Washable bedding - Page 2

scabbers · 08-08-2015, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chezzu

Pet wood chips

any kind of pet wood chips or should i check the wood types?

nickoh · 08-08-2015, 11:29 AM

I know it's been mentioned before but toilet paper is great bedding! Very cheap too. Here's a video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2BxClghntw
(sorry if you cant see it!)

But I just add some food coloring and mix it in with the water and bam! cute decorative homemade bedding! Oh yeah, and instead of using a hair dryer I just leave it to dry in the sun.

Reduce Reuse Hamcycle · 08-08-2015, 05:06 PM

Hey there Scabbers! I'm sorry it's so difficult to find suitable bedding where you are.

First of all I'm a first-time hamster owner so keep that in mind as you read my response. I could be wrong on a few points. However this is the information I found when researching hamsters before I became a hamster owner.

If the wood shavings do not list the type of wood used then they may be dangerous. Does the packaging have a contact phone number or website listed on the bag? I would try to contact the company to get an answer from them about what kind of wood the shavings are made of. If they don't give you an answer easily or they can't answer you at all then I would not buy it.

The types of wood shavings that can HURT you hamster are Pine and Cedar. Also beddings listed as soft wood shavings because those tend to be made from pine or cedar.

The type of wood shavings that would be ok for your hamster is Aspen.

Other good and bad beddings are:

Good:

Paper-based beddings like Boxo, kay-tee clean and cozy, and carefresh are all safe, though they can be dusty. There are lots of different brands of paper-based beddings. I only know a few and you may want to ask other users about the brands that they like to use.

Hemp-based beddings are usually safe from what I've read. though some of them can be pointy or a bit rough on hamster feet depending on which brand you buy so you would have to watch out for that.

Bad

Scented bedding can cause respiratory issues.

Corn based beddings can mold and cause health issues.

Unsure about this kind of bedding:

Paper-based and Wood-based ///Non-Clumping/// pelleted cat litter appear to be safe from the information I've found on youtube and forums. You may want to re-check though. Non-clumping and bio-degradable are the key phrases to look for on the litter. If it is a clumping litter then it is unsafe and could cause intestinal blockages and death.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Most of the people on pet forums like to take the "better knowingly safe than possibly sorry" approach. If there's a known risk then it is discouraged, and for good reason.

In this case, cloth usually does fray. When the cloth frays the fibers become loose. Cotton fibers, and as far as I know: fibers in general, are a known and documented health risk that can result in injury to and death of your hamster. This is why Fluffy nesting material is bad and should not be used.

There are types of fabric that will fray less or resist fraying but it's never 100% sure.

If the options of known safe wood shavings or paper-based bedding are available to you, do not cause allergies for you or your hamster, and are not drastically outside of your price range, then you should go for those options first. They are safer, easier to use, and require less upkeep than cloth bedding.

Aspen wood shavings are sometimes sold for horse and dog bedding at Farm supply stores. Reptile Aspen Wood Shavings are the same as Small Animal Aspen Wood Shavings so Aspen Shavings that you find in the Lizard and Reptile section of your pet store can safely be used for your hamster.

Here is a list of petshops in a city called Lisbon/Lisboa. I have no idea how close that is to you but it may be helpful.

Pet Stores Lisboa, Portugal

Otherwise you may want to search online retail stores that ship to Portugal to see if they have any recycled paper-based bedding or any Aspen wood shavings.

Viovet and ZooPlus are two online stores that ship to Portugal.

I checked the rates on Viovet's website for shipping to a random zip code in Portugal (zip code 6250) and here are the rates that the website gave to me:

Delivery Rates

Royal Mail Air Mail:
£10.00
DPD Europe by Road:
£27.42
UPS Standard:
£84.39
UPS Express Saver:
£96.24

I have no idea how long Royal Mail would take to get to you and I'm not really familiar with Euros (and don't like looking at numbers so I'm not going to google that :P ) but the Royal Mail seems like the best bet.

At the end of the day you have to decide what is best for you and your hamster.

It's best to try the other options first though, and go to the cloth bedding as a final step if necessary.

racinghamster · 08-09-2015, 01:19 AM

Those wood chips look too hard to me and a hamster might find them too solid to dig in/walk on. Just find a pet shop that stocks pine or aspen wood SHAVINGS, not sawdust. Do as I suggested and remove the plastic packaging, break the shavings up into a storage box without a lid and shake them up.

Better still, try and look for one of the wood pulp/paper pulp recycled beddings like Supreme Cosi n Dri, Carefresh, Kay-tee clean n cosy (a US sold bedding) not sure if that`s available in the UK/Europe. It shouldn`t be too difficult if you look hard enough. Wood shavings are widely used, as are the recycled small animal beddings. Just stay clear of sawdust or anything not made for use with hamsters or rodents in general.