Aspen Wood Shaving Question

[kelza]

Question to all the members out there who use or have used aspen shavings, does it work well for tunneling hammies?

My WW Ptolemy loves to make tunnels, but they all collapse in the paper bedding. The Oxbow and All Living Things brands seem to be okay for tunnels (and Carefresh doesn't work at all!), but they are harder to find in my area so I was considering trying aspen shavings. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

[Tyrion Hammister]

Interesting, I tend to use both aspen and carefresh bedding. My dwarf loves to tunnel while my syrian isn't all that fond of it. My dwarf, Sugar, tunnels just fine through the carefresh (I can usually see where she's been camped out by looking through the side of her bin cage). I've not noticed if she tunnels through the woodchips, but I think she prefers the softer materials to nest and tunnel through in general.

[Pebbles82]

I think I read somewhere that Aspen mixed with something else is good for tunneling and that the two different substrate structures help hold things together. So a mix of the Oxbow paper bedding and Aspen could be good (Amazon sell the Oxbow bedding and I think Petsmart do too).

[Wanna Hamster]

Like everyone else has said, I'd recommend mixing it in with a softer, fluffier bedding, like Carefresh. This makes a really good absorbent bedding that can hold tunnels really well!

[Dornen]

If you can find it in your area 'Boxo' is a paper bedding that holds tunnels quite well. Around here at least Boxo is 1/3rd the price of carefresh too.

[Wanna Hamster]

Originally Posted by Dornen

If you can find it in your area 'Boxo' is a paper bedding that holds tunnels quite well. Around here at least Boxo is 1/3rd the price of carefresh too.

Yes, if you can find it, Boxo is better than Carefresh. It is less dusty and, like Dornen said, it is so much cheaper!

[Pebbles82]

You can get this Oxbow paper bedding here, or on Amazon

Oxbow Pure Comfort Small Animal Bedding | Bedding | PetSmart

Or Boxo on Amazon. They also do a really big pack.

Amazon.com : Boxo Comfort Small Animal Bedding, 26-Liter : Bird Cage Litter And Bedding : Pet Supplies

[kelza]

Thank you everyone for the advice. I will try mixing the aspen with a paper bedding. I will probably just place an order on Petsmart for the Oxbow since I know Ptolemy loves it already. My locate Petsmart stores just rarely have it in stock.

I am not a huge fan of the carefresh bedding due to cost and our dwarfs seem to not be the happiest with it either. Our syrian doesn't seem to have any preferences though, lol.

[Shelly78]

I am now using Aspen from drsfostersmith and I must say I am very pleased that I switched from carefresh, for nesting I just gave them toilet paper :P