Wood shavings Advice

[Jodipher]

Hi guys, I'm in desperate need of some advice.

I've recently been doing more in depth research for housing dwarf hamsters, I want them to be as enriched and as healthy as possible. I've owned Russian Dwarf Hamsters for 4 years now and have had little to no health issues with them.

My current main concern is the subject of what wood shavings are safe and what aren't; I keep getting mixed answers on what brands are good and what aren't, one example being Chipsi being a good brand and is highly thought of over in Germany, but I then see others saying it's not safe for them due to being softwood? Fir and Spruce is the wood used I believe? Why is softwood not safe?

I've used the Pets at Home wood shavings this whole time (with no issues to any of my hamsters) but recently found out Pine wood is used! O:

I'm in the process of adopting a Roborovski hamster and just want them to have the best bedding possible. Aspen bedding is incredibly limited in the UK (often only available for reptiles) and is extremely expensive to buy online.

Any help is appreciated, Thank you!

- Jodi

[eleplantsy]

I also would like to know because Chipsi is the only well known brand selling wood chips that I can get my hands on. I haven't found any aspen bedding at all unless I buy them online which ends up being even more expensive than the kaytee clean & cozy

[alpacassei]

Pine wood shavings in the UK are safe as they’re kiln dried. Not sure about German brands or other types of softwood but they don’t seem to worry about phenols etc so much over there. Generally speaking unless your hamster has a sensitivity, they’ll be okay on softwood.

Paper bedding is a safer alternative though and there are many brands to try out. Fitch, Kaytee Clean & Cosy, Carefresh, and Megazorb are the most popular choices. I personally use Kaytee C&C

[AmityvilleHams]

I would say kiln dried pine are not 100% phenol free, but they are quite drastically reduced in phenols. The problem is that while the phenols are dehydrated and therefore not activated, once hamsters urinate on them or in some way the shavings get wet for any reason it seems to rehydrate and reactivate the phenols which is shown by the pine odor returning even a little(as the odor is caused by phenols).

That being said, even some paper style substrates can have safety risks(inks and dyes or other potential contaminants in recycled papers for example, Carefresh uses hemlock fibers which aren't considered safe, some are very dusty, etc).

[Ria P]

One source says this another source says that, its all very confusing and full of contradiction. Personally, i go by what works for my hamster.
I got him from pets@home so continued to use their woodchips because thats what hamster was used to. Thick layer of that as a base layer and then another thick layer of p@h paperflakes/strips or something similar and plain white strips of toilet paper for bedding. I had no issues so far and Henry seems happy with it. I never could see the point in changing something that seems to work. Its not about money because i could get the more expensive stuff but how would i know whether my hamster would prefer it or not?

[alpacassei]

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

for example, Carefresh uses hemlock fibers which aren't considered safe, some are very dusty, etc).

That being said, I’ve never heard a single case of a hamster becoming sick from carefresh. I think its in the same category as plastic hides in that if your hamsters chews it, it could cause health problems but if a hamster has the correct enrichment then chances of them chewing plastic is very low and most people can use plastic toys and hides without any issue.

[Schwartzie]

Hi Jodi, I’ve just sat for days and days and days putting my order together for my hamster. I also was scratching my head about what substrate would be the best to use. I have to order everything, even the shavings here aren’t suitable for hamsters. I wanted to go with the natural look right the way through my cage setup so really wanted shavings. It turned out to be the same experience you’re having - this person says that and that person says this. To be honest, the deciding factor for me was what substrate I could order online for a price that I could afford to get on a regular basis. I’m going to have to order food and substrate every 3 months or so. Ask yourself the question of what can you afford on a continuous basis and are you willing to clean your cage more regularly because it’s shavings and they tend to smell quicker than your paper bedding - general. I decided that it was better for my hamster to have paper bedding because I would have to clean it less and therefore bother it’s habitat less. It’s also cheaper to order online. I’ve also read that megazorb and paper bedding like that hold tunnels better. Again, people may say that their hamster loves burrowing in the shavings or they don’t like to burrow so shavings works great. If you’re having to order think about what would be more cost affective and easier to obtain for future orders. Why not try and buy paper bedding and shavings that you know are safe and see what your hamster likes. If my hamster doesn’t like a combination of megazorb and Fitch I have no idea what a I am going to do! LOL!

[Jodipher]

Oh that makes me feel better, thank you! I do have access to paper based bedding but with summer coming up I wanted to use the wooshavings as they don't hold the heat as much. My local Pets at Home are also stocking Kaytee clean & cosy so I'll be using that too.

[Jodipher]

Originally Posted by Ria P

One source says this another source says that, its all very confusing and full of contradiction. Personally, i go by what works for my hamster.
I got him from pets@home so continued to use their woodchips because thats what hamster was used to. Thick layer of that as a base layer and then another thick layer of p@h paperflakes/strips or something similar and plain white strips of toilet paper for bedding. I had no issues so far and Henry seems happy with it. I never could see the point in changing something that seems to work. Its not about money because i could get the more expensive stuff but how would i know whether my hamster would prefer it or not?

You're absolutely right about, the Pets at Home shavings have been absolutely fine for all my hammies so I'll continue to use them; I do now have better access to Kaytee Clean & Cosy so I'll be doing half shavings half paper

[hamster thorn]

Originally Posted by alpacassei

That being said, I’ve never heard a single case of a hamster becoming sick from carefresh. I think its in the same category as plastic hides in that if your hamsters chews it, it could cause health problems but if a hamster has the correct enrichment then chances of them chewing plastic is very low and most people can use plastic toys and hides without any issue.

Here in Germany, plastic is an absolute no go. It's not only the chewing that's the issue, it's also that the plastic traps a lot of heat and doesn't let a lot of fresh air in, many plastic tunnels are too small, it's just a really unnatural surface, and the plastic houses and tunnels are often partially see through, which allows a lot of light into the house and could irritate the hamster.

As for your question regarding the bedding. Chipsi is seen as perfectly safe too, and we rarely use paper based bedding becuase it's so expensive, and considering the minimum cage size & bedding hight, it would be really, really expensive. It's also not easy to get your hands on. I'm not sure why we don't worry about it much to be honest, though I'm almost positive they are kiln dried. Otherwise noone would use them, much like we don't use houses made of softwood (like those wooded houses you can buy from trixie or other companies).

Hope this helped!