Very impressed with Carefresh!

[minky-doo]

I just wanted to shout about how pleased I am with carefresh :) I'd read a couple of bad reviews but mostly reviews from people who love it.

I bought some to use as part of bedding (as in nesting material) and carry on with my usual woodchip type stuff for the rest of the cage as can't afford to have carefresh covering the whole thing and I'd seen people on youtube with hamsters that sleep in the carefresh on its own.

So put just a handfull in my hamsters bed with a little bit of tissue and it's soft, looks great, it really spreads out! Now my hammie is fast asleep in it :)

I was originally put off by the price but I'm really pleased I tried it out :D

So yeah, if you have heard great things but need a push, I say go for it!

14 litres for £4.99 at pets at home :D

[Hamtastic]

I've had a love-hate relationship with it, but in the end, I think I prefer it to other types of bedding (at least in the U.S.)

[minky-doo]

Haha well literally only just put it in so could regret recommending it, but it seems awesome so far :)

[Hamtastic]

The only thing I don't like about it is the cardboard-like smell from Carefresh Natural (brown-gray) and it's somewhat dusty. Everything else seems superior to other beddings I've tried, and all but one have been dustier (EcoBedding has zero dust but has negatives in comparison).

[dan_parsons]

I dont like carefresh sorry ;p

I got a bag for my rats once instead of woodshavings but it was sooo dusty. made me sneeze everytime i went near the cage! so woodshavings all the way for me :)

[Hamtastic]

My aspen woodshavings experience has been a lot dustier than Carefresh =/ I tried yet another kind of Aspen for Lucy's bin today, and my lungs felt coated with dust.

[minky-doo]

Have notied any dustiness, but using it in quite small amounts so maybe that's why... :)

[racinghamster]

I hav`nt used it with hamsters (and probably never will) but have used it with some of my pet mice and I would`nt use it again. Mice are far more prone to allergies and respiratory issues though so maybe this is why it does`nt have the same effects on hamsters. Carefresh is not paper based, it`s wood pulp, so it is still made from wood only it does`nt resemble wood, if you know what I mean!

I much prefer a good quality wood shavings personally and/or Aubiose, which I also use. These are more cost effective aswell compared to the price of Carefresh.

I also felt it smelled bad? Not woody or papery....but a weird scent. So another reason I ditched it and won`t be using it again. Wait a week and see if your hamsters still feel the same and if they don`t have any issues with it then it`s probably fine to keep using it, but it`s one of those substrates/beddings that can throw up problems. But as I said, hamsters seem to tolerate it better than mice do.

[minky-doo]

Thanks, I haven't noticed any smell at all but I do have really bad hayfever at the moment so that's probably why I can't smell it!

[fluffymunchkins]

I've got to say if I could afford it I would have colourful carefresh all the time :D
I have to agree that the normal carefresh isn't very nice looking and not the best for digging dwarfs either.
But it is good for longhaired syrians too :)

[Tammanae]

I used Carefresh once, but changed back to Aspen soon enough. Pepper seemed to hate it, and she would make a point of grabbing large chunks and carrying it to her ledge so she could push it through the bars of the cage. She would also push it far away from her when she was going to sleep, which gave me the impression she didn't find it as comfy as it looked. A real shame, as I did like the colorfulness of it, but once I went back to Aspen, she was so happy, I do not think I would be able to go back to it. XD

[rockstar11p]

I live in America and used Carefresh Natural up until recently ever since I got my first hamster Jojo in October. It's absorbent, but pretty expensive. From using several different large bags of it, I can say that it is indeed pretty dusty. I recently started using a bag of aspen wood shavings and I have to say I prefer them over carefresh.( at least Carefresh Natural) It is $12 for a huge bag and hides the odor 10x better. The first time I used it, I mixed it in with the small amount of carefresh I had left. Carefresh is good, and the colored bedding can make the cage more lively, but I suggest Aspen as the main bedding, with small amounts of Carefresh added in for your hamster to get comfy. I suggest creating a cardboard burrowing box and filling it with carefresh instead of Aspen shavings to give your hamster a nice place to relax where the bedding is softer. It's also a safer alternative to bedding fluff that can choke hamster, and more absorbent than regular torn up paper towel.

[Ham Ham Hamstery]

I love Carefresh I use it for all of my cages

[LocoRocoPanda]

I'm using Carefresh right now as my local equine shop has run out of aubiose.
I don't love it, the brown is depressing and the clumps aren't the best but I notice that lately Izu has been putting it in his igloo to sleep in so I guess if he doesn't mind it, I can't complain much either. X3

[Sammybingo]

I used it for Chewy and I loved it. He never slept on it, he would build his nest out of soft paper instead. I love the colourful confetti :D. I am going to try doing this cage with that Biocatolet or whatever it's called, that kitty litter and half in carefresh, in an attempt to see how the new ham (still not here hehe) uses his bedding. I'd like something better for digging than carefresh - it doesn't hold the tunnels well. Also, it makes me sneeze, so it can't be too great for hams. Well, the natural one does, the confetti not so much, which is odd.

I do adore my carefresh though. On shavings I was cleaning Chewy every 6 days or so, on this I can spot clean daily and deep clean every two weeks. And yes, it's much easier to keep a LH chap free of dreadlocks on Carefresh!

I aim to nosey at the hamster shows I'm off to, to see what other folk are using, and how it looks and feels, and how well it holds digging. :)

[HorseyHolly]

I don't like Carefresh because of the price but it's better than shavings for me. I use Megazorb instead, which is alot more for your money!

[Ham Ham Hamstery]

I buy $20 worth of carefresh every week lol its pricey but its worth it

[Hamtastic]

You can just get 60 Liter bags of carefresh natural for ~$14 on-line in the U.S. It's really not much more expensive than aspen, since I use less carefresh as it's fluffier. Like Petco has 180L of of C. N. for $44 with free shipping, which is like $3.4 for 14L bag. And you can sometimes find it for even less at more obscure on-line sellers.