Hamster bedding thickness issues

[SnoWolf]

Sooooo I finally changed my awful previous pine flake bedding out (even found a small chunk of wood that hadn't been made into Flakes yet) into crittercare natural paper bedding that's made by healthy pet, same brand as carefresh. However my mom asked one of the staff working in our local pet store about the thickness of bedding. They told her that you only need a small layer (about as thick as your finger laying flat down) for 'this type of bedding'. I'm no expert on hamsters but I'm pretty sure that the type of bedding doesn't matter right? Anyways because of this information she's convinced that that thin layer of bedding will suffice for my hamster and any more than that she considers wastage. I've read up a lot and I know that hamsters burrow very frequently, I tried to tell her this and she believes that it's not important and he can use the wheel if he needs exercise. My cage is already extremely under the minimum cage size and all my hamster has right now is the bare essentials plus a chew stick because I have no power (or money for that matter) to get anything or convince anyone that what he needs is way WAY more than they realise. They've just based their knowledge of hamster care on the many hamsters that we've had over the years and all unfortunately passed not even living a year. Unless I can come up with a good plan I think he'll be stuck like that for months before I can get him better stuff. A part of me thinks that he might not even make it until then ;-;

[Hamsterita]

It's a pity that your hamster has so many needs that must be fulfilled, but if you're struggling with your parents, the best thing that you can do is try to change things step by step, and not all of the sudden, because they may accept a change one day, and another later, but if you ask for a lot of demands it's more likely that they aren't going to listen to you.

Another advice that I could give you, is that you need to find arguments that could interest them, I mean, for them, your hamster's safety may not be enough, so you have to find reasons that give them a benefit. For instance, you could try to explain them than the more substrate you use, the easier will be to clean the cage, because if you use a lot of bedding, you won't need to change it all (actually, you shouldn't), it would be easy to spot clean, and in the long run, you even could afford substate, as you put a lot in the beginning, but you don't need to add more in a lot of time.

And yes, the type of bedding matters. I don't know what kind of bedding is crittercare natural paper bedding. The pellet kinda bedding isn't suitable for burrow, because it can't hold tunnels, but anyway you need a bare minimun and that's not as thick as a finger. For hygienic reasons I would use at least a layer as thick as 4 or 5 fingers if not more. If it is suitable for burrowing it's recommended a lot more.

[Drago]

I'm so sorry to hear that your parents seem not to care about your hamster It's unfortunate the situations we're in sometimes, but you just need to work with what you've got and improvise where you can. I will offer some DIY toy ideas and other little hamster hacks at the bottom of this post. It's not much, but it's something!

I agree with Hamsterita, a finger's thickness of bedding is definitely not nearly enough for a hamster. I'd recommend at least 4-5 in as mentioned above- and this definitely isn't ideal, but it's enough to allow cushion and absorb urine. If you have a Syrian, 12 inches or more is optimum, and if you have a dwarf (though species dependent) 8 in or more is best. However, it seems in your situation, optimum isn't an option unfortunately, so just try to provide as much as is possible!

Regarding the other aspects,
For your cage, could you perhaps say that you are tired of his old cage because it's difficult for you to open and close and that it doesn't seem sturdy to you? If they agree to another cage, show them that bins can be made into a hamster cage, and then try to find a cheap bin that is at least 450 sq in (though if you can get any bigger with them agreeing, that would be optimum). Mesh wouldn't cost too much more so that shouldn't be an issue. However, if your parents don't like the idea of a bin, you can always ask for a tank, saying they cut down on smell and are very secure. Then you could try to get a 40 gallon, or at least something larger than your current cage.
Regarding toys, you can make your own! Cardboard boxes with holes cut in them, toilet tubes, coconuts that have been washed out and drilled into, and empty walnut shells as chew toys. Another simple thing would be to get a small piece of untreated, kiln dried pine wood, and cut it into blocks/sticks and then, you have chew sticks! Simple tunnels can be offered using PVC pipe segments, and you can offer an area of deeper bedding using some torn up toilet tissue if they feel more bedding would be a waste.
I would also try to share studies with them, showing how hamsters need more than people think they do. If all else fails, and he seems to be going without quite a lot, you may wish to consider rehoming. As hard as this is, if your hamster will never have the chance to get everything that he needs, it may be kinder to let him live somewhere he can. Good luck, and if you ever have any more questions, please ask

[CMB]

Hiding your hamsters food can help keep them busy. You could scatter it on the substrate, under the substrate.

DIY cardboard tube toys are free and easy to make. Check the diy toy thread and YouTube

A diy playpen can be made from a large cardboard box. This could be used to give your hamster some out of cage time in a bigger area.

Would your parents give you some money for doing chores? If they would you could get some toys etc for your hamster.

You may be able to get 2nd hand hamster toys

[SnoWolf]

Thanks for all the info guys! I've actually been considering making DIY toys for my hamster on my own. My dad bought a new router and he gave me the cardboard that held everything and it has this cool looking shape. It almost looks like a mini labyrinth so if you guys have any cool suggestions feel free to share! Unfortunately, I've tried to suggest the bin cage method however my mom says that it'll smell and she doesn't want to go through the trouble of cutting out parts for the mesh. She also says that we'd have to buy another water bottle because ours relies on cage bars to be supported. On top of that, she argues about what we'd do about the old cage as we won't be using it anymore. I forgot to mention I have a hybrid dwarf so thankfully I won't need as big of a cage as Syrian owners do (although I am aware that every hamster needs tons and tons of space however in the bind I'm in I wouldn't want to push my luck). I've also considered the idea of rehoming, however after asking around about hamsters with some of my friends I've com to realise many many people have no idea that hamster need big cages, hideaways, tunnels, etc, so rehoming might actually do more harm than good as I don't wish for him to be stuck in another home with the exact same problems except this time the owners have no idea! Also, it would give him much more stress if we rehome him. He's still not quite accustomed to our home so changing his environment again would be quite problematic. I've scouted out the pet stores and if I do get another cage there's a big one that's quite good I could give you guys some pictures if need be. There's one that's slightly smaller two and both fall in the range of SGD$50-70. Thanks again to all of you for putting in so much effort to give me some really great ideas!