah,etc.

Fitch on its own is perfect!Newspaper is not safe though Wood as a substrate is questionable at best,it can't be considered completely safe due to the potential allergic reactions it can cause as well as being a rough material in general so with layers of wood you end up with a serious safety risk as well.Adding cheap unscented toilet tissue is all you really need to do,as long as that dissolves in water(test this to make sure it is safe,as it isn't safe if it doesn't easily dissolve in water)

[LancashireLass]

Welcome back Millie and good luck in finding your new baby ball of cute fluffiness, personally for me the cage is important and bigger is better. I have an Alaska home for my little BaileyBoy and it's perfect, also I believe the Alexandra is even better. Hope this helps

LLass

[Millie]

Originally Posted by Coco61

I use fitch for the substrate all over the cage to a good depth. It will get packed down over time so then I add more. Mocho has fitch in his house ( and I see him pouching some pieces to take inside) but I also tear up plain white toilet paper into strips and leave it outside his house for him to take inside. When I see him pouching fitch, I put more toilet paper in the cage. On the rare occasions I go into his house (it has 3 rooms!) and remove as little bedding as possible, I leave more strips outside for him to do his own repair work!

That's great thank you! I just thought I would double check Should hamsters have a different 'bedding' to the Fitch that is in the rest of the cage?

[Millie]

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

I wouldn't bother with Johnson's products.They never even bother posting an ingredient list anywhere where it would be easy to access,and that in itself is sketchy As for the Yippees,that sort of thing tends to be fine as long as you take the same considerations for safety into account with ingredients and such.I do know that Vitakraft products also tend not to be good with some rare exceptions(also avoid any yogurt drops or treats with dairy,as this is not good for hamsters).The majority of Vitakraft products do add artificial dyes and other unnecessary ingredients,especially with their sugar loaded treat sticks(treat sticks in general tend to be a poor choice as well,with some Rosewood ones being decent for a special occasion treat if you only give a small amount broken off the stick at a time but never placing the whole stick in at once).

I can say that the AminaLovens products by Vitakraft can sometimes be okay for a special treat(but not fed frequently,once or twice a week at most).

Mineral chews and salt licks are both unsuitable to any animal that is getting their necessary vitamin/mineral/salt supply from their daily diet.These things in excess can cause serious health problems,so it's much better to just not use them rather than take chance and instead stick with things like dandelion root,Whimzees,wood(not all hamsters like wood but it doesn't hurt to try,you can also drill holes into wood toys and add seeds to make them better for foraging if nothing else!),loofah,etc.

Fitch on its own is perfect!Newspaper is not safe though Wood as a substrate is questionable at best,it can't be considered completely safe due to the potential allergic reactions it can cause as well as being a rough material in general so with layers of wood you end up with a serious safety risk as well.Adding cheap unscented toilet tissue is all you really need to do,as long as that dissolves in water(test this to make sure it is safe,as it isn't safe if it doesn't easily dissolve in water)

Yes that does sound somewhat sketchy! I'll give the Yippees a go but avoid any Vitakraft. Back in the day I use to give my hamster the corn on the cob things.. I'm unsure whether or not that is bad these days? (or more so bad in general and I didn't know about it back then)..

I'll just go ahead and use Fitch then! I thought newspaper would be bad but just thought I would check

[Millie]

Originally Posted by LancashireLass

Welcome back Millie and good luck in finding your new baby ball of cute fluffiness, personally for me the cage is important and bigger is better. I have an Alaska home for my little BaileyBoy and it's perfect, also I believe the Alexandra is even better. Hope this helps

LLass

Thank you!

I can't wait to get my little hammy friend, unsure whether I want a boy or girl.. I have too many name ideas for both
Thanks for your cage suggestions, I actually ordered the Alaska cage yesterday, been looking at inspiration of how to lay it out since! I'm getting super excited for it to come!

[AmityvilleHams]

Corn cobs aren't a good idea.Stick with foods that aren't already in the main diet.Since the main diet will already include corn(aka maize),it would have no purpose or benefit.Plus,the corn cob material would cause problems being in the cage long term as corn cob molds very fast(hence why corn cob litters and substrate are also unsuitable for any animal).

[Millie]

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

Corn cobs aren't a good idea.Stick with foods that aren't already in the main diet.Since the main diet will already include corn(aka maize),it would have no purpose or benefit.Plus,the corn cob material would cause problems being in the cage long term as corn cob molds very fast(hence why corn cob litters and substrate are also unsuitable for any animal).

So the same must apply for popcorn? Good to know, thanks again for your help

[Coco61]

Millie, since hamsters are very good nest builders, I just give Mocho fitch inside his house and give the toilet paper strips for him to weave what he wants as a nest. Never remove the whole of his nest material during a spot clean. I have never had to remove a whole nest, only bits that seem niffy. That is rare because Mocho uses a different room to sleep in from his ensuite bathroom next door! His main potty area is across the cage. Removing a whole nest would cause immense stress for the hamster and is only necessary if pee'd on. So the best thing is to provide a sand bath or similar in the corner used to pee in during the first days of settling into the cage. Put some of that wet fitch into the container you want used as a potty. That will put the right smell in the potty and hopefully the penny will drop! Try to interfere with the nest as little as possible.

[Millie]

Originally Posted by Coco61

Millie, since hamsters are very good nest builders, I just give Mocho fitch inside his house and give the toilet paper strips for him to weave what he wants as a nest. Never remove the whole of his nest material during a spot clean. I have never had to remove a whole nest, only bits that seem niffy. That is rare because Mocho uses a different room to sleep in from his ensuite bathroom next door! His main potty area is across the cage. Removing a whole nest would cause immense stress for the hamster and is only necessary if pee'd on. So the best thing is to provide a sand bath or similar in the corner used to pee in during the first days of settling into the cage. Put some of that wet fitch into the container you want used as a potty. That will put the right smell in the potty and hopefully the penny will drop! Try to interfere with the nest as little as possible.

Okay, thank you for that. How often do you clean the entire cage? I picked up a corner toilet and some chinchilla sand yesterday

[Coco61]

Never clean out the whole cage at once. Seriously. Rely on spot cleaning where he pee's when your new little one arrives. S/he will spend time rubbing their own scent all around the cage to make it home. That will help the settling in. So there is no need to touch anything for weeks. Just the wet areas every 2/3 days. If you then do an entire cage change clean, youremove everything that has made it home. They rely on their familiar scent/smell and removing that is extremely stressful. It will send everything back to the beginning. It simply is not necesssary. If you want to do a clean after a few weeks, keep any of the fitch that is not soiled to reuse and mix it with new to return to the cage. That keeps the familiar scent and reduces the stress caused by a clean. Keep an eye on the hoard of food as it builds up to make sure food does not go mouldy. Only remove what you must and return the rest or replace it. Once again, to find the food hoard has vanished would be very stressful so avoid that!