Fitch?

[Black_Inky_Eyes]

Yeah so I've been researching substrates and Fitch seems like my best option, you get a lot for your money as well as the softness.

I've been looking at reviews and so far I haven't seen anyone mention how much it smells when hamsters urinate on it. I know Fitch is paper-based which concerns me because I would use CareFresh with my previous hamsters and it smelled quite a lot. Is this the case for Fitch? What are your thoughts?

I know there are other substrates like Aspen which is good for odour control but I can only find reptile aspen is this safe? I am also aware of wood pellet cat litter which is great for odour control but I would only use this as a bottom layer covered with softer bedding since the litter doesn't seem comfortable and I know doesn't make good burrows.

Thanks for any feedback or Fitch reviews it really helps!

[buttercuplols]

Hey. Fitch is a great substrate for odour control but has been out of stock in the bigger sized bales for a few weeks. Kaytee clean and cosy comes highly recommended by many people though which is what I'll be trying next if Fitch isn't back in stock soon. You can find it on Amazon.

[cypher]

I've found fitch & kaytee clean & cosy (both paper based substrates) to be fine with odour control, with spot cleaning I don't have any odour problems at all.
I wouldn't use any pellets for substrate.

I'm not sure if you've had a ham before or if you are going to be getting your first? If you haven't had one then you may be thinking that odours will be a problem & there will be a lot of cleaning to do but hams are very clean little things & not smelly like some animals can be so it's not really something you're going to need to worry about.

[Black_Inky_Eyes]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

No, this isn't my first hamster however my previous was a female Syrian and as they're typically she smelt quite a lot when she was due for a clean out

[Pebbles82]

It's funny. I and everyone else used to be so concerned with odour control regarding the substrate, but actually I find if you use a litter tray with sand in you don't need to worry about the substrate having odour control anyway! I haven't had a problem with Fitch - no more than any other bedding, even when our hamster has piled Fitch on top of his toilet and then pee'd on it (this is to tell me I should have emptied the potty sooner I assume). People used to say they liked pine shavings for odour control but it was no different really - the pine smell just masked the urine smell and the combination of the two wasn't very nice!

I didn't like Aspen and found it dusty and scratchy. This litter tray is good with Chinchilla sand in it. I just empty it every 5 days or so and put more sand in. They will use it if you put it in the place they have chosen to pee and then the rest of the cage stays clean and dry Most hams pee in their wheels sometimes (although our last one didn't!) and baby hams will have the odd pee in their nest initially but grow out of that quickly. They are really quite clean little things really if you give them a toilet.

This is a good size - not too big, not too small, high at the back and fits in a corner - they often choose a corner of the cage as a toilet (as they don't like their toilet too close to their bed really - but not too far away either). Our hamsters pee in the very back corner and sit in the front bit of sand for a wash. Most of the other hamster potties are too small and the open ones are best as they can get in and out easily and they're easier to empty.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hamster-cor...=hamster+potty

Most people get this Tiny Friends Chinchilla bathing sand - you can probably get it cheaper locally or from viovet. I tend to get two at a time to save on postage, but one lasts for absolutely ages.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Science-Sma...a+bathing+sand

[cypher]

I've never had one but I do know from others posts that female syrians can be a bit smelly especially when in heat but I'm not sure you're choice of substrate will make an awful lot of difference there tbh!

[Black_Inky_Eyes]

I actually had Tiny Friends Farm sand in my basket from Viovet! I used it for all my past hamsters but they just ignored it, however, I always do like to provide a sand bath/litter tray in case they ever change their mind. I already have that exact corner toilet! Except I bought it from a local independent shop that stocks a lot of Trixie products.

Thanks for the advice cypher! Yeah, I think we all have to accept hamsters are going to smell at least a little, maybe not even a bad smell. However this time around I am going to buy a male just to be on the safe side even though I realise that generalisation doesn't go for all hamsters. I've also had 4 females in the past and only 1 male, mainly because of the coats on females. So my hope is to find a male Syrian some time soon.

[Pebbles82]

I stopped giving a sand bath in the cage as our syrians have not seemed interested in it - but they do occasionally have a wash sitting in the sand in the toilet. A lot of Syrians aren't bothered about sand baths but dwarf hammies love them. You can have both of course and then they'd probably pee in both lol.

[alpacassei]

One of my Syrians, Sunny, always uses his sand as a toilet but the other, Bigfoot, completely ignores sand.

Russian dwarfs love their sandbaths though, and Robos thrive in deserty/sandy set-ups