Natural but Nice?

[Munchalot]

I'm having a bit of trouble with substrate recently and I was wondering if you lovely people could give me some advice.

I suffer from allergies, which includes hay fever, intolerances to dust, hair, feather, perfumes/sprays you name it! I also have sensitive skin, particularly with mild dermatitis on my hands and eczema on my arms when irritated. On top of that, I'm asthmatic, which means that I can't have dusty things in my environment.

Anyway, I have never really had any trouble with wood shavings until now. In the past, I may have had an odd sneeze when cleaning out, but that's about it.
Recently however, my allergies have flared, and my sinuses and chest are under the weather, as I have Glandular fever as well as viral tonsillitis, which in tern in making my allergies worse.
I know, I'm a walking corpse. xD

I'm trying to give the hams a natural feel to their boxes, by giving them loads of shavings to dig around in, and mixing in birch leaves and meadow hay as well as loads of branches and such. All of their toys and platforms are wooden as well.
But I am going to have to hold off on the shavings. I think the hay is problem too for my hay fever. I haven't slept in 2 days, because I've been kept awake with an itchy throat, streaming eyes and a raging itchiness in the sore patches on my hand, that is so bad I would rather it hurt.
Worse still, it that I'm overdosing on my inhalers because the dust is making me wheezy. I'm rasping all the time, especially when I'm near their cages.

So, I'm going to have to do something. I have never in my life been this bad, and I've been using Snowflake shavings for my whole decade of hamster keeping. I don't know whats going on.
I'm spending all day gutting my room, hoovering it to an inch of destruction and clearing out anything that will set me off.
I'm going to give the hay and shavings to my mate who is looking after Marley, but I need a replacement.

I can't order anything online just yet, so I need sometime short term. I'm going to the pet shop in a bit, but the only things aside from normal wood shavings that we have is Carefresh, litter or aspen bedding.
I don't like litter, because it looks so uncomfortable, and Todd would be devastated that he can't burrow.
Carefresh would be better for my allergies, but it's so expensive and I don't like the look of it. It would ruin the natural theme in the cages, especially if I can only get hold of that multicoloured stuff. :/

That leaves aspen, but will it be the same as the shavings. It certainly looks less dusty, but would anyone with experience with aspen say differently?
I'm abandonning hay because that was half the problem, but I quite like aspen and I'd really rather use it. It looks nice and Todd will love digging in it. But it depends on how dusty it is. :S


What would you say? Carefresh or aspen?
Or any other suggestion that I might be able to get hold of, that look natural but are dust free?

For the future, what could I buy online? Is hemp quite dusty?

[_nod]

I used to buy generic wood shavings, but my wife was allergic to these, recently we switched to Fitch and that doesn't seem to trigger her allergies, so that could be an option in the future. I currently have quite a deep layer of it and they love digging in it. The one thing I don't like is the colour, I don't think the bleached white looks very natural.

[kimlck]

Hi munchalot,
Dont forget the change in the weather as that will effect you too.
My eldest daughter is the same to an extent and she always cleans her room wearing a dust mask and then wet dusting, its not great but alot of the dust isnt released back into her room, she also used to wear sunglasses while doing it. Yes strange i know but it worked for her.
Have you tried haymax?
Its something that you put up each nostril and its supposed to stop dust n pollen getting so far.
Also a suggestion for you, how about wearing a dust mask when you change your hams, it might help it might not,

I'm using aubiose and so far so good
Also using fitch am on my 3rd bag and ive not noticed any dust as of yet tho you do get fine fibers same kinda ones from toilet roll.

[icklemunch]

Fitch . It really is dust free and the bag lasts forever!!

[HollyHamster]

I use Carefresh, but its kind of a little dusty.

[Munchalot]

Thanks everyone for your input. Fitch does sound like the best thing for me. It may not look so natural with the bleached white colour, but I can make it better with the stuff in the box. Plus the branches and leaves don't have an effect on me, other than making my room smell nice, so I'll still put those in.

And yeah I use antihistamines every day, this weather is terrible for allergies.
I am going to try a new nasal spray and see how it goes. The dust mask idea is a good one, my dad has a workshop so he's sure to have spares. Thank you.

Holly is it really dusty? I'm not going to be able to order the Fitch right now so I was thinking of buying a bag of Carefresh to tide me over. :/

[racinghamster]

Munchalot, I was going to suggest the Fitch aswell even though I`ve never used it myself. Carefresh IS dusty, so be aware that it might cause you more problems. I`ve never been a fan of the stuff but then I used it for mice on two occasions and it triggered their respiratory problems even more, so I never used it again.

Fitch is basically paper shreds rather than paper pulp, so it does sound like the best one to go for. I use Aubiose hemp but I know many members will advise against hemp as it has caused some members a few hiccups with their allergies, so it`s probably best to avoid it in that case.

Hope you find something soon that is suitable. x

[Munchalot]

Originally Posted by racinghamster

Munchalot, I was going to suggest the Fitch aswell even though I`ve never used it myself. Carefresh IS dusty, so be aware that it might cause you more problems. I`ve never been a fan of the stuff but then I used it for mice on two occasions and it triggered their respiratory problems even more, so I never used it again.

Fitch is basically paper shreds rather than paper pulp, so it does sound like the best one to go for. I use Aubiose hemp but I know many members will advise against hemp as it has caused some members a few hiccups with their allergies, so it`s probably best to avoid it in that case.

Hope you find something soon that is suitable. x

Ah thankyou. I'll stay away from Carefresh then, glad I asked first. It's quite expensive for something that isn't going to go further than a single clean out. Would hate to buy it and waste it. :/

I'll definitely give Fitch a go when I can order it. Thanks everyone!

[POLAR WHITES]

megazorb is a little dusty but I find better for me than wood chips if you cant get a hold of fitch. I only use carefresh for when I have a litter as its softer than megazorb but you are right it does only do one change, I really don't like aspen I was sneezing all the time and it stinks.

[_nod]

I was thinking of Magazorb too, as it's a more natural colour, but it really seems to vary in quality. The last bag we got was really dusty, also I don't know what it's like for tunneling as I've only ever used it for my Chinchillas.