Hamster resources in Bosnia and Herzegovina?

[envidianthine]

Hi everyone!

So, as you can tell from my profile, and the title of this post, I live in a small country in Europe called Bosnia and Herzegovina. Now, if you're a person who happens to really love small animals, and you live in this country, you're in a pretty crappy position to say the least. It tends to be very difficult to find the proper stuff that your hamster needs, whether it's cages, bedding, food, etc. I came to this community in hopes of finding either someone who lives in my country, and has somehow figured out how to acquire all the necessary things without having to go broke, or someone who doesn't necessarily live here, but maybe just has good advice.

I, personally, have got the cage and the wheel covered (and boy, was it an adventure and a half). For now, I'll have to go with making my own DIY paper bedding (using a paper shredder and shredding paper towels), as it is next to impossible to find safe bedding for hamsters in pet shops here.

I really hope that this post will reach someone who has some answers or advice, as I'm finding myself wanting to just scream out in frustration at how ridiculous it is that we have next to nothing for hamsters (and other small animals).

Thank you so much in advance to anyone who is able to help!

[Amethyst_ice]

Hello and welcome to the forum,

It sounds like you are really getting creative and trying your best.

Do you have horse/farm supply shops? Cardboard based bedding may be an option, I buy mine is large bales designed for horses.

What pets are popular there? Bird sections can have useful things but I know many members have got creative with "human" items they find such as candle holders as cute bowls. Reptile sections also have wooden hides and branches etc

All the best

[envidianthine]

Originally Posted by Amethyst_ice

Hello and welcome to the forum,

It sounds like you are really getting creative and trying your best.

Do you have horse/farm supply shops? Cardboard based bedding may be an option, I buy mine is large bales designed for horses.

What pets are popular there? Bird sections can have useful things but I know many members have got creative with "human" items they find such as candle holders as cute bowls. Reptile sections also have wooden hides and branches etc

All the best

Thank you! I really am hahaha

I mean, maybe we do, but I honestly don't know of any. I suppose that is something I can look into.

The most popular pets here are cats and dogs, and that's it pretty much. If you own any other animal you either have to work really hard to get the necessary stuff for them, or you're ignorant and just buy whatever there is, regardless of how unsafe it might be. Obviously, I don't want to fall into the latter category ^^'

I'm definitely going to comb through a bunch of shops, at this point anything I look at, I just think "ok how can I use that for a hamster?"

Thank you for your help!

[Amethyst_ice]

Sorry I can't be of more help. I believe sometimes cardboard bedding or similar sybstrates can also be used in chicken coups? Perhaps that is also and avenue to look at? Have a broswse of the "show me your cage" thread on here for some inspiration on things you could use. Good luck!

[envidianthine]

Originally Posted by Amethyst_ice

Sorry I can't be of more help. I believe sometimes cardboard bedding or similar sybstrates can also be used in chicken coups? Perhaps that is also and avenue to look at? Have a broswse of the "show me your cage" thread on here for some inspiration on things you could use. Good luck!

Yeah, I'll definitely look anywhere I can at this point. Thank you for your advice! ^^

[Ria P]

When i was young and growing up in rural Bavaria i had a guinea pig and got wood shavings from the local saw mill.
Not packed, i brought a bag and small shovel to scoop it up from a heap.
I know that wood shavings aren't that popular nowadays but they're fine as a base layer or in part of the cage like under the wheel or in a play area and with limited resources this may be a possibility to look into.

[Ithuviel]

I also live in eastern europe but i'm lucky to be in EU (Romania) and i don't have to look to hard for stuff.

If you get wood shavings from the pet-shop you can take a good look at it. 1- see if its dusty 2- see if it has any smell. If you can sense any smell at all know that the hamster can smell it 10 times better.

So you can try and find wood shavings that don't smell and are not dusty from what is available but you might be going through different brands and bags.


Also for sand baths you can go to any hardware store and look for children play sand. You need to let is dry and than bake it to make it safe for hamster.

[LunaTheHamster1]

can you find hemp bedding? sometimes this is used for reptiles/horses. So maybe an equestrian shop?
I'm allergic to it, but my hamsters are fine with it.

[envidianthine]

Originally Posted by Ria P

When i was young and growing up in rural Bavaria i had a guinea pig and got wood shavings from the local saw mill.
Not packed, i brought a bag and small shovel to scoop it up from a heap.
I know that wood shavings aren't that popular nowadays but they're fine as a base layer or in part of the cage like under the wheel or in a play area and with limited resources this may be a possibility to look into.

I honestly have no idea if we even have a local saw mill. And if we do, I'm not sure if the wood we have is aspen - most likely not. :/ I'll still be searching though! Thank you for your response.

Originally Posted by Ithuviel

I also live in eastern europe but i'm lucky to be in EU (Romania) and i don't have to look to hard for stuff.

If you get wood shavings from the pet-shop you can take a good look at it. 1- see if its dusty 2- see if it has any smell. If you can sense any smell at all know that the hamster can smell it 10 times better.

So you can try and find wood shavings that don't smell and are not dusty from what is available but you might be going through different brands and bags.

Also for sand baths you can go to any hardware store and look for children play sand. You need to let is dry and than bake it to make it safe for hamster.

Yeah, the thing is I don't really want to waste money on products that I potentially won't even end up using (and since I can't really use wood shavings for anything else besides a hamster, they'd just get thrown away), and I also can't really just open a bag of bedding inside of the store ^^'

I will definitely ask the pet shop workers if they know what kind of wood is used, but I have a feeling that they will have no idea, or they'll just tell me "oh it's safe, don't worry!" even though it most likely isn't. :/

Thankfully I was able to find children's play sand, so there is some silver lining here hahaha. Thank you for your response!

Originally Posted by LunaTheHamster1

can you find hemp bedding? sometimes this is used for reptiles/horses. So maybe an equestrian shop?
I'm allergic to it, but my hamsters are fine with it.

I don't really think we have equestrian shops. I mean, we do have like one horse ranch some ways away from the city, but I have no idea where they get their stuff from. :/

Thank you for your response though! ^^

[Ithuviel]

you can also use hey for guinea pigs and rabbits as bedding