UK based Bedding recommendations

[Pin]

Im looking into alternatives to carefresh bedding because its just too expensive to be filling my hams cage up with right now, preferably ones based in the UK.

I've heard aubiose is good but I absolutely dont have the storage space for bales that big. I thought about trying megazorb too, I think its a smaller quantity so it might be better, thoughts?

If not I want to try wood based bedding because its much cheaper, but the stuff I had from p@h gave my bab a chest infection so I dont want to try that again.
I know pillowwad and snowflake are uk brands, does anyone have info about them making your hams sick?

[AmityvilleHams]

Unfortunately Snowflake use cedar as one of their wood sources so that really shouldn't be used for a lot of pets including hamsters.

Personally I would go for something other than wood anyways though as wood is an incredibly common source of allergic reactions in hamsters even if you used something like aspen. Hemp is of course a great option, but Small Pet Select also sell in the UK and their paper bedding is an extremely high quality product with very high safety standards and quality control standards.

Maybe you could try breaking up Aubiose hemp bales into smaller containers and storing it that way, combined with Small Pet Select paper bedding in the cage. You definitely don't have to keep the bedding in the original packaging so get creative with storage if you want!

[sushi_78]

I've recently started using Fitch. It's very like Carefresh, but less dusty and cheaper. It comes in bale sizes from 1kg to 20kg, although the smaller bales can work out quite expensive I think.

[cypher]

I use Kaytee clean & cosy (get mine from amazon) it’s very soft, absorbent & low in dust, fitch probably works out cheaper definitely if you go for the 20kg bag, I do find the kaytee softer overall & doesn’t have the hard bits you sometimes find in fitch.,

[LunaTheHamster1]

Pin, just to let you know the size of a bag of megazorb is about the same size as Aubiose. Aubiose seems heavier and more condensed so seems to last longer.

There is also Kaytee clean n cozy, which if you buy the bigger bags works out cheaper than the smaller bags, but they are still smaller than a bag of aubiose or megazorb. Like Sushi states there is also Fitch to try.

I know lots of people use tea bag bedding too, but I dont recommend that due to not knowing where they are sourced from as the majority of teabags contain plastic. If you could guarantee it was coming from a company that doesnt use plastic it would be ok, but I personally don't know one to recommend.

[Pin]

Thanks for the info guys, Ill look into fitch and clean n cozy, I wanted to stick to paper if I could.

[Fluffagrams]

Over the years I have tried a good few types of substrate and I feel that each one will have its own pros and cons so what might work for one person may not always work for someone else.

Due to my allergies, all of my hamsters are on a paper based substrate however I didn't find it to be as good as shavings for my recentely deceased diabetic Chinese. I like Kaytee Clean and Cozy and Carefresh however, both can be pricey if buying in the larger quantities that I would normally need.

I used Megazorb for many years and for most of that time, I really liked it. it was cost effective, held up to tunnels well and absorbent however I found that it seemed to be getting more and more dusty to the point where the lids of some of my cages were covered in a layer of thick bleck dust.

I tried Aubiose earlier this year and like Megazorb, it was cost effective and lasted a long time between cage cleans however I had to stop using it as I became allergic to it.

[Pin]

Okeydokey, Yeah, honestly I've been looking into it all day and the only clean and cozy difference seems to be 15 more litres for 2 more pounds which Is okay-ish

Megazorb for the same amount (85L, Which I can definitely store) is much cheaper than that and I am seeing very good, recent reviews for it. Ill admit Im leaning towards that right now.
Has anyone else had the issue of quality declining?

Fitch seems to be working out more expensive at £35 for 80L unless my math is wrong? It says on the website that 4kg = 20L so 20kg is 80L?

[LunaTheHamster1]

Pin I hate to say it I think your maths is wrong, I think it should be 20kg = 100L, not 80L if 4kg =20L

From a logistics point of view, if you can manage to store a bag of megazorb, you should be able to manage to store a bag of aubiose, they are about the same size

I use megazorb, to be honest I find it no more dusty than kaytee, aubiose, carefresh. I think they all have some dust element to them. I do know some people sift them, but I am not well enough to do that. The only one I don't like is carefresh because it caused a reaction in one of my hamsters eyes, but like you say it is rather expensive.

[sushi_78]

I stopped using Megazorb recently, among other reasons because it was so dusty. I was breathing in so much dust cleaning out my tanks that I thought it couldn't have been healthy for me or my animals.

Yes, Fitch in the smaller quantities is probably more expensive than Kaytee Clean and Cozy. I buy the 20kg bags so it works out cheaper. I'm not sure how much volume 20kg is but 80l doesn't sound quite right to me. With my bag I filled one 80x50cm hamster cage and two large gerbil tanks, plus some smaller cages, and I still have about a third left. 80l might be the compressed volume, whereas the Kaytee C&C 85l bag compresses to 28l.