Tangled fur in long haired hamsters

[hamsterman]

Hi, my long haired sable roan is getting a couple of knots in the fur on his back quarters, despite me brushing him - which he doesn't like He gets a piece of bedding stuck in his fur and it is very difficult to remove, I use sieved sawdust so it is very fine, and also Safebed paper wool. Is there any other bedding I could use that won't stick to his fur? What do others use for long haired hamsters.
Thanks.
Hamsterman

[Spuds Mum]

OUCH! those tangles are a nightmare aren't they?
A lot of people on the forum use litter such as finacard, megazorb or Aubiose, which seems to help on the non-tangling front.
As for bedding, I tear up tissue paper or kitchen towel. Often my LH boys come out of bed wearing what someone once referred to as 'hamster confetti' but it seems to fall out easily. Longer stranded paper bedding also seems to help more than the shorter cut pieces in my experience.

Hope that's of some help

[hamsterman]

Thanks for the advice, I will have a look in the pet store for the bedding you mentioned.

[Holly]

I'd definitely give the sawdust a miss - something with larger pieces wold be much better at preventing tangles. I find Finacard absolutely brilliant, it's not available from petshops but there are a couple of simillar card substrates that are.

[Basia]

If you have only got a couple of hamsters, Carefresh doesn't tangle too much. It is also very absorbent.
I would just use toilet paper for nest bedding too.

[hamsterman]

Thanks everyone

[hamsterman]

Managed to get a pack of carefresh today, I think i'm going to be busy tomorrow

[souffle]

If you think your hamster might be a bit more comfortable without his long skirt you can always give him a bit of a trim hamsterman. We do this with long hared hammies which are not being shown and I don't think they mind at all

[hamsterman]

Thanks for your advice.