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Old 03-22-2018, 01:42 AM  
cypher
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Join Date: May 2014
Location: Wales UK
Posts: 24,789
Default Re: Setting up my first hamster cage

Coco husks is the same as coconut fibre, just not broken down quite so much & the same applies, I wouldn't use it, it would be ok for a digging box in a playpen or something like that but not really good in the cage.
The wooden log looks as though it should be fine, the house is too small though, if you use a wooden house it will need to be painted with something safe inside as the chances are it will be peed on at some point & you can never get pee out of wood, having said that I do think wooden houses are preferable to plastic.
The food will be ok until you can get something better so don't worry about using it short term, do change gradually when you swap foods though, always introduce new foods over a few days to a week depending on how different they are, so mostly the original food with a little of the new slowly increasing the amount of the new so her digestive system can adjust.
I've never used play sand but I think it is usually like that & once baked it's safe to use & won't stain things, it might be ok for a short while until you can find something better.
It does need to be chinchilla sand though, reptile sand is different & not considered safe.

You might have trouble finding a good house in a pet shop there aren't that many around usually, if you do buy things made from that natural kind of wood with the bark on give them a really good check over as I have found they can have exposed tacks or nails in them & be dangerous.
This house from rodipet is my favourite for dwarf hams, it is quite expensive including delivery but they are good quality & being able to take the top of makes spot cleaning really easy without having to destroy the nest or hoard.
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Last edited by cypher; 03-22-2018 at 01:54 AM.
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