Lavender plant.

[Bellatrix]

Hi everyone,

My mum got me potted lavender today for my bedroom, I've put it on the shelf furthest away from my hamsters cage (her name is Wichtel, pronounced Whittle, it's High German for an enchanted elf like creature) but I was wondering if it'll bother her?

I can't smell it at all unless I rub it then I can smell it on my fingers but not actually on the plant or in the air.

[AmityvilleHams]

Lavender is not safe,and naturally tends to repel rodents.Even just sitting in the room it can be irritating,so it's really best to not have it in the room at all.You won't be able to smell things anywhere near as good as your hamster can,so I wouldn't assume it isn't producing some sort of scent.

[Crystalroborovski]

I'd have to agree with amity, the lavender isn't a good idea. It's used as a natural rodent repellant so having it in the same room as your hamster would be a bit cruel. On a side note hamsters have extremely good senses of smell- that is how they navigate a lot of things because they have such poor eyesight. Even if you could not smell the lavender I'm sure Wichtel can.

[Bellatrix]

Ok, thanks guys! I'll take it out today.

Can I ask though, why do they make lavender scented bedding?

[AmityvilleHams]

Scented substrates are never safe either It's more of a situation in most cases where manufacturers want more money,and by creating these scented products(whether artificial or natural,both are unsafe regardless!)they can easily trick unsuspecting owners into buying such products even though they're unsafe and entirely unnecessary.

Since there's no real regulation in terms of pet product safety(including misleading if not outright entirely false claims among other things),it's always up to the owners involved to do research and make educated choices with what they do and do not purchase.It's really unfortunate,but it can't exactly be changed

[Bellatrix]

I think that's really awful to be honest! Harming people's pets just to make money.

I've taken the plant out, it'll probably annoy my mum and she'll disagree but there you go.

[AprilPearl]

Yes and they also make lavender scented disinfectant which is marketed as safe for rodents, including hamsters. I think it’s awful.

[Bellatrix]

It was in there when I had her out of her cage last night and she wasn't acting weird or anything but I'll still take the advice and leave it downstairs away from her.

It's really awful! People need to get their priorities right.

[cypher]

Having a lavender plant in the room as long as it's not too close to the cage is actually perfectly safe, I've never known a rodent be repelled by lavender, it's not really a safety issue just that as they are so sensitive to smells in a small room or close to the cage it could just be a bit strong for them.

[Bellatrix]

Originally Posted by cypher

Having a lavender plant in the room as long as it's not too close to the cage is actually perfectly safe, I've never known a rodent be repelled by lavender, it's not really a safety issue just that as they are so sensitive to smells in a small room or close to the cage it could just be a bit strong for them.

It's a small room but in all honesty there's no smell coming from it. I did have it on the furthest shelf from her cage and from what I could tell it wasn't bothering her. She was acting her little odd ball self all night as usual.

I could put it in the window which is slightest further away again? Though when I do have her out she loves running about on my bed which would be pretty close to it.