Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000
I personally don't know much about ground walnut shells. Something to look into! It won't clean them like sand does but it's another interesting texture. You do want to avoid any kind of soils though as they can create damp and humidity. I did get some pieces of cork bark which our hamster seems to like, for a different texture. That's safe enough.
|
Cork bark is a great suggestion for something safe but fun. Grape vine(wood) is another good idea for more wood texture.
Ground walnut shells are widely known in the reptile community for being incredibly dangerous and a big part of that is the extremely high likelihood(basically guaranteed inevitably) of growing dangerous mold spores. There are other natural fibers that are also equally likely to cause mold spores that are dangerous for the same reason, for example corn cob. The other big danger known in reptiles is impaction(basically digestive blockage), though I'm not entirely certain that part translates to hamsters as well. The mold spores definitely do. I'd imagine the reason we don't seem to have that information being spread around in the hamster community is because people don't tend to consider things like that for hamsters!
Coconut fiber is an excellent alternative for that sort of thing though and is far safer, providing you keep it neither too moist nor too dry.