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Old 05-07-2017, 05:44 PM   #1
BoredHamsters
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Default Pets at home sawdust, yes or no?

Hey, so I've been wondering if the sawdust pets at home sell is safe, far as I know it's kiln-dried so it should be safe but I wanted to ask for input anyway
Thanks!
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Old 05-07-2017, 05:51 PM   #2
Drago
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Default Re: Pets at home sawdust, yes or no?

Do you know what type of wood it is? If it doesn't specifically say aspen, then I wouldn't risk it. Some people say kiln-dried pine is safe, but I personally would never risk using softwoods as bedding. Plus, unspecified wood beddings often have a myriad of different types of wood- many of which aren't safe to even be chewed! Do you have a link you can share so we can help you determine for sure?
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Old 05-07-2017, 06:28 PM   #3
Crystalroborovski
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Default Re: Pets at home sawdust, yes or no?

I agree with drago, knowing what kind of wood the bedding is would be helpful. Sawdust itself is dangerous for hams, it's very fine particles that are easy to breath in and can cause bad respiratory issues. The only wood bedding that is safe is shredded aspen or aspen shavings (or cat litter wood pellets, though it isn't recommended as a substrate for the whole cage).
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Old 05-07-2017, 07:28 PM   #4
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Default Re: Pets at home sawdust, yes or no?

I would just use Fitch.It's cost effective when bought in the larger bale sizes(online exclusive substrate,but much better than anything you could ever get from a pet store).It's dust free,cannot ever cause an allergic reaction unlike any type of wood or hemp,and is much softer and more suitable for burrowing.

Wood will always be one of if not the most risky substrates to use,regardless of the type of wood used.Even aspen is known to cause allergic reactions just as much as pine does,so there's no guarantee just because you use aspen that it will be 100% safe.
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Old 05-07-2017, 10:43 PM   #5
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Default Re: Pets at home sawdust, yes or no?

The pets at home wood shavings are fine, I assume that's what you mean rather than saw dust.
I know US members worry about wood shavings as not all are safe there but kiln dried shavings are perfectly safe here in the UK.
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Old 05-07-2017, 11:23 PM   #6
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Default Re: Pets at home sawdust, yes or no?

Like Cypher, I assume you are talking about the wood shavings. Pets at home shavings do not say what sort of wood they are, but I have seen someone (on this forum I think) in a past thread saying that after much research they discovered them to be pine. Thats why I would avoid them.
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Old 05-08-2017, 12:00 AM   #7
cypher
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Default Re: Pets at home sawdust, yes or no?

I think there is a lot of misunderstanding about pine shavings, maybe due to the cross over of UK & US members, here in the UK kiln dried pine shavings are fine. The situation is different in the US.
It's true that some hams can be allergic to wood shavings & get either respiratory or skin problems but it is very rare so not something you need to worry about most of the time.
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Old 05-08-2017, 07:20 AM   #8
BoredHamsters
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Default Re: Pets at home sawdust, yes or no?

Whoops, I meant pine kiln-dried shavings from pets at home!
Also thanks! I thought they would be safe but I wasn't exactly sure as I didn't know if they smell would annoy them or anything.
Anyway that's great to know
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Old 05-08-2017, 07:31 AM   #9
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Default Re: Pets at home sawdust, yes or no?

I wouldn't consider allergies to wood "very rare" as I do see it extremely often.Of course,regardless of how you interpret the rarity of allergic reactions the issue is still there and must be considered into safety as there is no guarantee either way that a hamster will or will not be allergic(and if they are,there will be serious discomfort at the very least if not irritation to skin or worse,so it is best to just avoid allergy causing substances rather than take a chance).
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Old 05-08-2017, 07:56 AM   #10
Vectis Hamstery
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Default Re: Pets at home sawdust, yes or no?

Quote:
Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams View Post
I wouldn't consider allergies to wood "very rare" as I do see it extremely often.
That's interesting to hear. Perhaps US populations of hamsters are different to those in the UK as well as the shavings? I personally have only had one hamster with a wood shavings allergy despite it being over 5 years since I last had under 12 dwarf hamsters (it popped up in my Facebook memories that I wasn't eligible to enter small hamstery back from 2011 or 2012). I'm more allergic to substrates than my hamsters
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