Longhair coat grooming

[don]

Hi.

Our Barnaby Banoffe is a longhaired little fella and seems to have a particularly long skirt (is that the right terminology?). What's the best way to go about grooming to stop bedding getting tangled and causing knots ?
He has a lovely soft satin coat, which might also encourage knot formation perhaps ?

If he is happy to come out to play, then I try to give him a brush every time he comes out. We have one of those little rubberised 'finger' brushes but it doesn't seem very good. Instead we use one of my daughters little plastic Barbie Doll brushes which seems ideal.
He tends to get knotted up towards the back of his back legs, at the sides. We've once had to resort to scissors to remove a ball of hair/bedding that brushing simply could not sort at all.

So, what are your longhaired hamster grooming rituals and tips please ?

Thanks
Steve

[flowerfairy]

I know that some people use toothbrushes. Erinsanimals on youtube has a video about brushing hamsters ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6fEPLzeJFk

Enjoy.

[racinghamster]

The children`s tooth brush is a good idea. Cheap in any Poundland or supermarket. The rubber finger brush I wouldn`t bother with as rubber can `pull` the skin. On larger animals (horses/dogs/cats) rubber curry combs are mainly used to remove loose dander/hair, so probably not useful on a hamster. x

[Nancy's Hamsters]

The best suggestion would be to use bedding that doesn't tangle in the coat like Fina Card, or a pressed paper bedding similar to it in your country(I'm in the USA so not sure of the product name over there). Here it is often Care Fresh used on Long Haired hamsters to avoid serious tangles that need more then a gentle pluck with the fingers to untangle from the coat. Soft and Comfy bedding also works quite nicely.

A Pellet paper works even better but you then will need to supply the Hamster with some kind of soft material like Tissue paper to make a comfortable nest as pellets are very hard textured. Pellets will not tangle at all in the Long hair. Be very careful on what paper pellet you use however as any made for cat litter can be toxic if the hamster pouches it.
Same for wood pellets it must specify for Hamsters or it could be toxic if pouched.