Substrate for long hair

[AprilPearl]

Hmm I will keep thinking. Thanks for sharing your experience. Mushu may not get very long fur, so I don’t know how much tangling will be an issue but it is always better to plan for these things in advance.

Also, is there a particular type of bedding which is better for long haired hamsters?

[souffle]

Toilet paper strips are just fine we find or the bags of tissue bedding. If it is very long strands when you buy it you can just scissor chop it smaller

[AprilPearl]

Great. Am using toilet paper already

[AprilPearl]

By the way, Souffle, is there any reason why you don’t intend to use aubiose on your current long haired male? Have you experienced any problems with it in the past?

[Vectis Hamstery]

I use Finacard for all of my hamsters apart from the LH males I intend to show. The retired LH males have their coats trimmed so they are ok to be on Finacard (as I've found it does tangle). Cardboard squares tangle less but I've found them less absorbent than Finacard and also less suitable for my dwarf hamsters, and I'm not keen on having a large bale of substrate for only a couple of my hamsters. For the LH males that I'm showing I put them on wooden or paper pellets, depending on what I can source at the time. My lads are used to it as a substrate as they have it in their show pens. I prefer the Back2Nature paper pellets or similar when I can get them as they don't crumble when wet.

My friend keeps her pet LH male on Carefresh and just checks for caught substrate daily and removes it when needed before it tangles too much. She also grooms him with a comb intermittently. He's not trimmed and is a hammy I bred who has a nice skirt.

I've only used Aubiose for dwarfies and SH Syrians as I discovered I was allergic to it before I got a LH Syrian!

[AprilPearl]

Thanks very much Vectis. In your experience, which do you think would tangles less: Back2Nature pellets, aubiose (though you have not used it for a LH), or finacard?

[souffle]

Originally Posted by AprilPearl

By the way, Souffle, is there any reason why you don’t intend to use aubiose on your current lon haired male? Have you experienced any problems with it in the past?

I don't really want to buy a huge bale for one hamster as I'm already storing megazorb, fitch and back to nature (that we won at shows) I will do once I've tried him on all those though megazorb is a nono for him.

[Vectis Hamstery]

I think each substrate has its pros and cons, and not every substrate suits every hamster (regardless of species or fur type) or owner. There's a long list of aspects each substrate could be assessed against (availability, softness, cost, burrowing capability, storage, human/hamster allergen potential, absorption, colour, smell, bale size etc. etc.) and different people and hamsters would come up with a different answer to 'the best substrate' depending on their individual priorities and how they weight each aspect. Within the range of safe hamster substrates (and I personally would include wood based cat litter and UK wood shavings on my list, although I appreciate others may not) I feel it's a personal choice as to use of substrate.

If tangling is the main element you are interested in using to prioritise your bedding choice, then I personally prefer the Back2Nature pellets from the options you list. Then I could choose Fitch over Aubiose for several reasons, including the fact that I have found it easier to remove Fitch tangles than Aubiose ones (and the bits tangled in the fur are less pointy). Also my hamsters liked the Fitch - though I am unable to source it in a reliable enough supply in larger quantities for my needs.

[AprilPearl]

Thank you for sharing your experience Vectis and Souffle. It really is invaluable!

I suppose my choice of substrate really does depend on how long Mushu’s hair does grow. He is currently 11 weeks old and looks like this:





If his hair gets really long then I think tangles might become problematic. However, if it stays this legnth then I might be able to use fitch. I feel as though switching substrates too often could worry him, so I’d prefer to only switch once. At the moment I am leaning towards the back to nature pellets I think.