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Old 04-16-2023, 08:18 AM  
AmityvilleHams
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Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 4,545
Default Re: Suddenly a hamster owner again, hi!

Be careful with anything that advertises odor control. A lot of those products contain baking soda which isn't safe for hamsters when it comes to substrate(perfectly safe outside the cage where they can't get to it though). Another additive they frequently contain is zeolite which also wouldn't be safe. One option in this situation for a much safer emergency substrate would be getting an unscented toilet paper that easily breaks down in water(Walmart has one, I don't know the exact price at the moment but it should be a 4 pack and very cheap) and just using a ton of that. Small Pet Select does have plain virgin fiber paper substrate you could order for future use though - no scents, dyes, etc or anything to "control odor" being added. Deep substrate also helps with that along with not cleaning too often - avoid full cleans like the plague and reserve them for when they're absolutely necessary such as parasites. Hamsters actually tend to scent mark more often when you're overcleaning since their scent keeps being removed.

For diet, you actually want a mixed diet. Selective feeding isn't generally an issue for hamsters and pellets don't allow proper foraging behaviors. The pellets also tend to have poor nutrition or poor quality ingredients. The proper diet in the US & Canada is Higgins Vita Garden (not Sunburst which has dried fruit) along with Pure Bites or a similar high quality animal protein source such as boiled egg. Brown flax seed is also good to add for healthy skin & coat along with extra nutrients in general!

The 3D printer is very concerning if I'm honest. Those actually produce very toxic fumes and even PLA isn't a great idea when you have animals with delicate respiratory systems like hamsters. They're not as sensitive as birds luckily but it is still important to be careful with things. Even in a different room, fumes travel - especially with a whole home AC unit for example which is common in the US.
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