Bedding

[Hamtaro]

Hello All

First time poster but long time reader. First of all I have a "little" syrian hamster who is about 4 months old. Currently he has wet tail so is feeling very poorly although have started him on some anti - biotics managed to diagnose from the pics from this web site so thanks! He is on his second day of biotics so hopefully will get better.

Anyways more to the point from reading various posts I think that I have chosen the wrong bedding for him did have the cotton wool type stuff but apparently this isn't good. Nobody though says what to use instead. My partner thinks that joy cloths (shredded) would be good or I read tissue paper but my question is then what kind (standard loo roll or kitchen roll). Or should I get some cloths.

Also not certain what size cage, recently purchased a crittertrail 2 for him (which I think he caught wet tail off of) as his other one is too small although I have a large run that we put him in for a while every night (it just fits under a 3 seater sofa!).

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!!

[souffle]

The J cloth bedding you get in Wilkinsons is good. Nice and soft and absorbant.
Loo roll, choose the cheap plain white one and rip one sheet into 5 stips to give you the idea of size. A nest will likely need about 20 ripped sheets.
Kitchen roll, again use the cheap white stuff like morrisons own and run it through a paper shredder (you need to start it with a sheet of plain paper first to get it feeding in) Rip the long shredded stands up. All these make fine bedding.
Good move stopping the fluffy stuff.
Cages have a brouse in the review section. They all say if suitable for syrians or not. The crittertrail is too small and the tubes can be a health hazard as they are so hard to clean.
I would suggest either one of the tank type cages or a Savic cambridge or Hamster heaven if you like a barred cage.
I hope he is better soon. Fingers crossed for the wee thing.

[Hamtaro]

Crikey that was quick!!

Many thanks for the reply that all sounds great, will have a browse in the cage section and have a look, keeping him in a small cage at the moment anyway whilst he is still feeling poorly. Keeping my fingers and his claws crossed that he gets better too!!

[suga]

Not much i can add to souffles comments - just to say i use plain white toilet roll - tear it in to strips and pop it in the cage. Easy

[ellisyellis]

hiya i use the j cloth type bedding from wilkinsons, its great and im sure it was soufle who reccomended it to me a few months back. the fluffy stuff is not good. i had a hamster get it wrapped round her leg and we had to cut it off. not good. the wilkinsons bedding is very soft and is 69 pence per pack from memory. about 3 big nests worth per bag. also i find care fresh great for an alternative to sawdust, much less dusty and cleaner.

[happysaz133]

Just thought I'd say, I too use toilet roll shredded, although right now we are using a bag of Pets at Home 'Safe Bedding' which is practually toilet roll anyway. I wouldn't normally buy something like it, but my sister bought it for her Guinea pigs and never used it, so I figured I may as well. Glad you are giving up the fluffy stuff. I found my hamster never slept as well when I tried it once, and became grumpy!

The cage is too small, but like others said, there's a great review section on here. I completely recommend the Savic Cambridge, its got loads of room.

Hope your little man recovers quickly from the wet tail.