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Old 11-11-2021, 07:33 AM   #1
szam
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 6
Default Elderly hammy bedding

Hey there!

My little Edgar is a 2.5 year old Robo. He’s had surgery a few months ago and lost weight due to age/suspected cancer, but has been doing really well and is still active, relatively healthy and using his whole cage.

I’ve always used Kaytee bedding, however I’m unsure if it’s still suitable - he’s so small and the bedding can be quite lumpy and bumpy for him to navigate on his wobbly days. He’s always had sensitive skin and prone to mites hence always using Kaytee and refreshing weekly.

Just wondering if you folks have any suggestions or reassurances on it? It may just be me over thinking! I push down the bedding along the routes he travels for food, water etc to make it a little easier, and I started laying down a little bit of kitchen towel near his bowl to make it easier for him to sit while munching.
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Old 11-12-2021, 03:54 AM   #2
Ria P
House of Hamsters
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Wiltshire, UK
Posts: 7,103
Default Re: Elderly hammy bedding

Do you fluff up the Kaytee properly? It's still one of the best for sensitive skin i think but i know what you mean.

My dwarf Ozzy is wobbly and i sometimes wonder if the soft Kaytee makes walking more difficult for him.
I tried him on Carefresh which is a lot firmer and probably more suitable for him but had a bag with a weird smell to it.

He often walks on solid surfaces like tunnels and long Trixie bridges placed low to get about which is something you could look into. You could also place his food bowl on a boredom breaker mat.

You could add a top layer of Carefresh to see how he gets on with it but i would stick to Kaytee in burrowing and nesting areas.
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Old 11-13-2021, 02:58 PM   #3
szam
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 6
Default Re: Elderly hammy bedding

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ria P View Post
Do you fluff up the Kaytee properly? It's still one of the best for sensitive skin i think but i know what you mean.

My dwarf Ozzy is wobbly and i sometimes wonder if the soft Kaytee makes walking more difficult for him.
I tried him on Carefresh which is a lot firmer and probably more suitable for him but had a bag with a weird smell to it.

He often walks on solid surfaces like tunnels and long Trixie bridges placed low to get about which is something you could look into. You could also place his food bowl on a boredom breaker mat.

You could add a top layer of Carefresh to see how he gets on with it but i would stick to Kaytee in burrowing and nesting areas.
Yeah I do give it a good fluff, I’m with you on the Carefresh - had some odd batches! Good thinking on tunnels, he uses his tubes to get around so I may just add some others so there’s more of a walkway for him to key areas
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Old 11-13-2021, 07:26 PM   #4
Pebbles82
Hamster Antics
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
Default Re: Elderly hammy bedding

If it’s difficulty walking in the unevenness, what I did with our last Robo (who was ageing abd had mobility issues due to a lump) was use hemp mat on top of the substrate. So it was still the same height but a level surface all over the cage. It worked very well. I cut holes out for round the sand bath so it could be sunk into the substrate with the top level with the hemp mat and left one little corner free with substrate showing in case he wanted to dig but he didn’t bother. He speeded up round the cage no end.

The photos are on this page

Nugget's thread
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