Wood Shavings
Carefresh and Sani Chips
Wood and Paper Pellets
Shredded Paper
Hay Grasses or Grains
Nesting Materials
Safe Bedding Types
Bedding to Avoid
Hamster Bedding Materials
There are two types of bedding materials you need to provide your hamsters. One is the bedding material that goes down on the floor of the hamster cage or habitat. The other type is a nesting material that goes into the hamster house or sleeping space of the hamster. There are a handful of different options that include: woods, papers, grasses and grains. These materials can come in the form of shavings, pellets and stripes.
Deciding on which type of bedding to get, depends on a few different factors including: the type of cage you have and the type of hamster you have but it’s kind of a trial and error process. Some hamsters might have allergies to certain types or they might like to eat others, while some might just be messier with their bedding than others.
The amount of bedding that should be placed into the bottom of the cage also depends on the type of material and the behavior or your hamster but also the room temperature of where the cage is placed. Again, it’s a bit of trial and error since every hamster is slightly different than the other. If a hamster likes to fluff it’s bedding a lot, a little bit of bedding can expand into a lot. Shoot for 3-4 inches for Syrian hamsters and slightly less for dwarfs. If anything though, too much is better than not enough, especially when the room temperature is cooler.
Wood Shavings
Wood shavings are the most popular and type of material when it comes to bedding. Not every type of wood shavings or chips are healthy for your hamsters though. Avoid cedar and pine woods because they contain phenol chemicals that can cause respiratory and liver problems. Instead if you choose to go with wood shavings, go with a safe hardwood like aspen. The drawbacks of wood shavings however are that they are not really absorbent and will require daily cleaning of the hamster’s bathroom area or the hamsters need to be taught how to use a hamster potty. Additionally, if you have a long haired breed of hamster, wood shavings can become entangled into their hair.
A great alternative to wood shavings include the following brands
- Made from wood pulp waste
- Resembles shredded cardboard
- Soft and comfortable
- Non toxic and biodegradable
- Good for burrowing
- It’s absorbent
- Made from aspen or maple
- Smell fresh and clean
- Soft and comfortable
- Good for burrowing
- Absorbent
- (con) Scatters Easily
- Acceptable in aquariums
Wood and Paper Pellets
Wood and recycled newspaper pellets are ideal bedding materials since they don’t scatter as much and they are more absorbent than wood shavings. Pellets won’t get entangled into the hair of long haired breeds. In regards to pellets, pine is okay to use as long as the wood has been heat treated. Wood pellet brands include:
- Feline Pine
- Pine Fresh
- All Pet Pine
- Barnaby Farms
- Gentle Touch
Recycled newspaper pellets for bedding are good because they are non toxic, biodegradable and the don’t scatter but they are slightly dustier, harder on the feet of a hamster and are only so effective in odor control. Brands to look for are ones that are softer than the standard paper pellet and include:
- Cell Sorb Plus
- Yesterdays News soft-texture
Shredded Paper
Shredded paper is one of the easiest to make and most used types of pet bedding materials. Paper bedding made for pets consist of long narrow stripes of confetti like paper. They come in several different colors. White paper is ideal because it will help show if your hamster has an illness or is bleeding from an injury. (see bellow why you should avoid newspaper).
Hay or other Grasses and Grains
Hay is sometimes used as bedding but it can get entangled in the hair of long haired hamsters. Never use hay collected from the fields though since they can contain mites. It’s also not a good idea to use straw because it has sharp ends and can injury your hamsters.
Hamster Nesting Materials
Hamsters don’t just sleep anywhere, they like to sleep in a hamster house. It’s a small enclosed space where a hamster can feel comfortable. The nesting materials in these houses should be good for burrowing and soft on the hamster face and feet.
Safe Hamster Bedding
Paper products like shredded stripes of paper or toilet paper are ideal nesting materials because the are soft and can easily be burrowed into. Towel stripes are also a suitable nesting material. Make sure the paper products are non toxic and contain no inks. The inks can smudge off onto the fur or a hamster and stain the fur.
Nesting Materials to Avoid
Proper hamster care involves that you avoid using bedding materials that contain the following materials:
- Cotton balls
- Polyester stuffing
- Felt stripes
- Cotton batting
- Coconut fibers
Only use these materials if you know for a fact that they are made of natural plant fibers or reconstructed cellulose. The reason being is that the list of materials above are hard to digest and can cause problems on their digestive system. These materials can get stuck and impacted in a hamster’s cheek pouches, stomach or intestines. Additionally, the long stringy materials can get tangled around a hamster feet. Finally, coconut fibers are sharp and can cut your hamster’s feet.
Photos by: hapinachu, rkimpeljr , nikisublime
Author: Tim Winter
14 comments
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Mary says:
at 11:12 pm (UTC 0)
Hi I want to know if i can use northern with pine bedding.
admin says:
at 4:22 am (UTC 0)
You should avoid pine bedding since it contains toxic chemicals that can harm your hamster. stick to wood shavings made from hardwoods like aspen. But I recommend using Sani Chips or Carefresh bedding. It’s less dusty and more absorbent than wood shavings.
fred says:
at 1:54 pm (UTC 0)
yeah im about to get a new hamster and i wasnt sure if aspen was ok? or should i just use timothy hay and fluff?
admin says:
at 5:26 pm (UTC 0)
hardwoods are okay but I tend to prefer the carefresh and sani chip. the timothy hay and fluff can be used as nesting materials in their sleeping house. hay can be pointy though and scratch up a hamster.
Danielle says:
at 6:11 pm (UTC 0)
Hi, i have three hamsters 1 is a male syrian and the other two are chinese.
I use wood shavings for the floor of the cages and fluff for their bedding.
Although recently i have noticing them all scratching alot and i dont believe they have mites or anything like that so i was wondering if it could be the wood shavings or bedding? Does anyone know what it could be?
Thanks.
admin says:
at 8:13 am (UTC 0)
It depends, what kind of wood are the shavings and what kind of fluff do you use? take the advice on this post and it should eliminate any allergies and what not. You can find out if your hamsters have mites on this post.
iskandar says:
at 4:58 am (UTC 0)
i used wood pellet for my hamster, are this material ok for my hamster health ?
admin says:
at 11:21 pm (UTC 0)
Wood pellets are probably okay assuming they are non toxic and give off a lot of dust or splinters. What kind of wood are the pellets made of? See the list of acceptable bedding pellets
eric says:
at 1:33 pm (UTC 0)
do i need to bath my hamster?
and my mum says mosquito bites will be fatal to hamsters…is it true?
admin says:
at 9:25 am (UTC 0)
They actually don’t like to be bathed. See this post on hamster sand bath. I’m not entirely familiar with mosquito bites and hamsters but I do know they can carry diseases which can kill your hamster. I f the bite is itchy, your hamster might keep gnawing at the bite which can lead to an injury. I think moms are usually right so you should keep your hamster indoors if you are worried about insect bites.
kathy says:
at 10:17 pm (UTC 0)
Hi! We just bought a hamster last week and were given a free cotton pod (the size and shape of a sweet potato). Mikey, our hamster, really really loves it! He built a nest that looked like a big cloud! I never knew a hamster could get so excited and look so happy!
But I read at another site that those pods are not safe. What do you think??
Also, paper towel rolls and toilet paper rolls are okay to put into his cage, right?
And lastly, should we change water daily or is every other day okay? what about food?
Thank you!
Kathy
admin says:
at 2:50 am (UTC 0)
Yeah, I’ve never really heard of paper towel or toilet paper rolls causing any problems for a hamster. I have heard of some hamsters eating the cotton fibers of cotton balls that gave them problems with their digestive tract. It’s not a given your hamster will try to eat the cotton but it’s probably better to be safe than sorry and avoid any stringy fibers like cotton. Toilet paper is a good alternative but you can also do a shopping search for hamster nesting materials.
If you have a water bottle, you probably don’t have to change it daily but a dish will get dirty fast and will need to be changed daily. See hamster food for info on feeding your hamster.
Elliey says:
at 11:53 pm (UTC 0)
This helped me alot of picking new Bedding for my Syrian Hamster. So thank you very much!
Oh, and you did a Little Typo at Care Fresh Bedding. It should be Good no Goo xD.
admin says:
at 12:18 am (UTC 0)
Unfortunately, I’m not the best editor and I’m sure the site is filled with little typos. Thank you for pointing it out though. I’m glad you got some good info from this post.