Which substrate/nesting material is best?!

RolyRocks · 05-05-2020, 07:29 AM

Hi guys

I'm so sorry, I know this question must have been asked many times before but I'll go ahead and ask it anyway... which substrate/nesting material is best?!

I received some great advice when I asked about my cage biting hamster and have decided to buy a larger cage hoping this will help. I am now just wondering if I am using the correct substrate?!
I currently buy Kaytee Clean and Cosy and my hamster uses this for his nesting material too. I see there are so many different varieties, Carefresh, Fitch, Megazorb etc and wondered what is best for our hammies or does it just come down to personal preference?

Also... very important question! If I setup a new cage with lots of new exciting bits and pieces will this really stress him out (I am worried about wet-tail!).

Thanks in advance!

Fluffagrams · 05-05-2020, 08:50 AM

I tend to think that there is no real 'best option' that will suit everyone's circumstances and it may be a case of finding which one suits you best.

At the moment I'm using shavings because I've had issues with dust in Megazorb lately, was allergic to Aubiose and Kaytee Clean and Cozy worked out too expensive for me to buy in the quantities needed to do 15 cages. I usually use cheap white toilet roll as nesting material but my rescue Syrian prefers kitchen roll.

In answer to your second question, it would be worth keeping some used substrate to add to your hamster's new cage so that there's still a familiar smell. I'd also recommend keeping some familiar items from your hamster's old cage and putting them in a similar position (if you can) in his new cage.

RolyRocks · 05-05-2020, 10:46 AM

15 cages, wow!! You must have a variety of setups! I've been looking at photos to get some new ideas and am really hoping that a new larger cage wiith more enrichment will stop my fluffy male Syrian from chewing the bars at night.

I have noticed a small amount of dust with my last couple of bags of Kaytee Clean and Cosy and wondered if Megazorb or Fitch would be any better. It sounds like none of them are perfect.

LunaTheHamster1 · 05-05-2020, 12:52 PM

I think you have to work out what is best for you and your hamster and sometimes that is just by trial and error and price may come into it, also do you have the room to store big bags. Also, if you have a long haired syrian, some substrates may get taffled in the fur. I use megazorb most of the time. I find it reasonably priced and my hamsters like burrowing in it. I have used aubiose but like fluffagrams I am allergic to it. i still use bits as my hamsters really seemed to like to burrow in it, but I doubt I would buy it again.
I won't ever use carefresh again, one of my hamsters was allergic to it and I think it is expensive.
I am yet to try fitch, kaytee or teabag bedding, the only thing I will say about tea bag beeding is that a lot of tea bags are sealed with a type of plastic, so if you use that type of bedding you will need to research where it is coming from.

Fluffagrams · 05-05-2020, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RolyRocks

15 cages, wow!! You must have a variety of setups! I've been looking at photos to get some new ideas and am really hoping that a new larger cage wiith more enrichment will stop my fluffy male Syrian from chewing the bars at night.

I have noticed a small amount of dust with my last couple of bags of Kaytee Clean and Cosy and wondered if Megazorb or Fitch would be any better. It sounds like none of them are perfect.

Most of my setups are fairly similar per species (I have Chinese, Roborovski, Campbells and a Syrian) but I'll occasionally vary something if I know that particular toys will suit a particular hamster's personality.

I've only just swtiched from Megazorb to shavings after having used it fairly consistently since Fitch started increasing their prices and reducing their quality and I was previously very happy with it so I don't know if I just bought a couple of bags from a bad batch or something. It was a nice substrate. It was soft, held up to tunneling efforts well and lasted quite a long time between clean outs.

Ria P · 05-05-2020, 01:27 PM

I use Kaytee natural and camo for three of my hamsters. Two of them burrow, its great for tunneling and i like the papery feel of this substrate plus the colours look good with their natural set ups. I also add hay/dried grass which they like plus toilet paper strips for extra nesting material.

I used to use white Kaytee only for my diabetic hamster but find it too soft and dense. He pees a lot and it gets very damp quickly. I now use a combo of shavings, dried grass/hay and white Kaytee which seems to work better for him. Once the white Kaytee is used up, i'll get the natural and camo only.

In their playpens i use shavings and toilet paper strips. The diabetic hamster seems to like shavings and has built a nest in his playpen which is connected to his bin cage and he often choses to sleep in there.

I used Carefresh a couple of times but had a bag with a very peculiar smell which put me off.

What is teabag bedding? I've never heard of that.

LunaTheHamster1 · 05-05-2020, 02:54 PM

[QUOTE=Ria P;938232

What is teabag bedding? I've never heard of that.[/QUOTE]

Tea bag bedding is the remnants left over when making tea bags. Quite a few people are starting to use it in the small pet/hamster world. But like I said you have to be careful, as some teabags even though they say they are plastic free, they are not. So unless you can guarantee where the teabags are coming from and there is no plastic involved in the production of them I personally wouldn't use them. I did mean to do a whole post on here about it at some point as I did quite a bit of research on it before deciding not to use it.

pokemonsz · 05-05-2020, 03:18 PM

So I used to be diehard Carefresh complete but since they switched to just "carefresh natural" the formula seems a lot more rough and twiggy. I'm about to switch to Kaytee because I'm worried it may be causing some sneezing with my hamsters.

A shame because Carefresh complete did wonders for odor control and they had some amazing colors...

Ria P · 05-06-2020, 01:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LunaTheHamster1

Tea bag bedding is the remnants left over when making tea bags.

I've read that the majority of the most popular teabags contain plastic so can't go in the composter. The one i use, Pukka, doesn't contain plastic though.

I still don't understand how the remnants of teabags can be used for bedding and why anybody would want to use teabags.

AmityvilleHams · 05-06-2020, 03:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ria P

I still don't understand how the remnants of teabags can be used for bedding and why anybody would want to use teabags.

People often get sucked in when things are labelled environmentally friendly or seem like they're environmentally friendly, even if there could be safety issues.

Food based cat litters(wheat and corn for example) and similar products sold for other pets(corn cob of any kind, walnut shell sold as reptile substrate, etc) all share safety risks. They are all extremely prone to serious and dangerous molding, and some are not actually digestible and as a result can cause blockages(known as impaction in reptiles). They're often sold as being "environmentally friendly" among other things - but they're equally unsafe even if just as with many other dangerous things manufacturers will not admit that!

I'm sure someone somewhere has sold organic cotton nesting fluff as a safe environmentally friendly nesting material, even though it is quite capable of killing pets.